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stoujfville simtribune thursday jan 6 2005 5 farmers confident border will remain open after second mad cow case jppp by joan ransberry staff writer- even though another canadian cow has tested positive for mad cow dis ease york regions agricul ture community remains confident the border will reopen to beef in early march its like being on a roller- coaster ride mount albert farmer ralph smalley said first were up and then were down and then were up again he said the new plan is to let live canadian cattle under the age of 30 months into the united states the decision takes an enormous weight off our livestock producers who have had to deal with unprecedented fallout for almost 20 months steve peters ontario minister of agriculture and food the day after the us department of agriculture announced last week the border could officially reopen to some beef on march 7 the canadian food inspection agency reported an eightyearold dairy cow in alberta tested positive for bovine spongi form encephalopathy bse better known as mad cow disease no part of the animal entered the human food systems the food inspec- tion agency stated samples were analysed at the canadian science centre for human and animal health in winnipeg the us now recognizes canada as a minimalrisk region for bse york region federation of agriculture president dr terry ocon nor said it looks like the border will open anyway were very optimistic dr oconnor said mr smalley 49 has been a beef farmer for 30 years he and his son jordan run a 300head operation they have been keeping a close eye on developments since a case of bse in alberta closed the border to all canadian beef 19 months ago weve been able to hold on mr smalley said were still in a wait-and- see position its been hard to predict but it doesnt look like the us is going to let this case change the course its hard to know exactly when the border will open i guess ill wait until i see the trucks rolling being allowed to ship beef south of the border is a serious matter for the industry in 2002 the last full year of exports canada moved about 17 billion of beef products to the united states and about the same amount of live cattle the decision to reopen the border means about 95 per cent of the trade in beef and cattle would resume in the early spring ted haney of the canada beef export federation said mean while cattle prices should begin to recover almost immediately mr haney added york regions 17 beef farmers managed to remain in business during the past year and a half york region cattlemen association president art schickedanz said were plugging along mr schickedanz said a few people in canada exit ed the industry and a few more will likely go even after the border opens but i think as an industry weve hit rock bottom things can only get better ontario minister of agriculture and food steve peters applauds the news that the border is about to reopen the decision takes an enormous weight off our livestock producers who have had to deal with unprecedented fallout for almost 20 months mr peters said as of late november ottawa and queens park had spent more than 260 million helping ontario ranchers both mr smalley and mr schickedanz have been impressed with canadian consumers during the past 19 months the consumer never backed off mr smalley said instead the con sumer stepped up to the plate and supported us canadian beef con sumption actually went up during the us beef ban mr schickedanz added staff photosusie kockersheidt odds are youll win big despite a second confirmed case of mad cow disease in alberta york farmers are confident the united states border will reopen to their product in march