Producers are divided on what the impact will be of a second cow confirmed with BSE from Canada, but they agree on one point: the reopening of the U.S. to live cattle will very likely be delayed because of the finding.

The second cow in question was slaughtered in Washington state in early December, and a test confirmed on Dec. 23 that the animal had BSE. To complicate matters for Canada's beef industry, the DNA test results were released on Jan. 6, confirming the cow had come from a herd in Alberta, most of which had been shipped to a dairy farm in Washington.

Colgate-area cattle producer Janet Ledingham suggested there will be both a psychological and economical blow to Canada's beef industry as a result of the second BSE cow.

"It's such an integrated North American market, had it not been traced back to Canada, it would've made it easier to have the U.S. come on-side to develop the integrated rules that Canada has been pushing for. This is more than a psychological blow; it will delay the reopening of the U.S. border to live cattle," she said, adding part of the problem is the U.S. doesn't have as good a system as Canada, noting the meat from this cow never would've made it into Canada's food chain, whereas it did make it to the markets in some western states.

"What we need to do is put this into perspective. When BSE was in the U.K., there were 250,000 cows infected and 114 people died from eating tainted meat. The reaction to this case is out of proportion," she said.

Under the regulations set by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Canada could have one BSE case per million cows, or up to 11 or 12 cases, and still be considered a minimum-risk country for BSE.

"I really don't think this is going to change the situation very much at all," was the reaction of Tom Grieve, a cattle producer in the Fillmore area. "If they could trace back to where the feed came from to cause this, it might relieve some of the tension. This case showed even if it was a Canadian cow, it's in the U.S. food chain, so everything actually should be equal now."

As the Americans now to finish their investigation on the BSE cow and the feed it received, the reopening of the border will be delayed, he added.

"I don't know if there's much optimism. The only thing we can do is stay as positive as we can. It's getting to be quite discouraging when something else keeps coming up," said Grieve, adding the situation now is turning very "political" in nature rather than being based solely on the science.

Ledingham said those producers who had optimism that the border would be reopening this spring may end up being the most hurt, as some of them even expanded their herds in anticipation of the improvement in the market which may now not happen, or may be delayed until later this year.

In the wake of the DNA test, Alberta suggested that, as Japan has been requesting, every cow sent to slaughter should be tested, but most producers and processors point out that cows under 30 months of age cannot get BSE so it won't make any sense to be spending money to test them. The federal government announced last week they will increase the amount of funding for testing of cows sent to slaughter.

The president of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, Marilyn Jahnke, said such wide-ranging testing would not be necessary.

"The U.S. has never said if you test every animal we will open our markets. They've just said this would help to open the markets, so it would be an added expense without knowing the results," she said.

Her husband, Neil Jahnke, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, is currently on a tour through Asia along the federal Agriculture Minister Bob Speller, in an effort to convince countries like Korea and Japan that Canadian beef is still safe. Jahnke will make a stop in Washington, D.C. on his way back from the Asian tour to meet with U.S. agriculture officials.

In the meantime, it was decided on Jan. 5 that the herd containing this cow's bull calf will be destroyed; the fate of the dairy herd the cow was part of has not been determined. The USDA is also trying to track down the other members of the herd that the BSE cow was originally a part of. Canadian records show 81 of the herd of 82 crossed into the U.S., and the location of 70 of those cows is unknown.