October 1, 2004

 

 

US Alaska Hoping To Bring In Canadian Cattle

 

An US Alaska farm group is working on a proposal to try to get its state border opened to live Canadian cattle.

 

"We have historically purchased our animals from Canada," said Jane Hamilton, executive director of the Alaska Farm Bureau.

 

"Canada is our closest neighbor. There is a lot less trauma and stress in transporting an animal from Canada instead of going all the way to the Lower 48."

 

The Farm Bureau represents the state's agriculture industry, and is represented nationally by the American Farm Bureau.

 

The United States closed its borders to live Canadian cattle in May 2003 after one case of mad cow disease was found in an Alberta cow.

 

The closure means Alaska has to import any replacement cattle from the Lower 48. But since the most practical way to get live cattle to Alaska is overland through Canada, the state is unable to bring them in from either Canada or the rest of the United States.

 

Hamilton said Alaska's unique situation means it may be more likely to get an exemption from the ban.

 

"We only import 300 to 400 animals per year. So we're thinking that with the small number of livestock that would be transported, (and) the fact that there really is only one major road into Alaska, that it can be really well controlled, and we can keep track of the Canadian cows that come in," she said.

 

Hamilton said Alaska producers are getting desperate.

 

"The dairymen are unable to get any replacement heifers, and so their production is going down. And we haven't got any bulls in for our cattlemen to improve their genetics."

 

While Alaska producers could bring in cattle by barge from the Lower 48, it would add about $800 to the cost of each animal, she said.

 

Alaska cattle producers could import semen to get around the lack of bulls, and dairymen could raise their own replacement heifers, but that takes time, she said.

 

The bureau met with Neil Jahnke, past president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, and other Canadians in Anchorage at the beginning of September, and a plan was devised.

 

Hamilton said the plan includes testing every live cow that entered the state. Currently the state tests only suspect animals for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the scientific name for mad cow disease.

 

However, the commitment to extra testing is making it more difficult to complete the pilot program, and Hamilton is unsure when it will be launched, even if approved.

 

"To put the animal ID program into place, to find the funds to have every animal tested -- this is why it's taking longer than we had hoped."