Beef proposal ignites uproar

U.S. weighs beef imports from Brazil but ranchers fearful of disease.

KANSAS CITY, MO.

— Foot and mouth disease is so highly contagious it can be spread on a gentle breeze or the tires of farm machinery.

The disease, which affects cattle and other hooved animals, was eradicated in the U.S. more than 80 years ago. But a government proposal to import fresh beef from Brazil — where the disease is still active — has ignited fears of a new epidemic that could cost the U.S. cattle industry billions of dollars.

The idea is “ludicrous,” South Dakota rancher Tracy Trask wrote on a government website where the proposal was posted. “Have you lost your freakin’ minds? What would be the economic benefit that would outweigh the decimation of the cattle industry in this country?”

The proposal has united factions within the U.S. beef industry. Of the more than 500 comments posted on the website as of Tuesday, nearly all are negative.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, whose members include large beef packers that could benefit from the proposal, says it shares those concerns. The group, which opposes such imports as long as foot and mouth remains a problem in Brazil, has asked the government for “a potload of documents” on the proposal, said Colin Woodall, the association’s vice president for government affairs.

The proposal, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, showed up on the agency’s website two days before Christmas last year.

USDA experts said in the proposal that they would limit imports to beef from Brazilian states that have had no recent cases of foot and mouth disease.

“We are aware of the concerns of ranchers,” an APHIS spokeswoman told The Kansas City Star on Friday. “USDA bases its import decisions on science and will continue to protect the health of U.S. agriculture through appropriate importation eligibility requirements.”

Officials said they based their assessment that imports would not reignite the disease here at least in part on information provided by Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, and on site visits by U.S. experts in Brazil.

“We concluded that Brazil has infrastructure and emergency response capabilities adequate to effectively contain and eradicate FMD in the event of an outbreak and to comply with U.S. import restrictions on products from affected areas,” USDA said in the proposal.