Older Cattle Numbers Spark Rendering Scheme Concern
UK - There are growing concerns that the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme (OCDS) may not be able to handle all the animals forecast to be presented before it finally ends on 31 December 2008.The scheme was set up two years ago to handle beef from cattle born before 1 August 1996. This was the cut-off date when health authorities deemed it safe for beef from older cattle, mostly cows and cull bulls, to re-enter the human food chain.
On 20 March, 1996, the then UK health minister, Stephen Dorrell, conceded in the House of Commons that there could be a link, though that has never been conclusively proven, between BSE and variant CJD in the human population. One of the first moves in resolving the immediate crisis was to ban all beef from cattle aged over 30 months from the food chain.
When these older animals reached the end of their working life they were slaughtered at designated plants and the carcases rendered down to meat-and-bone meal prior to incineration. Farmers received compensation for these animals, but at a rate well below what they would have been worth previously.
In 2006 it was agreed that older beef was once more safe to eat, with the exception of product from animals born prior to August 1996. That was when the OCDS was set up with a three-year lifespan and a progressively declining rate of compensation. The rate for this year is approximately £218 per head, but in 2008 it will fall to £197.
Clearly, it is in the interests of farmers to get rid of these older animals as quickly as possible.
The snag is that the OCDS was shut down for almost two weeks last month during the foot-and-mouth crisis and that is putting pressure on the system, according to Nigel Miller, vice-president of NFU Scotland.
Source: Scotsman
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