By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) received $1.24 million from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bolster inspections for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE – widely known as “Mad Cow” disease – on Illinois farms, feed mills and manufacturing plants over the next five years.

A total of 12 states and commonwealths received funding for BSE inspections in September through a cooperative agreement with the FDA. The funding will allow Illinois to continue its on-farm surveillance efforts, which began through funding from the program five years ago, said Jim Larkin, bureau chief of the Agricultural Products Inspection division of the IDOA.

“In the past five years under this program we have (performed) 150 farm inspections each year, along with 50 inspections of transporters, retailers and renderers,” Larkin said last week.
Letters are sent to Illinois livestock farmers by the IDOA informing them of what inspectors may be looking for during a visit to their operation. Producers should expect specific questions probing their feeding methods, the letters indicate.

“Most importantly, we’ll be checking to make sure ruminant protein is not being fed to cattle,” said Larkin. “Feeders should be able to produce labels for the feed purchases and feed ingredient purchases for the feed presently being fed to livestock. If you are buying bulk feed, you should get a label with the invoice.

“If you are feeding ruminant protein to hogs, you need to show separation of ruminant feed and non-ruminant feed. If you are making your own feed, on-farm, using the same equipment to grind and mix both ruminant feed and non-ruminant feed, you need written procedures and records stating how you clean your equipment and flush your equipment between batches.

“In the past five years we’ve come across some farmers still feeding both cattle and hogs (and) almost every one has had dedicated equipment.”

Another less-known feeding mistake linked to the spread of BSE can occur when farmers feed the operation’s – or family’s – domestic pets in the same area as their livestock.

“Almost all pet food contains ruminant protein,” Larkin explained. “Quite a few farmers were surprised by this. We don’t want a BSE incident because the cattle ate the dog’s food.”

Feed contaminated with tissue from the nervous system of infected cattle is believed to spread BSE, leading to the FDA’s 1997 prohibition of ruminant protein in feed for cattle and other ruminant animals.

January Smith, communications manager for the IDOA, said the money awarded to the department for inspections did not require a matching sum from the state of Illinois. Other states awarded funding through the cooperative agreement with the FDA were Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington, along with the commonwealth of Kentucky, she said.

“We believe these inspections provide additional assurance to consumers and our agricultural trading partners, that Illinois beef is safe to eat,” stated Tom Jennings, Illinois agriculture director.