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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making progress in tracing the whereabouts of the 81 other cattle that were in the same herd as the cow from Washington State found to have bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), according to Undersecretary of Agriculture Bill Hawks.

At the AFBF annual meeting, Hawks, along with American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Bob Stallman and AFBF Chief Economist Bob Young, spoke at a conference updating farmers on the "cow that stole Christmas" and the BSE situation.

"If and when we find the 81 animals, they will be tested," Hawks said. Twelve animals have been traced, he said, while nine have been slaughtered for testing. He described the process as "testing and hoping" and said it would be consistent with the experience in the United Kingdom if no more infected animals were found in the herd that came from Canada.

On the trade front, Hawks said USDA has taken extensive actions to reassure key customers of U.S. beef that everything possible is being done to determine that there are no other cattle with BSE. He said technical consultation has occurred in Japan, South Korea and Mexico, and teams from those countries have or will visit the United States to monitor the situation.

Stallman told conference attendees that consumer confidence in the beef supply remains high. He announced the results of a poll commissioned by AFBF found 74 percent of consumers have not changed their beef consumption. While 15 percent of consumers have said they are eating less beef, 7 percent said they are now eating more.

Beef producers, however, may not go unscathed if foreign demand drops by 90 percent, as USDA projects. Young said, "The outbreak will not affect the quantity of U.S. beef, but," he said, "it could have a dramatic effect on the price we get for beef."

Stallman added that Farm Bureau members want any new testing rules to be based on science. "Sealing off the borders is not the answer. Continuing trade is important to our farmers and ranchers," Stallman said. "Right now, we feel the important step to take is [to] educate U.S. consumers about the beef supply. A lot of state Farm Bureaus have done a great job of getting the word out."