Contact:	(303) 220-9890	beefboard@beef.org

Cattlemen Finalizing Contracts for BSE Research

DENVER (November 25, 2002) – Contracts are being finalized that will help bring the subject of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) under clearer focus.  The research is being funded through $1.1 million in beef checkoff funds and a $500,000 grant from McDonald’s Corporation.

The project is being coordinated for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Research and Knowledge Management staff.  The Beef Board oversees the $1-per-head beef checkoff.

Members of the BSE Scientific Working Group reviewed 17 proposals received from research organizations across the U.S.  These proposals were generated through a “request for proposal” process that identified the specific goals the Working Group wanted to accomplish.  The Group’s five topic areas consisted of basic research, diagnostics, “Beef Quality Assurance” Best Management Practices, eradication and rendering technologies. 

Topics of final proposals ranged from basic research of prion proteins to Chronic Wasting Disease in deer and CWD relationships to Transmittable Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE).  Twelve-month contracts with investigating bodies are expected to be finalized by the end of the year, with results available by early 2004.

The CBB is a 110-member board appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to oversee the collection of the $1-per-head checkoff, certify state beef councils, implement the provisions of the federal order establishing the checkoff and evaluate the effectiveness of checkoff programs. Producer-directed and consumer-focused, NCBA is the trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.