Montana no! New Zealand yes! Mooo!
Montana Department of Livestock — Does this seem right to you?? It’s incredible. If I want to get some good grass-fed beef from outside my state it’s nearly impossible. Meanwhile, Whole Foods sells grass fed beef, no problem. It’s from New Zealand! Who benefits from these onerous laws? Who is the beneficiary?? Corruption has to be at the heart of this. It’s the only logical explanation.
Under current law, state-inspected plants cannot ship beef, pork, lamb, ratites or poultry across state lines. However, there is no restriction on the interstate-shipment of state inspected bison, venison and pheasant. The current ban actually favors imported meat over U.S. produced state inspected beef. While state inspected products are restricted from interstate commerce, meat from over 30 countries that is not directly inspected by USDA can be sold anywhere in the U.S.
It’s barely up to the level of corruption, John. It’s business as usual for the sleazy bastards who’ve been benefitting from crap like this for years.
We’re fortunate in my neck of the woods — to be able to go to local markets or trading posts [yes, we still have ’em] and buy fresh meat, locally raised — even tested and guaranteed free of BSD.