The Agriculture Department tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. A beef producer in the western state of Kansas, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cows. Larger meat companies feared that move

The Bush admin. said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from (voluntarily) testing all their animals for mad cow disease . The Agriculture Department tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows.

The government is on track to approve a new antibiotic to treat a pneumonialike disease in cattle, despite warnings from health groups and a majority of the agency’s own expert advisers that the decision will be dangerous for people.

The ability of scientists to improve health and disease management of cattle and enhance the nutritional value of beef and dairy products has received a major boost with the release this week of the most complete sequence of the cow genome ever assembled.

The ability of scientists to improve health and disease management of cattle and enhance the nutritional value of beef and dairy products has received a major boost with the release this week of the most complete sequence of the cow genome ever assembled.

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef is one of the principal meats used in the Cuisine of Australia, European cuisine and cuisine of the Americas, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. In the Middle East, lamb is usually preferred over beef. Beef is taboo for Hindus and is not eaten by the Hindu population in India. It is also discouraged among some Buddhists.Beef can be cut into steaks, pot roasts or short ribs, or it can be ground. The blood is also used in some varieties of blood sausage. Other beef varieties include the tongue, which is usually sliced for sandwiches in Western cooking; tripe from the stomach; various glands—particularly the pancreas and thymus—referred to as sweetbreads; the heart, the brain, the liver, the kidneys; and the tender testicles of the bull popularly known as "calf fries", "prairie oysters", or "Rocky Mountain oysters." Beef bones are essential for making certain varieties of soup stock.The better cuts are usually obtained from the steer; the heifer tends to be kept for breeding. Older animals are used for beef when they are past their reproductive prime. The meat from older cows and bulls is usually tougher, so it is frequently used for mince (UK)/ground beef (US). Cattle raised for beef may be allowed to roam free on grasslands, or may be confined at some stage in pens as part of a large feeding operation called a feedlot, where they are usually fed grain.The United States, Brazil, Japan and the People's Republic of China are the world's four largest consumers of beef. The worlds largest exporters of beef are Australia, Brazil, Argentina and Canada. Beef production is also important to the economies of Uruguay, Nicaragua, Russia and Mexico.