More impacts from the mad cow disease scare are being felt in Vermont’s dairy industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has banned sales of meat from so-called “downer” cows – animals that are injured or too sick to walk.
Sales of downer cows have been bringing farmers $200 to $300 apiece recently. Now that income will be lost, and farmers will have to pay $50 to have the cows removed, or find a place to bury it on the farm.