March 22

A mad cow scare leads to a lawsuit from a Kansas beef producer. Creekstone Farms plans to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A move that Kansas Congressman Todd Tiahrt supports.

After two years of waiting, Creekstone Farms is taking matters into it's own hands.

"I totally support creekstones efforts to voluntary screen each carcass," said Tiahrt.

But the USDA won't allow it. That's why Creekstone Farms is filing a lawsuit. They say it's of critical importance to test all cattle for mad cow.The company says it's what customers want and they also believe it's vital to U.S. trade with Japan and other countries.

"I've had conversations with the Department of Agriculture to try to allow this," said Tiahrt. "They've blocked it each step of the path. I've even threatened to take away their travel funds if they don't allow this to occur."

Tiahrt says it's all about money, the cost of screening ever cow.

"I think the big packers in America are opposed to screening, because it costs about $20 a carcass," said Tiahrt. "But I think when you have a customer, like the people in Japan, a customer like the people in South Korea, whatever happened to the atage, the customer is always right? They want screened beef, and we haven't been allowed to give it to them because of the Department of Agriculture.

Tiahrt says the U.S. has lost over 3 billion dollars in sales due to to the mad cow scare.