About 1 million cattle were imported from Canada in the year before the border closed in May 2003, when Canada reported its first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Divided by their affiliations and trade positions, Nebraska Cattlemen President Tom Hansen of North Platte and Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska President Chris Abbott of Gordon reacted differently Friday to an announcement by US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns that he would push to reopen the border.

Hansen's group, traditionally the lead cattle organization in Nebraska, and its affiliate, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, have argued that Canadian cattle are as safe as those raised in the United States.

Reopening the border isn't something to jump up and down about, but it's the right decision, Hansen said.

"It's not a victory, it's just the way things are supposed to be," he said. "We just feel the beef coming down from Canada is safe because their firewalls are similar to ours."

Abbott's group, which was formed earlier this year and now has about 700 members, is affiliated with the RanchersCattlemen's Legal Defense Fund. It is driven by trade policy -- promoting US-labeled beef over imported beef -- and it vehemently opposes reopening the border.

"We need some safeguards put in place," Abbott said.

'Days, Not Weeks'

Johanns said he will move as "expeditiously as possible" once officials work out the ground rules. Canadian and USDA officials anticipated that requirements to be placed on imported cattle would be in place when the legal issues were resolved.

"Our hope is we are talking about days, not weeks," Johanns said. "It could be as early as next week, but we want to make sure everything is in place . . . . If things go well, it could very well be next week, but we haven't set a specific date."

Jim Rogers, a spokesman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the border technically opened as soon as a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its unanimous decision Thursday. The ruling lifted a lower court's injunction.

Shipments will begin when Canadian producers and US buyers have the paperwork to show they are following import regulations.

"It's just a matter of everyone having all their pieces in place," Rogers said.

Johanns said USDA agencies will issue procedures to field offices and Canadian officials. US customs agents will verify documents and release livestock to USDA inspectors at border crossings if the cattle are younger than 30 months of age, as required.

Inspectors will verify requirements at meatpacking plants.

Two-Week Window

US and Canadian officials have a nearly two-week window to begin shipping live cattle before another court hearing, scheduled July 27 in Montana before US District Judge Richard Cebull. He issued the injunction in March blocking Canadian cattle trade.

R-CALF officials said Friday they were awaiting the written ruling from the 9th Circuit but were determined to move ahead with the trial.

"We'll demonstrate to the US District Court the USDA's actions are premature and unjustified," Abbott said.

The USDA is prepared to defend its case, which Johanns reiterated is based on sound science and assessment of risk.

Cattle futures dropped Friday while stocks of meatpacking companies climbed. August futures for feeder cattle finished $1.97 lower to close at $106.15 per hundredweight. Fed cattle prices for August dropped 42.5 cents per hundredweight to close at $78.52.

Industry analysts project that the border opening would be positive for meatpackers by lowering cattle prices. Stocks for meatpackers rose Friday.

For example, Tyson Foods Inc. closed $1.39 higher at $19.91 a share.

Although its national membership has more than doubled in the past year to nearly 18,000, R-CALF has been criticized by others in the cattle industry for challenging the potential safety of US beef because of Canadian imports.

Hansen said such arguments go too far. "It just wasn't based on science," he said of R-CALF's resistance to the imports. "It was based on a willingness to manipulate the border situation."

Johanns has lamented the closed border since becoming agriculture secretary in late January, saying that it hurts cattle feeders and meatpackers because the United States has continued to import boxed beef.

Higher cattle prices because of tight supplies led meatpackers to scale back production at US facilities. Industry officials claim to have lost as many as 8,000 meatpacking jobs because of the closed border.

About 1 million cattle were imported from Canada in the year before the border closed in May 2003, when Canada reported its first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

According to USDA data, Nebraska meatpackers and feedlots imported 139,502 cattle from October 2002 until the border closed.

Tyson, the world's largest beef processor, stated that the company intends "to move as quickly as possible to resume the purchase of Canadian cattle."

About 3 percent to 5 percent of Tyson's cattle supply came from Canada before the border closing, but some plants closer to the border, such as Washington and Idaho, received as much as 20 percent of their supply from Canada.

There is speculation that if the border opens before Cebull's trial, meatpackers could rush to import as many cattle as possible in case Cebull issues another injunction.