Since my college funds are running low I have been paying attention to the cattle markets so that I can sell my cattle and get some much-needed cash.

But with the recent anthrax scare I have been unsure if I should sell my cattle or not.

Anthrax is a disease that can affect people, which is obvious to everyone who has paid any attention to the media these days. I am not scared of opening my mail and getting the disease myself, I am more worried about passing the disease onto my herd.

I first heard about anthrax when I was a child watching an old episode of “Gunsmoke” and learned that the disease could wipe out herds of cattle.

My cattle are my main source of income besides the various jobs that I work at during the summer. I’m also concerned about what would happen if anthrax would happen to infect the thousands of cattle on the feedlots.

If thousands of cattle died from the disease that has this stranglehold on the nation, the markets would plummet like the poultry market did a few years ago. You might remember when masses of chickens died because of the heat and the markets suffered. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange showed that on Oct. 12 the high for live cattle was $92.83 a hundred weight. Yet, last Thursday the high was $88.85. For those who do not know the total price of a live cow, it is figured by taking the price times the total of pounds. So if I sold a 500 pound steer last Thursday, I would get $444.25. This is only $20 less than if I sold it two weeks earlier, but if I was selling hundreds of cattle the amount would be more noticeable. Now just imagine the money lost if the market was wiped out by anthrax.

Yes, so far the terrorists are sending the disease to the government and the media, but they could also send it to the feedlots across the Midwest.

Think about what would happen if anthrax penetrated some of the big feedlots in Nebraska. The average feedlot has 10 to 20 thousand cattle on it and it could spread slowly throughout the herd.

The symptoms of anthrax occur within seven days, which does give the chance for the feedlot cowboys to find infected cattle and get rid of them. But what if the cattle are shipped to slaughter and the symptoms are not found yet?

Thankfully we know how to contain and prevent the disease and are able to keep the terrorists from ruining the cattle markets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does a thorough inspection of animals that are killed and processed so the disease will not be spread. So the general public does not have to worry about getting anthrax from the food that we eat.

The disease does not only affect cattle, it can occur in all animals. But the agriculture industry has worked hard for years to keep people safe in the past and still keep people safe.

So I invite you to keep eating meat and not be afraid to go out and spend money on the meat industry. When people buy more products, whether it be clothes or food, the markets increase and thus allow more money to be spent, which improve the nation’s economical state.

Everything will be fine, so there’s no need getting scared. Continue on with your day-to- day life.

Go out to the grocery store and buy meat so you can grill when you tailgate. Even though your mail may not seem safe, the food you eat is.

Wesley Griffin is a senior in agricultural education from Grand River.