That must be the reason for this:

The Bush administration said yesterday that it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests fewer 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.

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive test, too. The Agriculture Department argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. U.S. District Judge James Robertson noted that Creekstone sought to use the same test that the government relies on and said the government did not have the authority to restrict it.

The ruling was to take effect this Friday, but the Agriculture Department said yesterday that it would appeal — effectively delaying the testing while the court challenge continues.

Yup – because the USDA and government has done such a knock up job at protecting our food supply so far!