(CTN) - Agriculture Canada and the University of Waterloo today jointly announced $22.7 million dollars in funding for a new testing facility of the farm management program. Preventative BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy)  Detection Lab will open in the fall of 2005, staffed by undergraduates of the farm management program. Initial testing involves collection of 40 million tons of cow manure of uninfected cows to determine a baseline that will be used in the detection of suspect cows. The manure will be dried, compressed and pressed into pellets that are then specially treated with chemicals that allow for the visible detection of BSE. Cow manure futures rose sharply with the market expecting a shortfall in fertilizer supply due to the size of purchase by the university.

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