ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL Photos: Shutterstock, Adobe Stock DECADE of DRAMA Nothing impacted the first decade of the 21st century more than the country's first case of BSE BY S T E V E K AY | m e a t p o u l t r y @ s o s l a n d.c o m T he E. coli crisis of the 1990s changed the nature of beef processing. But it scarcely compared to the drama of the following decade, as home-grown cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) were discovered in Canada and then the US, a food versus fuel debate raged, and deal-making profoundly changed the ownership structure of the US meat and poultry industry. Also in the mix was the battle over country-of-origin 62 MEAT+ POULTRY | 10.15 | www.meatpoultry.com labeling (COOL) and a legal challenge to the beef checkoff program. The first decade of the 21st century dawned with a sense of cautious optimism. The beef sector had largely recovered from the E. coli O157:H7-related food safety crisis of the 1990s, although the pathogen cost the industry several billion dollars. Corn prices hovered around $2 per bushel and looked to offer livestock producers and poultry growershttp://www.meatpoultry.com