What will save this turn of cattle feeding?

[grassfarmer]

Shaney you had a typo in your comment which made it unclear to me what your reply meant. "Consumption of
red meat is struggling bot necessarily the price at the store. We have a lot of supply and consumption is struggling. Boxed beef has struggled to move."

Are you saying consumption is struggling but the retail price is still fairly high? If that is the case the answer is simple - processors and retailers cut into their ample margins, reduce the price a little and it will fly off the shelves. That principle too is simple economics.

[kato]

Perfecho, I have a problem with COOL. Yes, it is "some cattle people trying to make a change", but it's a group that does not speak for all cattle people in the U.S., and it's a protectionist move that has done harm in the U.S. as well. Not all, if any American cattle producers have gotten a benefit. In fact, those who lobbied for the law are not even happy with it now that they have found it is not making any difference in their grocery stores. It has not dropped the amount of imported beef there, and has not increased any returns to the producers. All it has done is make us weaker, and has made more money for those who have figured out ways to cash in on our disadvantage.

It's a bad law. It's just another nail in our coffin that we could do without.

I also agree that the export model of farming has been a disaster. That being said, the disaster has led to the end of competition in our packing industry. Like it or not, when the Americans go off our market, we get screwed. They are off our market right now, and look what's happening. We need that extra bidder, no matter where it comes from, to keep our domestic packers honest. Even if they could or would pay more for cattle, (which I'm sure they can),unless someone bids them up, they are NOT going to do it.

We need to revamp our entire industry to get away from this U.S. dependence, but in the short term, we need every bidder we can get for our live cattle. Other export markets buying our beef is not going to work back to more money for us.

[smcgrath76]

I think the problem with COOL is that it
changed not only the rules, but the
entire game and once again we are
playing reactionary instead of
visionary. We fought it until it was
law, and have not had time to develop a
Canadian premium product.
I think a big part of the suffering here
is by the fact that the export business
(read USA) was built on cheaper product
($0.67 dollar) rather than product
quality and innovation. Innovation is
hard to copy/replace/substitute, a cheap
product isn't and is at the whim of the
government of the day to add costs.

[smcgrath76]

I think the problem with COOL is that it
changed not only the rules, but the
entire game and once again we are
playing reactionary instead of
visionary. We fought it until it was
law, and have not had time to develop a
Canadian premium product.
I think a big part of the suffering here
is by the fact that the export business
(read USA) was built on cheaper product
($0.67 dollar) rather than product
quality and innovation. Innovation is
hard to copy/replace/substitute, a cheap
product isn't and is at the whim of the
government of the day to add costs.

[smcgrath76]

I think the problem with COOL is that it
changed not only the rules, but the
entire game and once again we are
playing reactionary instead of
visionary. We fought it until it was
law, and have not had time to develop a
Canadian premium product.
I think a big part of the suffering here
is by the fact that the export business
(read USA) was built on cheaper product
($0.67 dollar) rather than product
quality and innovation. Innovation is
hard to copy/replace/substitute, a cheap
product isn't and is at the whim of the
government of the day to add costs.

[smcgrath76]

I think the problem with COOL is that it
changed not only the rules, but the
entire game and once again we are
playing reactionary instead of
visionary. We fought it until it was
law, and have not had time to develop a
Canadian premium product.
I think a big part of the suffering here
is by the fact that the export business
(read USA) was built on cheaper product
($0.67 dollar) rather than product
quality and innovation. Innovation is
hard to copy/replace/substitute, a cheap
product isn't and is at the whim of the
government of the day to add costs.

[Sawbones]

We're looking for hormone free, EU eligible calves...any out there

[smcgrath76]

number, size, weight and veterinary
qualifications? Do they have to have been
inspected/vaccinated by a veterinarian?

[smcgrath76]

number, size, weight and veterinary
qualifications? Do they have to have been
inspected/vaccinated by a veterinarian?

[kato]

A major reason we have not taken a visionary role is that our beef processing industry consists of one packer that is American owned, and one that has been able to take a terrific advantage to grow and prosper just the way things are now.

They do not want things to change. They are doing just fine the way they are. With no processors having a vested interest in changing the status quo, IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

I resent when Canadian cattle producers are blamed for this. I resent when we are told that we have sat back and let this happen. We as a group have knocked ourselves out for the last six years in so many attempts to help the situation that I've lost count. This is not an easy thing to do, especially when we are pretty much doing it on our own.
Improving the way the cattle business in Canada is run is going to take years. In the meantime, without those extra U.S. bids on our cattle to keep at least a tiny bit of competition going, we won't be around long enough to win it. That's why we need to keep fighting COOL. Give up on this one, and another will just be added to it, because we have basically said we'd take whatever is handed to us without a fight.