Market Access

[Sawbones]

Some good news for the proponents of market access saving our industry as we have opened markets to Hong Kong which will add additional $26 million in beef sales. I haven't noticed a dramatic spike in prices for cattle. Almost as noticable as the spike in prices when access to Russia was announced. Maybe representatives of ALMA or ABP could help explain why we don't see a change at ground zero or will that just take time for the marketplace to adjust??

[perfecho]

Good point Sawbones......have to love the "trickle down model!"

[jensend]

without this market access a producer owned plant won't fly. right now you could start up a plant and unless you had a couple hundred million to back it up you'd be dead in a year or two. the cattlemen who are making money are doing so because they are selling their beef. if xl or cargill decide to turn out the lights on you they will just by undercutting your product until your capital runs out. frustrating as hell. if alma could convince cfia to write regulations that weren't okayed by the big packers then we would be getting somewhere. focus on the beef not the cattle.

[Sawbones]

I agree that we need those markets jensend but without the desire of the packers to open those markets and a willingness to develop those high end opportunities, we're stuck in the commodity US trade that will kill this industry