xl calgary shutting down

[jensend]

article in this morning's herald. did nilsson's just get some govt money to subsidize that plant? gotta say for ritz - what he can't screw up he'll crap on. i just use more colorful language when i won't get censored.

[grassfarmer]

The most recent subsidy XL got ($1.6 million) was for the Lakeside plant. To be honest I'm surprised they didn't close the Calgary plant sooner - it was the obvious conclusion when they bought Lakeside. Remember how the Competition bureau approved their purchase of Lakeside conditional on it not limiting the future options of places farmers could sell to or incurring them extra costs in trucking? Result - bought Lakeside, closed Moose Jaw now closing Calgary. So much for the Competition Bureau - aka the Anti-Competition Bureau.

[smcgrath76]

It was not possible to close the plant
when the real estate values hit a decline.
Now they are rebounding, the writing is on
the wall. Not much of a surprise here.
That was a nice old plant for a young guy
to learn about the beef side of cattle.

[wilagro]

If you guys don't like what Nilssons does with their operations or what the AB government does with your tax dollars then I'm surprised that you still support them.

As far as the Competition Bureau is concerned...they have become a toothless tiger and have been for years already.

Soon we will have two (2) main slaughter plants in AB and perhaps only one (1) in the not too distant future.

[grassfarmer]

Who indicated their support for either Nilssons or the AB Government?

[wilagro]

Well grassfarmer, I know you don't but others tacitly support Nilssons by selling and buying through their premises.

I was speaking in a general sense and have read in the past of some support for ABs position on the control of the industry by reading of producers postings.

Opinions expressed on this forum certainly don't represent those of the majority of producers by any stretch of the imagination. My opinion is that Nilssons and the AB government could care less what the primary producer thinks...period.

[rkaiser]

Love em or hate em - the way we COULD deal with em is to work together and do what they do.

[per]

Where are you going with that Randy, Consolidate... Monopolise? or are you suggesting value chain with your own packing facility?

Certainly folks living in a Commodity based structured environment in certain areas don't have many options but to deal with NB facilities be it trucking, trading or packing. Having said that, if we were all to be in value chains then there would likely not be a premium any more.

The competition bureau were definitely informed that this could happen and so it has.

[rkaiser]

What would that be like if the primary cattle producers of Canada joined hands and "monopolised" the industry Phil? I would call that Utopia.

One Steak holder at a time bud. One Steak holder at a time.

[ALLFARMER]

Calgary was a very old plant, but looked new compared to the Alsask plant Nilsson owned in Edmonton. Alsask could have been used to film a horror movie. A guy I worked with once found someones finger floating in the water filtration system. The guys their used to cut meat with die gringers with cut off wheels attached. Likely why someone lost their finger..extreemly unsafe stuff.

[Kathy]

There is no need to Monopolize or consolidate a "losing" industry. The prospects for future earnings is very good in the MEAT industry, hence the long term plan to monopolize, consolidate and regulate to DEATH the industry. Once this PLAN is done, the profits (from top to bottom) go to those who saw the future and worked during good times and BAD times to package the whole industry, and push out the little players.

Most cattle producers are in this business not for the money, but because they like to be their own boss (to the extent government allows us)... how many will stay in the business when the "consolidators" dictate our everyday actions?

This is why our school systems are pushing for good little employees, instead of self-motivated thinkers.