Cow Prices Down, Hamburger Prices Soar!

[ASRG]

Just finished watching CTV news Edmonton:

Pre E coli shutdown Post Shutdown

-Hamburger
Sobeys $7.69 KG $8.69/kg

Safeway $6.53 kg $9.23 kg!

The guy representing Safeway said they had to raise the price because of all the beef they had to throw out!

CTV said the price of live cows has dropped about 12 cents/lb.

It was also interesting 44% of people polled said they are considering not eating beef again. 42% said they believe it will be okay once they get it cleaned up!

Now personally I think the 44% are just caught up in the media blitz, but I suspect people will back off of it for awhile.....especially when good old Safeway cranks the price up $2.80 kg!

I'm assuming Cargill is smiling?

[grassfarmer]

I'm dubious of the pre scare Safeway price - that
looks too cheap. Maybe they factored in some of their
warehouse pack sales?

[ASRG]

I don't know as I don't follow prices in the stores.
I suspect volume of sales are going to go down fairly dramatically in the next few days? It doesn't help when Redford does her little photo op out on the ranch saying how Alberta beef is safe.....and the very next day the CFIA issues more recalls?
A lot of this hype about "unsafe food"....is probably just hype....or is it? When people start getting sick from eating contaminated food....maybe we need to start looking at the ways we raise and process food?
Personally I wouldn't be buying any beef in Alberta until they get this mess sorted out.

[parsley]

Or is this why America is where it's at:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/chapter-ix-the-
arab-american-network-behind-
obama/article/2508425#.UGrWRSd5mc0

[comtex]

We raise a pure product,it is when it leaves our ranches is where the problem lies, the feedlot and processing is where the trouble begins... out of our control, but we ranchers always end up paying for some else's mistakes or poor management!

[kato]

Exactly!

A local meat shop in Brandon was on the news the other day with a story of how it's business has doubled.

Maybe this will help nudge the buy local idea along, and help things get started back down the road to common sense. Tossing the meat from hundreds/thousands of animals all into one big blob, and then parceling it out across hundreds of stores and thousands of miles to be fed to hundreds of thousands of people is just plain asking for trouble, IMHO.

[riders2010]

I agree instead of downplaying this thing it should be reported to the fullest then maybe the consumer would dictate more as to the direction of our food supply. Emaberrassing to our food inspection process and not running down the people working there, but looks like even they are complaining they do not have the tools to do a proper inspection job. Hip Hip hooray they found it after but how about not have it happen at all in the first place. Grose to think all those mixed up carcasses what the hell people are eating.

[ASRG]

What is really kind of scary here is this wasn't just the hamburger bin? Costco has a pretty good product in Kirkland steaks....all AAA or AA beef....and yet they came up dirty and made people sick?
I can see contamination on the hamburger boning line....everything goes into the bin....but strip loins or rib eyes?
XL must be one dirty old hole!

[SADIE]

Just heard this on the news while I'm finishing up baling some straw.

Beef recall from product from the XL plant in Alberta ---Recall is now nation-wide.

Could this have been a planned strategy? I am just asking this. HOw timely the beef fall calf run is ready to start. Cull cows also it the market routinely in the next month or two.

This type of stratagey could end up with some groups paying a lower price for new inventory at the expense of the primary producer again--the cow-calf producer.

[grassfarmer]

Maybe a bit cynical Sadie but I've heard that
suggested too. My guess is that that plant will be up
and running again this week or next at the latest and
before Christmas XL will receive Government funding
to upgrade their plant with the official line being "so
that something like this can never happen again".

[kato]

We've been saying all summer that there would be a great effort put out to drive the price of cattle down, but this is ridiculous. It's not quite what we had in mind.

[riders2010]

This mixed up carcass thing has been on my mind, so wondering do they just inspect every so often? Because if they do say inspect 1 in a 100 then maybe just one of other 99 could have something which makes the whole batch bad. Does anyone know how they do that.

[greybeard]

The small locals will have a snowstorm of new paper and regulations to abide by because we all naturally call for more government involvement. The big outfit caused the problem but this will result in more consolidation as the small 3 man shops can't do the paper

[grassfarmer]

Not so much a case of checking one carcass in every
10 Riders, they are just on too big a scale for that I
think. From the article I kato posted on the other
thread "Industry standards dictate that when a 375-
gram sample from a 1,000-kg container of trim
destined for ground beef tests positive, that lot is
diverted for use in cooked products or destroyed."
Also from that article ..."the 1.3 million kilos of beef
recalled" - wow!! thats over 1400 tons! gives you an
idea of the scale of the problem.

[gaucho]

Not to be a pessimist but I think NB will shut her down and HOLD govt hostage on paying for upgrades and then flip the asset... too many things stacked up against the brand now and with lawsuits and no end in sight of recalls and access issues to the US I say they will make a call to shut down operations... if you think I am nuts put yourself in their management shoes with what they have in front of them and the options they have with their US plants