The Real Issue Facing Canadian Cattle Producers

[Willowcreek]

rkaiser-- This kind of sounds like down here, when we were pushing the checkoff to use a portion of the checkoff money to advertise USA BEEF...I knew how many folks wanted the checkoff changed- because I work with it daily- and hear these producers as they're writing out the checks--but NCBA either in ignorance or in arrogance kept saying it was not the wishes of the US cattlemen...Then USDA hired Gallup Polling to poll the cattlemen (checkoff payers)-- and the number came back that 92% wanted all or a portion of their checkoff funding to be used to promote and advertise USA BEEF... LOL
It appears to me that these folks at ABP (NCBA's kissin cousins)live in the same blind world as NCBA....Probably have their heads stuck in the same places, breathing the same quality air...LOL

[Bez]

Testing?

Let's get on with it!

Cattle orgs - as a general rule disgust me now.

Status quo is their usual thought - cowardice in lack of change - enjoyment at using my dollar to travel and spread their "wisdom" to us of strong back and weak mind - and finally:

Who is really able to make a dollar every year?

Show me an area where at least 50% (probably low) of those running cattle do not use off farm money to make the machine continue to run?

Time for true change - but not likely in my lifetime.

Bez

[farmers_son]

Japan will be no longer testing young animals for BSE. There will be no BSE tested beef from animals under 21 months of age on Japanese shelves by July 2008. All that will be required to export beef to Japan will be proof of the age of the animal, not a BSE test. As a result BSE testing for marketing purposes is effectively a complete non issue, at least with Asia's largest beef importer.

And it is very important to note that Japan will not allow voluntary testing for BSE from their packers for the same reasons no other country in the world will allow voluntary BSE testing, that is it would destroy consumer confidence in all beef products.

I have posted Japan's position in another thread but will repost it here because it is so important:

http://www.agri-ville.com/cgi-bin/forums/viewThread.cgi?1189703517

JAPAN: Ministry: End BSE tests on young cows
12.sep.07
The Asahi Shimbun
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200709110524.html
The health ministry has, according to this story, called on all prefectural and municipal governments--without exception--to end mad cow disease tests of cattle under 21 months next July.

The directive came after nine prefectural governments said in an Asahi Shimbun survey they intended to continue the tests even after the central government stops funding them next July.

In the survey, conducted two months ago, the governments was cited as saying they want to continue testing to allay safety concerns and to meet the requests of consumers.

In a notice dated Aug. 31, however, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare was quoted as saying "It is important that (all the prefectural and municipal governments) end their inspections at the end of July 2008, across the board."

It also said, "It would cause chaos among producers and distributors as well as concern among consumers if the approach of individual governments toward the tests varies from one to another."
Tatsuya Kakita, an expert on food labeling and a representative of the Yokohama-based research institute on consumer issues, criticized the ministry's instruction, saying it was aimed at limiting the choice of consumers.
The ministry plans to terminate its funding of the entire cost of the tests of cattle aged 20 months or younger for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.
The ministry was cited as saying that if the beef of some districts are marketed with a label mentioning the all-cattle tests, it will give the impression that beef from other districts are not as safe.
Officials with the health ministry's Inspection and Safety Division called the continued checks on cattle not older than 20 months as a step "close to the waste of taxpayers' money." It said that there had been no cows in this age group suspected of having the infection.

End of paste.

Considerable progress has been made on the BSE issue since 2003 and 2004 and that is a good thing. We are living in 2008. Since 2004 Canadian live cow and calf trade has resumed with the United States, Japan has dramatically changed their position on BSE testing, Canada as well as the United States are both recognized by the OIE as Controlled Risk and as such our beef is safe to export around the world. BSE testing is for surveillance purposes. Food safety is acheived through removal of SRMs. 2004 is history. BSE testing for marketing purposes is a complete non issue in 2008 and detracts from the real challenges facing our industry today such as COOL.

[jensend]

what a horses_ass!

[per]

So if it a non issue then why the opposition to testing? Are you concerned that if the public had a choice it could very well be an issue? I noticed the U of C is studying BSE effects on Rural folks. I also suspect that just because the official line in Japan has changed doesn't mean that there isn't a market for tested product there or elsewhere. One might wonder if you are afraid of what we will find. If it is systemic I would rather know than pass on a safety risk just for the sake economics.

[blackjack]

...bse testing...cool...wonder how these subjects relate to packers...

[Bez]

Big snip .....

Quote -

And it is very important to note that Japan will not allow voluntary testing for BSE from their packers for the same reasons no other country in the world will allow voluntary BSE testing, that is it would destroy consumer confidence in all beef products.

End Quote.

This is simple poppycock.

In fact it is my strong belief that it would do just the opposite - INCREASE consumer confidence.

I suspect others have the same belief.

How much packer money supports this opinion?

In order to be an elected rep and toe the party line there has to be something going on. It may come out some day and it may never - but to be a rep and then NOT support the opinion of the electors - well, it smells bad to me.

Yet another reason I have no faith in those who run todays cattle orgs.

Bez

[cakadu]

Out of curiosity - is trying to maintain the status quo causing an increasing disconnect with what consumers want?

More and more consumers want to know where there food comes from AND more importantly know that it is safe. Granted we cannot make everyone happy all of the time, but shouldn't we be doing our best to ensure that confidence is not lost in our products?

Here in Canada we have not had a major food concern - YET. Shouldn't we be taking all steps to ensure we don't?

[kato]

Not to take away the importance of BSE testing, I think we have to be careful to avoid becoming so focused on it that we forget the other challenges we are up against.

We have more than one problem here, and I think farmers_son is right in bringing up the issue of MCOOL. In my opinion, it's got the potential to cause just as much harm as BSE did, and with much longer lasting results.

International markets are important, that's a given. The reality is that until they are developed, we must survive. As much as we don't like it, our survival depends greatly on the U.S. market. To ignore it is to walk right into a minefield. It doesn't matter how well we present our beef, and what standards we have, if MCOOL is implemented the way it is set out, we are about to get a hit that will probably change our industry for years to come.

The way it stands now, Canadian fat cattle will not have a home south of the border unless they are sold for next to nothing, and maybe even not then. We are about to become hostages all over again to the same big pirates who have benefitted so much at our expense for the past few years. Like it or not, without the U.S. bids on our cattle we'd be toast right now.

As of Jan 1, 2008, any Canadian cattle already in the U.S. are grandfathered in and considered product of U.S.A. Not that it matters much, because they should be finished before September anyway. We have some hope on any cattle big enough to finish before it's implemented, but after that it's anyones guess what will happen.

There is another alternative being proposed in the U.S. that involves any animal being in the States at least 100 days being considered product of U.S. This would save our feeder sales, but imagine what it does to our finishing feedlots? They will become backgrounders for the U.S. buyers. Then what? Which big packer will close? I bet one does, once they get through the backlog of cows which are now only eligible to be shipped as beef.

If either of these scenarios plays out, the cattle business will become a much smaller player in Canadian agriculture. The cow herd will drop in size, and the economic spinoffs will go with it.

I think we need to keep this in mind, and as we are lobbying our government on BSE related issues, we also need to put a push on them to take MCOOL seriously. They are supposed to be challenging it under NAFTA, and they need to be reminded to get at it.

Our survival depends on it.

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Kato, you are right that MCOOL will likely sting us in the short run, however with appropriate marketing, I believe MCOOL may actually help us in differentiating between US product and our superior Canadian product.

But you do serve to highlight a major point that the ABP/CCA just can't seen to get through their thick skulls. How much of an issue would MCOOL be if we weren't locked into the US as our only customer? If we had our Asian markets back, and could make headway into the Chinese market, the US could go stuff themselves. BSE testing would help with expanding our markets, so I feel its far more important than telling the Americans they're not allowed to have MCOOL (which we really have no business doing anyway).

Rod

[kato]

I realize that a country should have the right to make rules about it's imports, but the thing is that under NAFTA, the country of origin of meat is defined as the country in which it is processed. Canada, the U.S. and Mexico all signed this document, and the expectation is that those signatures should mean something.

MCOOL changes that rule unilaterally with no regard to anything signed in NAFTA. The document we have been told is supposed to lay out the guidelines by which we can make business decisions with some expectation of security is not worth the paper it's written on. Does that mean the word of the American government is worth nothing either? I'd like to think that isn't so.

The worst thing about this is that it will have absolutely no effect on any country except one that exports live cattle to the U.S., and that would be Canada and Mexico. Not South America, not Australia. It will be business as usual for them.

This is a trade barrier, aimed at live cattle, and aimed directly and exclusively at us. If we actually had enough processors here to make a real functioning market it wouldn't be so bad, but sad to say, without competing bids from south of the border, we'd be living 2003 all over again.

After all our struggles over the past years we could very well end up even more vulnerable than ever.

There is time to address this issue, but only if we focus on it now, before it's too late. We need our trading partners to honour their word, and live up to their agreements. It's expected of us, so it should be expected of them.

[blackjack]

...kato where could i find the information on why the usa would not buy fats after cool...has the american packing industry been quoted they would lose if they processed the canadian fats...

...if the trend continues more ranchers will retire or if the operation can afford to...it will diversify to the grain sector...

...sorry to say this but the north american govts subsidizing of the bio industry is basically telling livestock producers that it is way more important to follow enviro economics and politics than worry about food production...now if we could only have al gore stand up and win a nobel peace prize for eating home raised canadian beef...

[DiamondSCattleCo]

"but the thing is that under NAFTA, the country of origin of meat is defined as the country in which it is processed."

Thanks for this info, Kato. I didn't realize that was in NAFTA. The Americans have ignored so much in NAFTA that it would be nice to see them stood tall on this.

However, Hugh has been quoted several times in the trade magazines as saying that the Canadian government must fight MCOOL. I took that to mean that he felt MCOOL should be abolished from the books, which is simply none of our business. As long as the Americans honor the NAFTA agreement, they can do anything they please.

Rod

[kato]

blackjack, I got the info from a cattle buyer who's in the know, and who's opinion I respect. He doubts that there is a plant, especially a big one, in the States that will want to bother with the segregation of the meat.

With the two biggest American players already having set up shop here, they'll be much happier to just steal em at home.

deja vu all over again......

[blackjack]

...kato...thanks...i respect what you post as being very knowlegable...if that is the case it is that more disappointing that our canadian govt has not made these nafta concerns a priority...the cool talk has been going on for some years now as well...so one would think there would be a backup plan ...oh yeah...there is cais right...