Hoodwinking Japan!

[cowman]

Well it would seem the Japanese and Koreans aren't buying the BS! I guess America will have to try another tactic?
Bob Speller is on his way for a visit. Perhaps he will hear opportunity knocking! Do the tests and steal that Japanese market?
I know America has immense clout when it comes to trade, but a lot of countries are getting sick of their bully tactics...take Mexico as an example.
America needs to wake up to the fact that they don't have very many friends in the world and quit treating the few they have like their dogs!

[boone]

Cowman: have been reading that U.S. is promising to research what animals will go to Japan have a designated slaughter facility, and test everything over 30 months, (Agworldwide) What an original concept.
We are being blindsided here.

[kato]

Time to get on the ball! I'm pretty sure we could get such a thing going pretty quick here, especially since our cows (aka over 30 months) are already basically being slaughtered in separate facilities.

[Muttley]

Hoodwink Japan all you want to but if you step on big brothers toes to much he'll fight back.

[rusty1]

Muttley - you've forgotten about David and Goliath.

[Muttley]

Well rusty1 you may be right. You be David and throw the stone, I'll be Goliath's bigger brother George and we'll see what happens. You may know their father, his name was George to!!!!

[cakadu]

The Japanese say they are prepared to buy from us if we test everything.

Anybody got any idea of how much we were shipping to Japan pre May 20?

I seem to recall a very disgruntled person who was trying to help sell Canadian Beef into Japan - the Canadians wanted to sell the beef in a box - the Japanese wanted to buy a specific cut. The Canadians wanted to sell the beef in a box and didn't bother to ask the Japanese what they were willing to pay or how many of these specific cuts that they wanted.

Will this attitude of we want to sell beef in a box change to one of wanting to meet the customers needs? I would hazard a guess that the Japanese would be willing to buy, but it would be buying what they wanted, not what we wanted to sell.

That is why the Australians were miles ahead of those of us in North America. They were giving the Japanese what they wanted. Are we prepared to do the same?

[cowman]

Linda: The point is not how much beef we sell to Japan. But if Japan will accept our product then the Americans can't justify banning our beef anymore. Japan buys American beef because trade demands it. America is a big market for Japanese products, Canada is not.
The fact was before May 20th, Canadian cattle shipped south for slaughter, were filling a large part of the American beef trade with Japan. Our barley fed beef is a superior product to corn fed beef. Thus in reality the Americans were acting as middlemen...and taking the profit!
And incidently Canadian beef was preferred by many steak houses in the US. Western Feedlots supplied a chain in California and the North west. In 2002 when there was little barley in the west and all the feedlots were feeding corn, Western continued feeding barley, because this large chain told them "You feed corn we won't take your product"! Western paid a heavy premium for barley that year! I believe that was also the reason Western Feedlots refused to buy any Simmental cattle?

[cakadu]

One of our target markets for all this increased beef production was Japan, among other countries. There was a 20% increase in production on the books, but some were asking - myself included - where this extra 20% was going to go?

What makes us so dependent on the U.S.? If nothing else, hasn't this whole mess shown us that we should be looking elsewhere for markets and not be so reliant on any one market?

I don't think the Americans care what anyone else says about our beef. They will do what they want to do no matter what. We don't have any control over that.

[cowman]

I will agree Americans have a real problem. They tend to think no one else in the world exists. Their media tends to focus only on America.
In reality we were supplying a lot more beef to Japan than the numbers indicate! And the Beef export group was trying to cut out the middle man(America). But the fact does remain that because of trade realities the Americans have the inside track.
It is this same blindness, by America, to the international community that has led to an almost universal dislike for them! I see our role, in the big picture, to gently lead them, through our policies, to become more aware of their place in the world?
It might not work! They tend to be getting worse in many ways? I mean look at Iraq?

[les]

Cowman...Why no simmental cattle?

[cowman]

I don't know why. The buyers got the order from Western that they were not to buy any Simm cattle about three years ago. Everybody knew about it. I think they even stated that fact in Alberta Beef.
Whether they were too big when finished or whether they never marbled, I don't know. But they weren't buying.

[kato]

We heard the same thing. I think it had something to do with inconsistent sizes at finish. Too hard to predict, by looking at the calves coming in.

I see that the 'type' of the Simmentals are changing pretty fast now, so maybe that won't be an issue in a few years. I've never seen a breed change it's look so fast, ever.