Mr. Martin?

[cowman]

I am becoming a little dissappointed with Mr. Martin. He seems to have been distracted by all the questions about his steamship business. I guess he forgot us dumb farmers?
He has money galore for the cities, health and education, the Indians, the Frenchmen, helicopters, army trucks, and homos but I guess he forgot we are quietly going broke out here?
He stated his two top priorities were the Indians and western alienation. Well Paul, if you don't want a lot of alienated western beef farmers you'd better get off your duff and do something!
When the CBC asked Bob Speller about the cattle crisis last night he said well we've put in $500 million already but I'll go back and see what my cabinet colleagues have to say! Well I sure hope he is a better convincer than old Lyle was!
It is kind of a let down to realize we are less important than Indians, dopers and homos!

[boone]

Cowman: it's been a bitch of a last few weeks and I share your feelings of anxiety and anguish but take a look at what you've written here,god knows we all vent from time to time, but you are way better than this. I've been reading some of your posts and they have some of the most positive remedies and understanding that have shown themselves anywhere. I was thinking you should run for office but don't be afraid to admit we are all human including Mr. Speller.Like I said back awhile ago he will recant and he will backtrack, but leave him the room for dignity. Best wishes to you and take the grandkids tobboganing this weekend..

[kato]

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a politician out there who has any idea what to do next. They jumped up, threw some money out, and after that, bugging the Americans to take our cattle is about all that is left. Roseanne Wowchuk has been saying the same speech for 8 months. Really...exactly the same speech. Sounding like a broken record already.

I noticed we weren't important enough to even be mentioned the other night when they had the special National "ask the prime minister" show. I bet there were cattlemen who sent questions in beforehand, but they sure weren't asked to show up.

Maybe the feedlot guys have an idea...quite buying cattle, start a panic, drop the bottom out of the market, and let the rest of Western Canada start screaming because the whole economy is going down for the count. Too bad the money is coming out of the pockets of those who can least afford it.

[boone]

kato: were you in Brandon the day Mr. Speller spoke. I was and have been afraid to share what he said. He basically said If you know anyone accross the Line in U.S. family or business, tell explain to them just how wrong their politicians are and why. I've got very small exposure to cows but I left that hall with a feeling that only showed up after a real big bonspeil. And you could have heard a pin drop in that packed to capacity with very respectful and worried cattlemen and women and agribiz associates. I'll never forget it as long as I breathe. It was a defining moment and spoke to the character of these salt of the earth people, that they stood and accepted such a damning and enervating message.

[kato]

Unfortunately I couldn't go to Brandon. I had to go to work instead. (As I may have to for a very long time to come.)

I wish I could have gone over that day. Somehow even if it's bad news, it helps to talk to people who really understand the problems, and there were lots of them there that day. I know some who just couldn't get in at all, the place was that packed.

[Horse]

I have been this business for 40 yr now and I never thought it was my god given right to produce beef no matter what. We had the good and bad but to my thinking it has got real bad once a few thought if they could corall the market they could make a fortune, and some havewhile the average has stayed withen thier means when we were more mixed we regulated ourselves since the govmt started to tell us what is needed and let farming become a tax dodge things have gone to hell in a hurry.
WE now have teachers lawyers doctors and so on feeding cattle or raising produce at a loss and loving it. No place left for regular farmers anymore

[cowman]

Well who can blame them? The American cattleman has had a regular gravy train the last ten months. This was supposed to be the top of the cycle not the bottom? For them it has been great!
The thing I don't like about this article is how they imply this is "cheap" meat when in fact it is quality meat going to their steakhouses and better restaurants! There is no 10 cent beef going to the US! I find it so ironic that Americans have this delusion that their beef is the best and safest in the world, when in actuality they have one of the worst systems in place for safety and corn fed beef is not very tasty at all!
It is a strange world down there for sure. They seem to believe just about whatever garbage their government tells them. I think they get too much brainwashing when they are young?

[cowman]

Well I haven't given up on Bob quite yet. I'm hoping he will give a good showing in cabinet. I suspect Lyle had got to the point where he never tried too hard? Will Bob be sucessful... I doubt it! Goodale says the cupboard is bare and yet Martin seems to be promising money like a drunken sailor? Money for just about everyone...except the farmer!
Horse how true that is! I was recently talking to a lawyer aquaintence(I refuse to call those buzzards a friend) who told me he lost a pile of money on some cattle he owned in a custom lot. He said it was a good experience as the capital loss was going to do wonders for the bottom line! He thought he might buy some more this year as the lawyering business is brisk and he might need some more writeoffs!
Something about this whole system just isn't working?

[rsomer]

cowman: No need to give up on Bob Speller and Martin yet.
It was significant that agriculture did now get a mention in the Speech From the Throne. But did you notice that after May 20 the federal and provincial politicians downplayed how much support they were providing to the huge mega feedlots owned by the gang of 130 and the two packers?
It is politically difficult to get up in front of the public and say the government is going to give another ½ billion of government dollars to 130 multi-millionaire high stakes poker players who have had a run of bad luck.
I would not expect too many big announcements even in the Budget when it comes out for this very reason but the support will be there in one form or another. Our provincial and federal governments are not going to see our beef industry shrink or disappear when there is the expectation that the border will reopen in the forseeable future, certainly this year. It is going to happen.
I think the challenge facing governments is just how to provide the needed interim cash injection to the beef industry in a form that will be accepted by all beef producers as well as the public. Martin is going to the polls this spring and Kline started his election campaign this week with his address on TV. Help will be coming.
It would be easier to support agriculture if the feedlots were smaller and more dispersed.

[rsomer]

Sorry, I meant to say it was significant that agriculture did not get a mention in the Speech From the Throne

[dfarms11]

This article confuses me just a bit. What if we were able to import live cattle as usual? Would this guy still be whining?

[kato]

I think they will whine until a big wall is built around the country, and goods are only allowed out...not in.

After all, if the US isn't coming out ahead, then everyone else must be cheating.

[cheetah]

Cowman and Kato

I agree with your statement 100%. I couldn't have expressed myself better.
Those people south always think they and their products are the "best", but when problems arise, they always blame others. Who better to blame then their neighbor Canada!

[cheetah]

I think money is not the solution to the problem we cattlefarmers are facing. I believe this problem started quite a time ago, when the grain prices went down. The government officials were telling farmers to "diversify" in order to make farms profitable. Most grain-farmers added cattle. They had good price. So this went on and on. I even heard that in SK the Ag Minister told the grain-farmers to get into cattle not long ago. Now with this BSE problem and the export for the USA closed and our border to the USA closed, the problem just gets worse. I believe there are way too many cattle here (and maybe even in the States). But by paying us 10-20 cents for cull cows we can hardly reduce our herds. Rather, the number of animals will increase, because many people bred their old cows for another year. Of course there are those "packers" who are exploiting the situation. I guess there should be a reduction plan put in place so that some farmers could reduce or, the ones who want, even retire decently. And also Canada should not rely only on the USA, they should try to open other markets. For that they should not use hormones and antibiotics. I also think that by exporting to other countries, they would even credate jobs here.

[cowman]

Cheetah: You have hit the nail right on the head about the grain prices! When they killed the Crow they finished off the traditional grain farmer. Lets face it we have to export. We just are not capable of eating all we can produce in this country. When our federal government decided to throw our grainfarmers to the international wolves we HAD to diversify into cattle and hogs. If they had bit the bullet and decided to spend the money to compete with the American and European subsidies, then we would still have a viable export grain market. Instead they played the global hero and not only refused to subsidize but also scrapped the CROW because the Americans thought it was unfair!
It worked for awhile. Hog barns and feedlots went up and every man and his dog got into cows. Now we were exporting beef and pork instead of barley and wheat. But we competed too well and American farmers are not too keen on being outdone!
Thus began a long list of actions by America to limit our access. BSE was a godsend for them!
We made some fundamental mistakes in this country. Now we are paying the price and it will be a huge price! First to the beef farmer, with the hog farmer not far behind. Then to the grain farmer. Then to all the various businesses that rely on agriculture! And our government continues to play the fiddle while Rome burns!