no more packing capacity

[kato]

Speaking of the round table...

The industry-government Beef Industry Value Chain Roundtable completed its most recent meeting on Friday and moved forward several strategies to help the industry recover from BSE and be more resilient in the future. Strategies under development were presented to Federal Minister of Agriculture Andrew Mitchell. Next to re-opening the U.S. border to live cattle, increasing slaughter of Canadian cattle, with a high priority on increasing Canadian processing capacity, is the most effective way to help the industry. Tax incentives for increased equity investment and risk capital to help build and sustain capacity are being pursued. Canadian beef usage and export market diversification strategies are being developed to ensure markets for additional beef produced in Canada. A delayed marketing strategy to better match numbers of cattle coming to market to the slaughter capacity available is being developed.



The Roundtable also supported the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s proposal to enhance the current feed ban by removing Specified Risk Materials from all animal feed. Roundtable members agreed to develop a paper that examines all aspects of testing cattle for export to help facilitate better understanding of the issue by members of the industry and to help guide decisions into the future.



This update has been brought to you by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

[cakadu]

Don't you think we should be looking beyond the US for our beef? Why do we still appear to be so bent on just waiting for the border to open and that solves our problems?

To me, it just doesn't seem to be in our own best interests to rely so heavily on one market. There is some truth to the saying "if it happened once, it could happen again." Shouldn't we be preparing ourselves to never, ever be caught in that scenario again?

I quite frankly just don't get building more packing capacity to have it go primarily to the US. Isn't one of the risk management strategies to spread the risk around so that you aren't in a bind when something goes awry?

[cakadu]

The last few meetings of BIG C have been focusing more on building a cow kill plant in Saskatchewan, while allowing some of us members to push the testing issue at the same time.

I am sorry that we all have lives to live. Cam had around 600 acres of hay to put up, and I needed to promote and market my cattle and beef product, along with Grant, in Calgary at the Stampede. Things are happening, and I am glad to hear that good old rsomer admits that BIG C has at least garnered some attention.

If there is any question about "should have", maybe ABP should have done a few things themselves. But I'd rather not go there.

I think everyone is on the same page with this packing capacity issue, and I only hope that hitting it from every angle possible will generate the action we need.

[cakadu]

One of my favorite movies is "Patch Adams" and aside from the squirrel scene with Rudy, the best part of it is when Patch is speaking to Arthur Mendelson about the fingers. The message in that is if you focus on the problem, you don't see the many solutions that are potentially there. We need to "see beyond the fingers" and generate as many ideas and solutions as we can. Maybe some won't work, some are just too out there, but maybe some will work. What is evident is that we have to quit looking at the fingers and maintaining the status quo.

[grassfarmer]

I think rsomer is right when he states producers are not hurting enough yet. The average cow/calf man that sold his calves last fall is waiting for this years sale having done nothing but grumble on coffee row since last year. It is unfortunate that BIG-C could be said to have lost some momentum since the Ponoka meeting - but as RPK says they have lives to lead and work to do. Crucial to remember in all this is that the BIG-C directors got off their backsides and did an awful lot in a short time - out of their own pockets. Meanwhile ABP and CCA members have sat back and done nothing all the time collecting their wages from us - the primary producer.
On a personal note, a call to the Beef Information Centre a week ago to help me with marketing my beef direct has produced no goods despite the promise to mail and email information to me "when they got time". What a surprise that the BIC is the child of ABP - again paid for by our checkoff dollars.

[rusty1]

To "one up ya" as far as BIC is concerned. The markets they find working on check of dollars go to Cargill/Tyson without commission.