AID - Reuters

[Incognito]

Canada's agriculture minister will announce C$488 million ($378 million) in aid on Friday to help the beef industry recover from bans on live exports following the discovery of mad cow disease, the Winnipeg Free Press reported. The money will help boost slaughter capacity, the newspaper said, quoting a draft news release for an announcement scheduled for Calgary, Alberta at 11:30 a.m. EDT.

[grassfarmer]

I await the announcement with interest, particularily the bit about holding calves over until 2006. $150 will not go far in feeding a calf until 2006. If we get the money this fall and feed the calf 1st November to 1st January 2006 that's 422 days or 35 cents per day. Can this be done? is feed cheap enough / land to summer graze cheap enough? I can't quite grasp the economics of this one yet. Oh, and I assume that you COMMIT to holding the animal to 2006 so if the US border did open next May and prices rose you couldn't sell. Could be handy for the big packers to have this captive supply of out of specification fats coming on stream in 2006 especially if the US border has opened by then.

[greybeard]

You can download the proposal from the CCA website. The way I read it you get $1 per head on 40% of the calves that you own ,if you agree to set them aside .If you don't plan on participating in this "distressed" market this will pay you somthing for coasting you calves along. Everyone knowes there is no money in coasting calves , but what are the alteratives?
I look at it as getting paid 40 cents a day to keep my calves ,graze them next summer ,and hope for better times ahead.
This will turn around. Everything cycles. Marketing comodities always has ups and downs. Holding on thru the downs and having product to sell when it comes up is the trick. This program buys time.
Its also suppose to make LESS product available to the current packers, but leave a wede enuff basis to keek them running foll steam.It also leaves lots of room for new packers to plan on making good money.

[BFW]

You will receive $200/hd for up to 40% of your calf crop and for that give up the right to have those cattle slaughtered until Jan. 01 2006. However, those cattle can be traded in the market at any time though the no slaughter until Jan 01, 2006 still applies. My thinking would be to take the money, sell the calves(the market is hardly depressed under the circumstances, trading mid 90's for steers) and call it a day. Keeping my best heifers and breeding them to sell as breds or update an old cow herd might be an option as well.

[grassfarmer]

BFW, Where did you find that cattle must be held until Jan 1st 2006? It only says cattle must be held for one year on Alberta Agricultures website. Do you know if there is a proposed start date for these schemes?

[BFW]

Actually after further reading I think I may be mistaken on the Jan 1 2006 date, I think they must not be slaughtered for one year after enrollment in the set-a-side program. the details are on the government website at www.gov.agric.ab.ca.

[BFW]

Make that www.agric.gov.ab.ca.

[grassfarmer]

This is starting to look very much like a European style subsidy system. We had the same kind of deal there with steers earning a "headage" payment for keeping them for 7 months. The key there was to get them entered in the scheme on day 1 which meant yours were first out of the retention period and could be sold ahead of the glut that came a month later which was how long it took most producers had got round to doing the paperwork to enter theirs in the first place. I imagine this will be the case here also.
I wonder if there is a condition that says the tagged scheme cattle must be slaughtered eventually to prevent claiming on replacement heifers? Also it occurs to me that anyone that has fall calvers will get their money a little easier than spring calving herds given that they would probably be holding them till next fall anyway.
Any thoughts on the fed-cattle set aside scheme BFW?