Canadian Owned Packing Industry

[farmers_son]

rkaiser: Concerning a levy linking a levy generated fund to some of the Canadian Packing proposals now on the table...

There are examples within the beef industry where money, in this case a portion of safety net money, was set aside for industry development. See: http://www.albertabeef.org/CABIDF/01about.html. Your proposal is not unlike the CABIDF only with a focus on market development instead of research.

I think your proposal has merit and it might actually fly. As emrald1 has mentioned, I think the board of directors would need to be elected so the board would be accountable to the producers who would be paying the levy.

One stipulation I would like to see put on new packing plants that received funding from such a producer levy is that the funding was secured so that if the plant failed the plant remained in producers hands. I would be concerned if the plant went bankrupt that it could be sold by a receiver to Cargill or Tyson. Having the producers levy investment properly secured would prevent that. Something else to investigate is producers build the plants but lease them to groups who wished to manage them. That way if the management group went bankrupt the plant does not get sold by the receiver.

I think it would be necessary to be very careful about using debt financing in conjunction with producer levy because of the risk associated with being unable to repay the debt. Perhaps government could contribute forgivable loans to top up producer contributions but definitely be careful about debt.

Hope you have a good Christmas. Just waiting for the family to get up before the kids open the presents. The weather looks good this morning so it won’t take too long to get the animals all fed. I always thought that a nice warm day on Christmas was the best present the livestock can have so they can enjoy the day too. Have a nice day.

[farmers_son]

farmers_son, you make some excellent ponts. I too am waiting until daylight before heading out to check on the cattle, donkeys etc. One thing we can be grateful for this Christmas morning, is the lack of lengthy periods of extreme cold weather up to this point in the winter. Lower utility costs and feed bills are a present I, for one, am pleased about.
Have an enjoyable day with your family.

[rkaiser]

Looking forward to going out to the cattle this morning. My wife got off an evening shift last night, and heads in for a night tonight. RN.

Sunday mornings and holidays are my favourite time to be out doing chores. It's the only time it's quiet here between the #2 and 2A hiway at Crossfield. Half way through a five year deal that will see us back to a quieter, more secluded home again. The offer to come down here was too good to pass up; first generation cattleman trying to build some of the equity that second and third gen. families have. Our land developemnet is moving along well,,,,, thank goodness with the beef business the way it is. Should be in a pretty good position to purchase a good sized spread in 2007.
Just heard the fire truck go by, hope it's nothing serious.
Off to feed the cattle in the semi - quiet of Christmas morning.

[cakadu]

The sheep were well on their way to eating their hay when I got out just after 8:00. The new Maremma guardian dog does a pretty good job of not letting them out of the pen until he thinks its safe for them to go. The ducks and geese were happy to get out again today after having been cooped up for the past several days and likely will be again starting tomorrow. The older lambs were running around and frolicking yesterday in the chinook conditions, so that was great to see.

Even though we've had some cold days, it has been reasonably warm so that is good for the animals (and those that feed them.)

I was speaking to my friend in Australia and she was mentioning that they were going to be at 26 C for Christmas Day. I told her by the end of Boxing day we were forecast for 26 as well, but on the negative side of things. It is something she can't even imagine.

Hope Santa was good to all of you.

[cakadu]

Travelled to Olds yesterday for dinner with one side of the family. The highways were excellent on the way down but got interesting on the way home. Am off to Edson this morning, and I am sure Highway 16 won't be great either. Hopefully the highway crews have been out already this morning plowing and sanding. Found the neighbours wayward cow in my house yard when I arrived home last last night. She was munching on some hay over by the barn, but took off like a shot when I drove in. Have to put some straw out for the cattle this morning, so it will be my challenge of the day to make sure she doesn't get through the gate and out with my bunch !!! Could make for quite the rodeo !!!
Good thing the neighbour is a good old rodeo cowboy from years ago, he may have to use his skills to rope this gal
'lead' her home behind a horse !