Allowable US Imports

[pandiana]

Does anyone have high speed internet. I have dial-up and it would take all day to download the 365 page PDF file with the complete rule, and I don't have that kind of time.

What I am wondering is regarding the third item "Meat from bovines, etc. Does that mean there would be NO restrictions on OTM meat with SRM's removed regardless of age?


Commodities Eligible for Import from Canada

The final rule is effective March 7, 2005. Certain live ruminants and ruminant products and byproducts are eligible for importation from Canada as of that date under specified conditions. The following commodities are allowed to be imported as long as they meet applicable criteria specified in the regulations:
• Bovines, for feeding or immediate slaughter, as long as they are slaughtered at less than 30 months;
• Sheep and goats (ovines and caprines), for feeding or immediate slaughter, as long as they are slaughtered at less than 12 months of age;
• Meat from bovines, ovines, caprines and cervids (deer, elk, caribou, moose, and reindeer); and
• Certain other products and byproducts, including bovine livers and tongues, gelatin, and tallow.

Let's get those packing houses moving!

[pandiana]

Sorry, forgot the link

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/03-080-3_final_rule.pdf

[Bruce14]

BILLING CODE: 3410-34-P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
9 CFR Parts 93, 94, 95, and 96
[Docket No. 03-080-3]
RIN 0579-AB73
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Minimal-Risk Regions and Importation of Commodities
AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY:

13. We are providing that meat, meat byproducts, and meat food products derived from
bovines from a BSE minimal-risk region may not be imported into the United States unless an
air-injected stunning process was not used at slaughter and unless the specified risk materials
(SRMs) and the small intestine were removed in the exporting region, consistent with the FSIS
regulations at 9 CFR 313.15 and 310.22 for stunning and processing in the United States. We are
defining SRMs as those materials designated as such by FSIS in 9 CFR 310.22, to include the
brain, skull, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, vertebral column (excluding the vertebrae of
the tail, the transverse process of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, and the wings of the
sacrum), and dorsal root ganglia of cattle 30 months of age and older, and the tonsils and distal
ileum of the small intestine of all cattle.
14. We are removing the proposed requirement that imported meat derived from bovines
from BSE minimal-risk regions be derived only from animals less than 30 months of age when
slaughtered.
15. We are removing the proposed requirement that meat derived from bovines in a BSE
minimal-risk region that are slaughtered in that region come from animals slaughtered at a
facility that either slaughters only bovines less than 30 months of age or complies with an
approved segregation process.
16. We are clarifying that the final rule applies to “meat,” “meat byproducts,” and “meat
food products” as defined by FSIS.

[grassfarmer]

Pandiana, You know I want to see packing plants built here to add value to our product instead of letting the Americans do that but I think this ruling will be the death knell for new plants. With the border open to UTM cattle there is immediately enough capacity on the continent to get the young and old cattle killed long before any new plant gets built. Given that the proposed new plants have nearly all failed to raise the capital needed to build I see no chance of them proceeding now. The Government at all levels will be happy as they have dithered for long enough that they won't need to spend any money now. As an industry we have p*****d away the chance to gain back some control of our destiny. Which brave new plant will want to take on Tyson when they start killing cows at Brooks given the money they have made in the last year and a half? Of course our illustrious politicians have completely refused to hear any talk of placing any legislation in the path of these pirates if they want to run newcomers out of business. The border opening may look good but it remains to be seen if primary producers will benefit from it.

[Horse]

I have a solution to the slaughter plants lets put a tarrif on out going live cattle of say 12% and use this money to build with if they want or need 2 mill calves lets make sure we get all we can the same as they have been doing all along.

[Horse]

Some of the discussion reminds me of the bumper stickers that used to be seen in the oil patch " Lord let there be another Oil Boom and I promise not to P*** it all away next time." Maybe the cattle industry isn't in the same boat but we do need to learn from the BSE crisis, and ensure we aren't caught without enough packing capacity again.

[pandiana]

Thanks Bruce14. I do appreciate having the wording. As always it seems we have more questions than answers.

I have to agree, grassfarmer, that it now looks as if the big 3 will be able to process over 30 months in the same plant and that we have once again sworn allegiance to corporate America by default.

I ask again, Where is our leadership?

We have a few small, outspoken leadership candidates who are willing to be David's to Corporate Goliaths but at best they suffer derision by government and those organizations that are in a position to author change. At worst they are ignored.

I would contend that if government, either federal or provincial, would offer leadership by laying out a plan, backing loans, and provide expertise, we could still have a chance at taking back some control of our industry ( Look and PEI). Why do we continually allow the US to outsmart us. They need our cattle to keep their packing industry alive. They need to add value to our product in order to supply trading partners that they will take from us because, despite producing an excellent raw material, we cannot supply a Canadian Made product. Shame on us.

Farmers are a unique people. They have been conditioned over their working lifetime (and possibly over generations) that they are at the mercy of chance. A good crop, ample feed, easy calving are all weather dependent. Patience, if you have a wreck one year, next year could be better. Add disease and polictics and chances become less. Hang on, maybe in a few years you will have a banner year. Factor in that you have no control of setting price and you become totally dependent on chance and the benevolence of industry or government to receive value for your labor. And of course, we do this because we 'love' our lifestyle. It is no wonder that what we see from our farmers is construed as apathy. In fact it is bred in the bone. It is part of what is being a farmer.

What will it take to stand together and take control? Is our government there merely to sign disaster relief cheques? What does the Dept of Agriculture do? How is research on farming methods going to help when there is no money for the farmer to implement them. Why are we spending millions on promoting beef export and consumption if the farmers that produce it can't get paid? How are environmental concerns to be addressed if farmers who love their land must extract every last resource in an effort to farm for one more year? We need some fundamental changes in agriculture. We need some leadership!

Wishing all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperus New Year and may farmers live in less interesting times.

[cakadu]

You raise some very interesting points indeed pandiana. Is it time to start "fighting back" to gain some control over what we do?

The concerns over food safety are valid and I have absolutely no quarrel with it whatsoever. What I do have some issue with is the fact that we are undertaking these food safety measures in large part to meet demands of consumers, the majority of them global consumers. If society is demanding these food safety and environmental measures, then society should be willing to pay for them and not just through bailout packages when things get really rough. The entire food supply system should not continue to be subsidized at the expense of the producer. On or around January 8th, the consumer will have paid the producer their share of food costs for the ENTIRE year. By about February 17th or so, an average family will have paid for their food for the ENTIRE year. Less than 10% of income is spent on food. In 8 days or less, the producer is paid. It takes about 45 days or so to pay the rest of the food chain, or almost 6 times as long. There is something drastically wrong with this entire picture.

Maybe this is a topic for a whole new thread, but it is an important one. Perhaps what producers need to do is stop buying into the notion that they are "feeding the world" and buy into the fact that they must keep themselves viable in order to produce food that will be paid for in the marketplace.

At some stage, this is going to have to become a societal issue and not just downloaded onto the producer to take care of and ensure that it happens.

Here's hoping for a much saner agriculture industry in 2005!!!

Happy New Year all.

[kato]

I guess what it all comes down to is that it's up to us and us alone. We can chose how we market our cattle.

Are we willing to sell for 3 cents less to a Canadian plant? We sure should be, but there have been times when we refused.

Because of this, my feeling is that the plants actually owned by producers, who return money to the producers from their profits have the best chance of success. Buy into a local plant and support it, and between us we can make a difference.

This is how the Prairie Pools got started, and up until the past few years when they forgot their past, and fell back under the spell of 'big business', they were extremely successful.

The secret to success is not to forget how we got into this mess.

Happy New Year. May this one be better than the last one.

[BFW]

If you are not willing to sell to where the cattle bring you the most money you are doing yourself a huge dis-service. If you have to sell for less money to the "producer owned" Canadian plant in order for it to be competitive then in the long run both you and the plant will fail.

[pandiana]

This is a very interesting argument, BFW. By this I am assuming that you believe that there is no way that Canadians plants can be as smart, work as hard, and garner the expertise required in order to compete with the US at any level, even specialty or niche markets?

[Horse]

BWF you say it all thats exactly why we are in the mess now take every last penny you can get, thats how the feeding industry got where it is by selling out to the packers with contracted cattle so now one man can control more and more cattle and then he is reliant on the packers and the little gut is left to survive as best as he can like get a job to subsidise his cow calf operation so the large feeder can produce a product for the packers and it will keep on going as long as people will stand for it.
Happy new? yr kind of sounds of de ja vu all over again . The good part is that the oil patch is predicting lots of work so you all will be able to keep more cows as long as the job holds out

[grassfarmer]

I certainly try to get the top dollar for all the things I sell. Having said that you should be able to sell your culls to a producer owned plant that you have a stake in for less money than if you sell to a pirate corporation. Reason being your price will be "topped up" when you get your dividend from the success of your slaughter plant. This gives your slaughter plant the advantage of slightly cheaper inputs which should help them be successful.

Having said that, in my experience, farmers are not good at being loyal to their local plant. In Ireland the big packing plants totally destroyed the live auctions over a period of few short years by offering about a penny per kg (@2.5cents/lb)extra on liveweight cattle. They boasted later that they had broken the auction system and it only cost them a penny.
Similarily in the UK the buyers started paying slightly more at a few key auctions to turn them into mega-auctions - sure enough farmers started hauling them in from far and wide (me included)but with time we realised that by taking our big lots and best quality to these mega auctions our local markets were struggling - and were no longer there when we had 1 cull cow to sell so eventually you need to truck everything a long distance and don't get premiums for them any longer.

[kpb]

BFW is right on the mark--there is no way that anyone can operate any business for very long by taking less than they can possibly get. And BFW is also right about the domestic packing plants--if they can't survive in the market against the big guys then they are doomed to fail.
Sometimes our arguments on this forum are very inconsistent--everyone wants control of the big packers and wants the government to control their influence but at the same time cry free enterprise when we talk about supply management. And everyone likes their set-aside cheques, their CAIS payments and all the other multitude of funds we've gotten in the past year and a half but then moan like crazy about the packers making money off the industry. That's what capitalism and free enterprise is--the big eat the little, everyone gets as much as they can for their products and you try to make as much money as you can.
I said before and I'll say it again, we cannot build a packing industry here that can compete with the big packers on a big scale--all the chest thumping and patriotic palathering in the world isn't going to get around that. If you think I'm wrong then my question for you is Why can none of these plants raise the money they need? The answer is that they are lousy investments.
And, on the subject of free enterprise and making money, I hope everyone bought lots of calves a couple of months ago to background as I suggested. We're going to make big time money this year (we've already made small-time money) and, if you want the truth, that's how a fellow can make money in this business. Forget about the packing plants--focus on your own business, try to make it as big and efficient as possible and you can make a good living.

[BFW]

Pandiana, I certainly do not assume that a Canadian owned plant cannot be competitive with any of the existing plants however they will have to be extremely well financed and have a solid business plan from the getgo. Even then success is not guaranteed in the extremely cut-throat business of meatpacking. Horse your logic escapes me. What mess have we created by trying to get the most for our cattle for our individual businesses as we can? I bid on cattle everyday and cannot remember one instance where I received the cattle and wasn't the high bid. I suppose all the feeder sellers will be willing to sell to Canadian feeders when the border reopens and forego the potentially higher bids of the American feedlot?! I don't expect any Canadian feeders will get or expect any breaks. I understand clearly what the problems are in the environment the beef industry operates under BSE or not, but don't crap on others for looking after their own business just because you are unable to.