Farmers and Ranchers Play by the Rules

[ALICIA]

I know that the animal by-product in our cattle feed was to stop in 1997. But what about the cattle feed shipped in from other countrys. Where they held to the same standard. ETC the protein lick that I feed to my cattle is made in the States, do they follow the same gide line that Canada sets for the making of cattle feed. Or is it if made in Canada no animal protein, but if made in other countrys may contain.

[farmers_son]

rkaiser: I was interested to read of your meeting with Doug Horner. Just a couple of comments. I would suggest that producer packing plants such as BIC propose are not really a BSE issue although BSE may have been the catylist the bottom line need is based on creating opportunities for producers to sell into the value added beef market on a practical scale as the existing packer monopoly denies them that market access, instead forcing producers to sell into a live market controlled by the packers.

Asian markets are sexy but our domestic market is still our number one market and should not be overlooked. I believe BIC is aware of that. Producer packing plants are needed whether or not sales into Asia are achieved. Producer packing plants will need to gain a competitive advantage from processing efficiencies, capturing marketing opportunities beyond BSE testing and from proper financing as I am sure you know.

[kato]

Keep up the good work Randy. We're behind you all the way. There's a meeting scheduled for Neepawa Manitoba tonight regarding the new plant that is supposed to be going up here. I just hope it's not stormed out with the blizzard they are predicting to hit!

My feeling on this whole thing is that I am really worried about what is going on in the States. It's getting pretty hot down there, and R-Calf is tossing about a lot of rhetoric about how unsafe our beef is. When they get one of their own, (and I see no way that they won't eventually), consumer confidence is going to to down the tube. Big time. They are too dense to see it, and only think about their short term protectionist goals.

It's mind boggling just how thick headed these people are. Can they not see what they are doing?

One of these days the s*&t will hit the fan down there, and we do not want to be caught up in it. It won't be pretty.

We need to have an independant industry with a spotless reputation for being honest and reliable. Anyone can see that we are honest now, what with all the abuse we are heaping on ourselves by being up front and facing our problems. All of what is happening to us only makes the American claims of being BSE free that much more suspect.

As for Ralph, he should be ashamed of himself.

[bnyoung]

Those R-CALF guys are pretty funny. Here they love complaining about Canadian beef geing unsafe. Now we've had what, 3 confirmed cases right? Did any of it make it into the food chain? Nope, don't think so. They had one, an animal which traced back to a Canadian herd. Now folks, that Washington cow made it in to the food chain, right. How many states did that cow go to. I think I heard 5 or 6 different states. My point is, ours did not hit the food chain, but theirs did. I find that way to funny. What a bunch of goof balls they are.