Alberta Beef Producers Town Hall Meeting

[rkaiser]

Well hello everyone. Got mad at my computer the other day, wiped the blood off and took it in to the hospital. Back rolling with a new antivirus package and a new attitude. Did you know there was counciling for computers and users?

Great discussion, and I appaude your efforts pandiana for trying to get people out. Weather is sounding better for next week, and my cows will be under the care of my very capable wife on Tuesday evening.

After sitting in Minister Horners office a few months back and introducing our BIG C proposal, it was very apparent that the government of Alberta takes direction from the ABP as far as being the voice of the producer. Don't get me wrong, BIG C has made major strides since March 2nd mostly at the federal level, however the battle remains on more than one front. I beleive, as Diane has pointed out, that ABP is not only experiencing turmoil within, but is commencing a somewhat different strategy concerning our debacle.

Now may be as good a time as we have seen to make our points loud and clear.

One major turn of events is the invitation from ABP to have Mr. Cam Ostercamp speak at the next ABP town hall meeting in Edmonton.

My hat is off to Diane, Greg Bowie, grassfarmer, and the rest of the Rimbey gang who helped host the largest BIG C meeting to date, and are now cutting edge with this initial town hall ABP meeting.

See you all on Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[farmers_son]

There is a mention of these two meetings on the ABP website at:

http://www.albertabeef.org/outandabout.html

Anyone interested in what the ABP/CCA is or is not doing might check out this industry update, excerpts pasted below. Obviously I need to correct my remark that no one is doing anything. Excuse my frustration.

http://www.albertabeef.org/news.asp?NewsIndex=252&Submit=Submit

Key elements of the contingency plan are:

• Increase domestic processing capacity,

• Better match cattle marketings to available processing capacity,

• Increase BSE surveillance,

• Expand Canadian beef usage, diversify export markets, and eliminate supplementary beef import permits,

• Enhance movement tracking of cattle, age verification, and premise identification, and

• Contingency for the potential loss of exports of boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age.

Increasing Capacity

The fundamental issue facing Canadian beef producers is not lack of markets for beef, but lack of domestic processing capacity. Typically Canada has exported over a million head of cattle to the United States every year. The trade impacts of BSE have locked these cattle into a domestic market that has not had the capacity to process the over supply.

While reopening the U.S. border to live cattle would bring immediate price benefits, the CCA and ABP recognize that significantly increasing Canada's domestic processing capacity will bring greater benefits to the industry in the long run. Typically boxed beef has been less susceptible to export trade actions than live cattle and can be traded into more markets. Canadians will also profit from the value-added benefits of processing.

The CCA and ABP are demanding new measures to accelerate capacity expansion through tax incentives and revisions to the federal government's $66 million loan loss reserve intended to increase lenders' willingness to support projects. Existing capacity could also be maximized through agreements to allow inter-provincial trade from provincially-inspected facilities.

[pandiana]

grassfarmer wrote:
"Unless this is a chance to really influence the direction of the organisation now it is of little use - we can't afford to wait another 9 or 10 months before any action we want is embarked upon. Bear in mind that much of this action will be lobbying Government which would take months in itself. Unless we can break the mould and get something happening NOW it's a waste of time."

Unfortunately, grassfarmer, the time has not been on our side. I share your frustration. Some of these packing plant initiatives will agree, I am sure. A lot of energy spent with little results. Energy I think is the key. When the border failed to open, you could feel the energy at all levels directed at finding resolution to this impasse. I hope we can maintain this level of activity. Maybe this meeting will help. I have noted how many Canadians are expressing their opinions on American forums. They are digging in for action.

As to resolutions at the meeting, I don't know. I will try to find out but I don't think so as I believe it has to be a published AGM of 'special meeting'. I'll get back to you.

[pandiana]

I would highly doubt if there will be an opportunity to present resolutions at a Town Hall meeting, and I for one, certainly do not expect that opportunity.
Resolutions are presented at Zone meetings each fall as most of you are aware.
I hope that anyone attending these Town Hall meetings will listen to what ABP has to say before they make comments either pro or con. I for one, will be attending to hear what ABP has done and is attempting to do.

[farmers_son]

I would think at any gathering of cattle producers a majority vote of those attending would be at least taken as information or an indication of producers views.

These votes would not be resolutions to be debated at the Annual General Meeting in December. However as policy can be made at the board level at any time throughout the year the ABP directors who would be present would likely make those views known to the entire board. No guarantee those views would be acted on however.

I would point out that while in Alberta we are holding meetings, right now, today, in Quebec producers are selling cows to a packing plant they own and getting over 40 cents a pound for Holsteins, thanks to the work their provincial organization did on Quebec producers' behalf. And while Albertans may not want to do things exactly like the UPA, it is hard to argue with results.

I agree with Grassfarmers comment "Unless we can break the mould and get something happening NOW it's a waste of time." Why, if I thought the mould would be broken by producers attending I would make the drive to Rimbey next Tuesday myself.

[rkaiser]

I believe that farmer_son has hit the nail on the head this time. Who needs a resolution. This is a meeting and minutes will be taken. I will be drafting a question that I will put to those in attendence and would hope that someone there wil assist in counting the 98% of producers that I expect to favor the question.

[grassfarmer]

who needs a resolution rkaiser? I think we do. Solidly backed resolutions are one step further than an answered question, they carry more weight and are more formal.
I think it is a poor decision that these meetings are not deemed to be "special" meetings. We are in a desperate situation and that needs desperate actions. It is too easy to give a pep talk on what has been happening (or not as the case may be)but where is our opportunity as producers to send a message to ABP leadership in a meaningful way? Emrald is maybe happy to go listen to a talk but I'm not - I want a chance to propose solutions and express views that many in the industry hold but don't bother to express. It is too easy for ABP in it's current set up to disregard views from producers that don't agree with their own agenda. Last years AGM showed that. We need to be able to make changes if this thing is going to improve.

[grassfarmer]

grassfarmer, to clarify my comments. Hearing what ABP has to say prior to proposing solutions would likely be the best way for the evening to proceed.

[farmers_son]

The agenda for the meeting is outlined in the first post in this thread.

Adrienne Waller speaking on legal action, the latest on RFID tagging,
information on CCA activities (bluetongue, anaplasmosis, CCA jaunts to the NCBA convention in Texas), brief reports on committee activities like GPS pasture tracking systems, tweaking Grass Routes, results of food service initiates in Alberta and so forth.

What the producers want to hear is updates on new packer capacity being built in the province, how producers can participate in the packing plants and progress on new packer proposals the ABP/CCA is spearheading. That is noticeably absent from the agenda.

If this meeting was being held in Quebec, Atlantic Canada, B.C. or Manitoba packing plants would be first on the list. While increased packing capacity is given lip service by the Alberta industry reps, in reality it is not even on the radar screen as the ABP focuses on legal action in their never ending quest to open the border to live cattle.

Legal action is a low percentage game in my opinion as it has to be played on the American’s home turf with American judges. The Americans are very good at litigation, in fact they invented the game and the rules. The Americans will open the border to live cattle when it suits the Americans, not before, and time has shown there is little we can do to influence that.

Building packing plant capacity is something that we can do here at home in Canada. There is nothing the Americans can do to stop it, we are in control. The benefits are long term, costs are minor compared to other solutions like subsidies. And while I have heard remarks to the effect that as soon as we get the packing plants built the Americans will open the border I say great. If that is what it takes lets get right on it. If the alternative is ongoing legal challenges that are forecast to drag out for 9 to 18 months and possibly longer then the obvious course is not legal action but immediate action on packing capacity.

But our industry cannot bury its head in the sand and expect the free market will achieve its goals for it. We are in a non-functioning market, the free market is not working. That non functioning market is controlled by American interests, even caused by American interests. In Canada, where we have seen action on the packer front, the respective provinces and their industry leaders have taken a proactive stance to seeing real action take place. If we don't step out of the box in Alberta and take decisive steps to do the same we cannot expect that enough progress will take place soon enough to prevent widespread producer collapse.

And while I think the meeting should be orderly, it is understandable if producers present are impatient as they are sitting through a presentation on RFID tags when they are wondering where is the packing plant that is going to take their cows and pay them a fair price.

It is high time Alberta got past the ideology and saw the immediate need for dramatic action on the packing plant front.

[grassfarmer]

Well said Farmers_son! I am aware of the current state of RFID tagging etc and don't need to sit through a long talk on that. Kind of like the endless presentations of the CAIS program we saw last year - slow, dull presentations that could have been over in half the time - these are the kind of things that ensure empty seats at future meetings.