Beef Imports rise

[grassfarmer]

Just read this statistic on the Canfax website.
"With only two months in 2005 reported to date, beef imports are up 84 per cent compared to the same two months in 2004. They are, however, still half of what entered Canada in the first two months of 2003."
Can anyone explain why imports would have risen so much? Is somebody manipulating the market?

[cakadu]

It sure doesn't make sense does it ? We have enough beef to supply our own domestic market and still some to spare so why we need to import is anyones guess.
Just read that Smitty's is going to use only Alberta Beef from now on. Makes me wonder what restaurants aren't using our own product, wish that info was available, so folks could decide whether or not to support those businesses.

[intr3est]

One of the biggest marketers of foreign beef is M&M meats. Through this all they have refused to buy Candian, "they can't get what they want, or what meet their specifications"

[cowman]

We all should realize that Canada still has very high prices for retail? Not only in the supermarket but in the restaurant trade?
We may be getting virtually nothing for our old cows but a Big Mac sure hasn't come down!
I often wonder how countries like Austalia can slaughter their cow beef, ship it three quarters of the way around the world and still compete with our 25 cent cows? They must be getting about 12 cents Canadian! How much does it cost to ship a frozen product around the world? Either they are one hell of a lot more efficient than us or they are being subsidized in a big way?

[cowman]

lets all put the word out about M M meats, and perhaps they will feel the heat if people don't flock to their door !

[farmers_son]

Non-NAFTA beef imports are up 20% from a year ago, mostly because of increased imports of New Zealand grinding beef. If as the Canfax report suggests, imports have risen 84%, it would seem as if the bulk of that increase came from the U.S.

Canada's national cattle herd continued to swell last year, reaching a record 15.1 million head as of January 1, 2005, a little over a year and a half after the worldwide ban on Canadian cattle because of mad cow disease.
According to the January Livestock Survey, Canadian farmers had 430,000 more cattle on their farms this year than they did on January 1, 2004. This was the equivalent of a 2.9% increase.
Compared with January 1, 2003 (before the ban was imposed) farmers had 1.6 million more head of cattle on their farms at the start of this year. A 10.5% increase.

Grassfarmer: Regarding your comment is someone manipulating the market. As we still have a non functioning market there is no question that supply and demand are not working to drive the beef value chain. As a result the entire beef economy in Canada is subject to manipulation, of course by the packers but government with their set aside programs, by feedlots, by everyone. It goes without saying that imports of beef from non NAFTA countries has been manipulated by government for some time and continues to be today through import quotas and the TRQ. There is no free supply and demand functioning market for beef in Canada at this time. Really, it is not functioning all that well in the U.S. as many American producers will tell you.

As the two major packers are only killing UTM Canada may have the cows to kill but not the packing capacity to kill them. I am not surprised that Canada would have to import beef to meet domestic needs as we continue to export record amounts of youthful animals to the U.S. The problem for producers is not the level of imports, it is the unfair profits the packers are making buying their live animals at discounts while exporting the beef at record prices. Producer who look at supply and demand fundamentals such as the level of imports to gain an understanding of why prices are low will be disappointed to realize there is no connection.

Canfax would do our industry a better service if they reported on the unfair profits of the packer pirates by explaining the dramatic flucuations in the live fat prices rather than offering numbers on imports which have no bearing in our present situation. Instead they are silent.

[grassfarmer]

Agreed farmers_son.
Cowman, you are still doing too much "farmer/rancher" thinking that someone else must be more efficient than us to undercut our 25 cent cows. Point is they figure they are undercutting isn't the 25 cent/lb cow but the $1/lb cow by the time it is presented to the retailer to sell. I picked the $1 figure out of the air but you see my point? The figures we deal with daily in the auction houses and packing plants bear absolutely no relation to the carcase price coming out the other end.

[greybeard]

If we have 1/10 of the US population and 1/10 of their cow numbers and they are importing more “manufacturing” type beef than ever, then logically if we can’t get our cows killed then we must be short too. The demand exceeds the supply of processed beef. Not cows for slaughter. The plants are making more money on UTM so don’t have capacity to fill this market.
I believe right now wholesale to retail price for boxed trim is about $1.50#. I’m sure I saw a number somewhere that Paraguay or some obscure South American country is our biggest supplier. Probably Cargill can’t fill the orders from their Canadian plants so just send in boxes from a plant somewhere else in the world. I saw where they recently purchased the company that supplies burgers to Burger-king and others. Once it goes thru the grinder they can probably box it as “Product of Canada”.

[farmers_son]

So far in 2005 New Zealand is the number one non-NAFTA importer of beef, with about 50% of imports. Uruguay is second with 43% of imports and Australia has about 7%. During the same period in 2004 Uruguay was slightly ahead at 50% with New Zealand a close second at 40% while Australia had 9%. Basically, New Zealand and Uruguay are supplying most of Canada's non-NAFTA imports.

Within NAFTA, Canada is accepting beef from UTM animals from the U.S. as well as live feeders and animals destined for immediate slaughter. In addition to non-NAFTA imports that come directly into Canada, Canada further accepts beef from Australia, New Zealand, Uruguary, Argentina and Chile that entered the United States through their import rules and regulations, was processed there and then shipped to Canada.

See: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/trade/eicb/reports/BR1TO1A-YTD.pdf
See: http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2005/20050331-x2/pdf/g2-139x2.pdf

[farmers_son]

A further comment about grinding beef. It is a common misconception that beef from non-NAFTA countries such as New Zealand and Uruguay is hamburger beef. In fact 60% of beef imported from these countries is cuts and only 40% is grinding beef. This is roughly the typical mix of hamburger versus cuts on a whole carcass.

Canada's Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) is roughly equivalent to 275,000 live animals each year. Supplementary quotas would be on top of that. In 2004, Canada did issue supplementary quotas although nothing like those issued on 2003 and before. Non-NAFTA beef that finds it way into Canada through the U.S. would be in addition.

[dferguson]

Speaking of restaurants. I note that Wendy"s has stopped serving a beef sandwich here in N.S. Is this true across the country? Anyone know why?