Frankensteer/CBC documentary

[cowman]

cowman the powers that are in control in government just don't 'get it' that communities do not want large operations in their midst.

New technologies when implemented certainly can mitigate the impact of a confined feeding operation but the mere mention of a hog operation in most communities gets the citizens in an uproar.
Municipalities are amending their municipal development plans and including buffers where no cfo's can locate.

[cowman]

emerald: I would suggest to you that the municipalities putting in these buffer zones is a good thing? The fact is we don't want or need to live beside an ILO...just so some immigrant can pay for his overpriced land?
As I said I personally don't have a problem in my immediate area. The only place this land is going is to a playground for the wealthy and I personally have no desire to raise thousands of animals...whether hogs or steers or milk cows!
The fact is the wealthy suburbanite can outbid the farmer or ILO for the land around here just about everytime? Now some old farm families will get in there and bid right along but in many cases that is just too much oil money in their wallets...and most of these boys aren't interested in slopping the hogs...if you know what I mean?
That is not to say I don't have any ILOs close to me but they were built before all the tough rules came into place and expansion doesn't make much sense now. They will run out the course of their life and disappear? At one time there were several fairly decent sized feedlots west of Red Deer...all gone now.

[cowman]

The hog industry is whining big time and blaming the NRCB because they haven't had the huge increase in hog numbers in this province. Many municipalities are amending their municipal development plans to include larger ' no go zones' to ensure that they can have growth in their hamlets, recreation areas etc. without the land use conflicts that would arise if there were large confined feeding operations in the vicinty.
When I was on council we had a buffer zone around the urban centres and hamlets where no cfo could locate and that was long before the current legislation was in place.
There is significant growth in the hog industry in Saskatchewan, land is cheaper there, there is a glut of barley that is cheap so it makes sense that operators would locate there vs paying high land values in Ab.

[cowman]

I actually caught the last half of "Frankensteer" yesterday and though a little sensational mostly what they said was true or at least plausible?
The part on E coli was pretty scary to say the least? Solution: Slow down the line speeds and get the darned carcasses clean!
Near the end they asked Rick Pascal if he could feed out cattle without hormones and anti-biotics and animal protein. He said yes he could and he put the cost at around $25 or less per animal! Is this true?
Will the day come when beef is raised in a more consumer friendly manner? Where the consumer can be assured that beef is free of hormones, pesticides,anti-biotics, BSE, Johnes, E coli? We may believe we have a safe product now but how do we really know? Most of us just sell calves or feeders...we have no clue what happens from the day they leave the farm until they end up on the customers plate?
We send out a healthy uncontaminated calf...what happens later? We actually don't know! We have to trust the feedlot, packer and meat inspection are all doing their jobs? This show suggests they aren't!

[cowman]

As I indicated on another post, the monitoring of livestock operations to ensure compliance in enviromnental matters is being reduced, and pretty soon the consumer will have no faith in the safety of what they consume !!
The documentary was sensationalism at its best, but the livestock industry needs to counteract this sort of stuff with assurance that it operates within all regulations and environmentally sustainable practices vs fighting any sort of regulatory system !!!

[cowman]

It seems that all forms of governments have this tendency to make the laws and then not provide the money to enforce them! Meat inspection is obviously one of those situations? You indicate how the NRCB now is pulling back from field inspections and I would suggest the same thing has happened in the oil and gas sector in regards to cleanup and environmental compliance with the regulations? The government seems to think industry can carry the ball while their boys sit in the office!
Which is just fine if you are dealing with an honorable company? Unfortunately there are a lot of dogs out there! Lakeside would be a prime example?