Canadian Farmers Have the Farm Policy They Wanted

[cowman]

Haymaker: I hate to tell you this but you lost the Picket case? You do have captive supplies...just like us?
The captive supply thing was here long before Cargill or Tyson ever crossed the border. All those old Canadian packers owned cattle and yep they used them to manipulate the market!
The laws up here say they can do that...and I guess according to the Picket decision...yours do too?
I'm not sure how your hog industry is set up but up here the packers completely control supplies? You don't sell hogs unless you have a contract...and guess who sets the price? Welcome to the 21st century! That is where the cattle market is going to evolve, get used to it? If you don't like it I don't see anyone holding a gun to your head forcing you to raise cattle?

[HAYMAKER]

Nope you men have it wrong,this packer fight is far from over,matter of fact some of us believe it has just begun.
you see down here the whole country is run by special interest groups,like AMI,usda,ncba,they have deep pockets and lots of political clout.
But I figure it's just a matter of time till R CALF is a major player,the way the membership drives have been going it's a cinch.
We get enough members,we will have enough dollars to buy a few politicians even the playing field some what,then we will see who is gonna win this packer fight.
Next year R CALF elects a new president,a Texan and if they are as successful in TX as they were in the northern states,we could see a big differnce in the outcome of these packer battles.I know talk is cheap and I personally have nothing against you canadian ranchers,matter of fact I have a great respect for yall,but these shell games like "ranch to rail" "farm to fork" strategic alliance BS has got to change,markets need to be fair and open.
why has'nt the canadian rancher pushed for some form of captive supply reform law? Are you afraid of those american packers?.............good luck

[nicolaas]

why has'nt the canadian rancher pushed for some form of captive supply reform law? Are you afraid of those american packers?.............good luck

I went to a ABP meeting this fall, I found out that there was a resolution from the year before on the effects of packer cattle ownership and (don't quote me as I can never seem to locate the actual list of resolutions that come out of these meetings)possibly limiting them to 10% ownership of cattle????? maybe it was 20%??? anyway, not much work was done on the study, as they said it was still under review. I believe they may afraid of offending the packers, cause how hard could a study like that be? A lot of people say NO RULES - free enterprize is the way, my answer is look at deregulation of our utilities - all that supposed "competition" and new utility companies coming in was suppose to make things cheaper for us, not more expensive. Same thing will happen when you are dealing with only a couple major players controlling all the cattle in the feed lots. They definitley will not pay you more.

[cowman]

Haymaker: How can you call the USDA a special interest group? It is a government department!
AMI definitely has an agenda to promote the wishes of its members as does the NCBA? What is wrong with that?
To say that the USDA has been corrupted by special interests is very harmful and it is one of R-CALFs biggest blunders! You call into question the safety of the whole food supply. In spite of people like you(and lots up here)denouncing the USDA, in the real world they are viewed as a very honest protector of the American consumer? Just like our own CFIA is viewed up here! The day the consumer loses faith in the safety of the food supply, or the departments ensuring that, will be a sad day for the producer!
Now maybe I am naive or something but I believe the CFIA inspectors and the USDA inspectors are conscientious people doing their job for the government...not taking their orders from Tyson and a bunch of crooked politicians!