marketing cattle

[Willowcreek]

Oh I understand that cowman-- That is the reason I have never held it personal against Canadian farmer/ranchers...I realize this was all caused thru government policy and corporate manipulation...

I only answered to point out how the resentment from US producers comes about-- and to give everyone an idea of how the mood in the US for "free trading" and "globalization" is fastly switching... I truly believe the so-called Canadian cattlemens associations need to find some leadership that doesn't think they can continually count on the US market--because I don't think it will always be there......

[cowman]

Well I can also understand how you guys might see it? We've seen it here too, over the years. When those old cows get too high the government lets in the Aussie garbage...way above the agreed upon quota! Cheap food is more important than farm stability! Damned dumb peasants!LOL
As far as our "beef organizations"...the average cow/calf guy has long given up on even trying! About 15 years ago we tried to get a cow/calf type organization up and running but were completely ignored by the government...sort of the same thing as the recent organization, BIG C!
I think generally there is a move out of cow/calf and cattle by a lot of farmers in Canada? If this grain market is real(and not just a result of shortages worldwide) I think we will see a major shift in the next year or two from cattle/hogs and into cereals and oil seeds?
You should also understand that in Canada...things go slow! In America some entrepreneur sees an opportunity...he goes for it...and his government supports him! Here we "study it, we consult, we drivel around"! In many ways we are indocrinated into this frame of mind! Just like in the former Soviet Union, you don't overcome the "Socialist Utopia" over night!

[coppertop]

cowman, bear in mind, that Aussie beef is far inferior to our own beef, that is not the case with our beef vs US beef. If that were the case, many of posh restaurants would not, for years, have been advertising prime Alberta beef on their menu !! I doubt if you would ever see anyone advertising Aussie beef !! In fact, a local group ordered Aussie steaks a couple of years ago for a BBQ that was being funded in part by the Ag Society. When the little secretary of the Ag Society got wind of it, there was hell to pay, so the beef order was changed to Alberta Beef !!!

[coppertop]

sorry, I meant to say many posh US restaurants advertised Alberta Beef on their menus

[Willowcreek]

coppertop posted Dec 27, 2006 11:15
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sorry, I meant to say many posh US restaurants advertised Alberta Beef on their menus

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coppertop-- It must have been in a very few restaurants and in times past-- because I have searched high and low on the internet and in print media, and can find nowhere that a Canadian beef product is being sold as such in the US or advertised at a US restaurant/retail store...Lot more US origin, and US ranch sourced, or US grassfed and organic showing up- but no Canuck branded...

Most Canuck beef has no identity anymore- unless its in the rural areas or with the organic and consumer safety folks and then its identified with "BSE"...

Even the local butcher has told me the reason he "voluntarily" won't mark Canadian beef as such is because then he won't be able to compete with the other stores that still pass it off with the USDA stamp as US Beef...Which means in this area its identified as an "inferior" product...

Thats the reason we need the M-COOL law- so that ALL Packers/Retailers must truthfully tell the consumer where the product is coming from...

[grassfarmer]

"that Aussie beef is far inferior to our own beef" - Is it now? I realise everyone wants to support their own countries product but I think if you look at the facts you would see that Australia's beef industry is becoming a world leader. Their work on genetics, tenderness and eating quality are racing ahead of those in North America.

[coppertop]

All I know grassfarmer is by the taste test. I don't know how familiar you have been with some of the low priced chain restaurants of the past decade or more, but many of them served Aussie steak, and they couldn't begin to compare with our Alberta Beef.
I would highly doubt that any restaurant would dare advertise Aussie beef anymore in Alberta !!!!!

Willowcreek, I have been in high end restaurants in Montana in the early 1990's and seen ALBERTA PRIME BEEF advertised as a menu item, and I am not the only Canadian to have seen this in the US. Perhaps now, this isn't happening any more, but the point I was making is that our Alberta beef is equal in quality to US beef.

[Willowcreek]

Coppertop- Quote "Willowcreek, I have been in high end restaurants in Montana in the early 1990's and seen ALBERTA PRIME BEEF advertised as a menu item, and I am not the only Canadian to have seen this in the US. Perhaps now, this isn't happening any more, but the point I was making is that our Alberta beef is equal in quality to US beef."

Yep I can buy that... Back in the early 90's before the Tysons/Cargils/multinationals etal made it into a generic slab of meat, Canadian beef had an identity-- but now if you asked most US consumers about it- they would have no idea and/or would say they have never ate it...Canada lost all quality identity with NAFTA and now the only identity the beef has is negative.....

[coppertop]

The mindset I have is that I will support my own beef industry, and I will not patronize any food establishment that I know serves anything but Alberta Beef.

Anytime I am involved in organizing an event, and have anything to do with hiring a caterer, they are advised that if they aren't in the habit of serving Alberta Beef at all times, they need not bother giving a quote.

[cowman]

I think Australia can probably produce beef as good as any country in the world, after all a cow is a cow wherever she comes from? I do believe the vast majority of the beef we get from them is going into a market that would be compatible with our cull cow market, though? Manufacturing beef.
Now I'm not sure how Australia can even compete with 25 cent Canadian cows, but who knows? After the shenanigans revealed in their wheat deals....? Don't forget Australia was the place they sent every scoundrel and rogue from England? Maybe the old apples didn't fall too far from the tree!
Willowcreek: I have no problem with MCOOL...except for one problem? It is more designed to be a barrier to American packing plants than any kind of "protecting and informing" the American consumer! It really is nothing more than another protectionist measure!
The fact is every box of beef that comes from Canada has the "product of Canada" stamp on it? Maybe you should be getting on your own meat business...if they are removing that stamp? Don't you have any laws?
And furthermore, only a small portion of Canadian beef would be subject to MCOOL? Certainly not enough to justify the economics of segregrating Canadian cattle on the slaughter line! Nope, sorry, this is nothing more than an end run to protect your domestic cattle business...?
The last thing is you don't have an ID system in place...and it looks like you have no intention of implementing one! Wasn't it R-CALF that said "Don't burden us with traceback"?

[Willowcreek]

cowman-- You are right about not having a law-- After the passage of NAFTA, the Packers found a loophole in the USDA rules and began using it to pass off imported meat as US meat...M-COOL is the law that closes that loophole and makes the Packer/Retailer be truthful....

As far as a US M-ID system-- its unnecessary for M-COOL-- as everything currently imported is/has to be marked to origin...We just need to require the Packer/retailer to carry that thru to the consumer....

All M-COOL is is a law that requires Packer/Retailers to tell the truth...

[farmers_son]

MCOOL is a law that would see Canadian beef only sold in restaurants and processed beef. Even U.S. packers would have to segregate Canadian beef from U.S. product. The penalties are so great that no packer, processor, retailer would touch Canadian product for fear of being in contravention of MCOOL.

It is not a matter of Canadian beef competing for market share with U.S. beef. It is a matter of Canadian beef not getting the chance to compete.