marketing cattle

[cowman]

I suspect Kato might just be right?
Don't forget...very little Canadian product hits the retail shelf in the USA...and that is the only product affected by MCOOL? Most young stuff goes to the restaurant trade,the older cows went to the maunfacturing trade and institutional trade?
What happens if MCOOL comes into effect and when the OTM beef is allowed back in? Do you think institutions and manufacturing beef producers will buy those 25 cent cows from Canada...in a box...or pay twice as much for American cows?
It is very apparent Cargill and Tyson have no problem expanding up here...if they see a buck! They can use this border situation to their advantage?
Sure the American packer managers are going to squawk about MCOOL...why wouldn't they? They probably won't have a job if MCOOL comes in!
MCOOL is nothing more than a poorly thought out protectionist move? Designed for one purpose...to assure no Canadian cattle will be killed in an American packing plant? You just handed Cargill, Alberta and Tyson, Alberta a license to print money! Not too smart R-CALF!

[farmers_son]

I would also point out to supporters of MCOOL that most if not all the Canadian beef that can be kept out of the market in the United States will be replaced by even cheaper non-NAFTA product from Australia (the Americans new trading partner) and of course South America.

I think most American producers are aware that the price they receive for live cattle bears little resemblance to the price paid in the retail cooler anyway. All the benefits of MCOOL will be reaped by those further up the value chain while the costs of MCOOL are born by the producer.

As I pointed out earlier in this thread, U.S. protectionism was one of the driving factors of the great depression. The American producer cannot successfully maintain higher prices for their live cattle by creating sources of lower priced live cattle next door in Canada.

[cowman]

MCOOL is not a well thought out policy in regards to beef. It is more of a sop to the protectionists in the American beef business?
They seem to think by eliminating Canadian live cattle from their packing houses the packers will be forced to pay more for their cattle.
Unfortunately for them...beef can travel in a box! And MCOOL does not apply to the majority of that beef!
So what is really being accomplished here is this: The US beef producer is creating a situation where they have a super strong competitor across the border. Their own packers will not have a level playing field with the Canadian packers and thus will become less profitable? Less profits mean less money can be spent and will weaken the whole USA beef value chain!
I can very clearly see a day when the best markets for Montana calves will be the feedlots around Lethbridge? In reality it makes sense to feed and slaughter those calves in Alberta?
MCOOL is actually going to help the Canadian packers....in a BIG way!
I wonder if R-CALF members ever wonder why Cargill and Tyson chose to build packing houses in Alberta? I wonder what dreams they tell themselves, why they weren't built in Montana? Will they ever understand the Alberta feeder is so far ahead of them in being efficient...that they will never catch up? Do they understand that the western Canadian grain farmer is about as efficient as it gets!
Subsidies and protectionism will save you for a long time...or at least until the American consumer gets sick of it! Playing the health card, when in fact the real reason is you were getting your butt kicked, is the oldest protectionist trick in the book? That is R-CALF.

[Willowcreek]

Yep- Like I said-- Canucks wouldn't be whinin, cryin, and bitchin against M-COOL unless they knew it was going to actually make them do something on their own- like market their own beef...

The free gravy train and ride on the shirttails of the US cattlemans product will be gone...

[farmers_son]

Actually it is the American chicken producers who get the free ride. Chicken is exempt from MCOOL and chicken producers and chicken processors will not have to bear the cost of the regulatory burden associated with MCOOL.

It would be wise for the U.S. producer to carefully consider who their real competitors are. The U.S. chicken producer will never be an ally of the U.S. beef producer but the Canadian beef producer is a partner in the North American cattle/beef market.

The people who are bitchin and complaining are U.S. cattle producers who realize the cost of this program will be borne by them yet the benefits will accrue to the proceesors/retailers. The U.S. government is not putting MCOOL in place to help cattlemen anywhere.

[smcgrath76]

The Australian comments intrigue me. I have spent a fair amount of time in OZ and am very impressed with where they are going and what they are doing.
They do have a large portion of their herd that is bos indicus, but also a lot of bos taurus, and they are agressively targetting tenderness through genetics and management and processing research.
Grain finishing lots are one of the fastest growing industries in Australian agriculture, and they import a lot of North American genetics.
They have several large / extremely large producers requiring fewer people to mobilize to produce a larger supply, they have a better grading system (my personal thoughts) that is customer focused, and they have a business focus for their industry.
They also have a huge investment in research.
Take a google of some Aussie programs including stanbroke pastoral company, obibeef, and meat and livestock australia.
It is pretty impressive stuff and certainly the right track to make them competitive with us.

[smcgrath76]

sorry. should google obe beef.