Right Sizing...

[grassfarmer]

I don't know about "right sizing" but downsizing is going ahead full steam. Quote from Triple J Livestock auction report in Westlock yesterday "There is no premium on bred cows as more liquidations keep happening every week - just about 900 cows went for kill again this week! Where and when will it end?!"
This followed on from last week when they had 1000 cull cows.

[kato]

There was a story on our local news the other day about how the Interlake region of Manitoba is under water again. This makes two years in a row where the feed has all but been ruined by excess moisture. They showed a field of baled hay standing in at least a half a foot of water. I can't imagine a lot of cows not coming out of there this fall, because there's precious little money around to buy them feed. And no on is in the mood for more debt.

When will it end? I guess when there are so few cattle left that they become worth something. Talk about an endangered species....... (Two actually, the cows and us.)

And yet the governments are quite smugly patting themselves on the back about how much help they have given livestock producers in the form of cash advances (aka debt), loans, (aka debt), opening new markets (which helps who???), and money for research (which helps who???)

In the meantime, safety net programs designed to stop this kind of decimation have become nothing more than a bad joke. Sometimes I wonder if the programs are set up to fail, in order for the politicians to save money by making no payouts, and still be able to go to the public and try and get brownie points for supporting agriculture. It's a win win situation for someone looking to be able to appear to support food production in this country while not having to support it without actually writing a cheque.

I got a reply letter from G.Ritz to a letter I had written him, and it was absolutely filled with all the wonderful things they had done to support the beef producers, and by the time I got to the end of it, I couldn't find one item that had actually done anything concrete to put any money on the table down here on the farm. Just self congratulations and rhetoric, with no real substance.

I guess when Ottawa wakes up one morning and finds the country has lost the ability to feed itself, then maybe they will notice.

[Sawbones]

Perfecto...Meat that is imported from any other country does not have the same regulations as far as SRM removal or segregation. The surveillance in the US is far less than here and yet there is no problem with importing their products. If the Canadian public is asking for these procedures, then we should assume that product brought in from other countries should have the same regulations imposed on them.

[kato]

That's a very good point. Especially when the imports are from countries like the U.S. that have the exact same BSE status as we do.

[grassfarmer]

Problem is the Canadian public aren't and never were demanding the higher standards of SRM removal. We would have to educate them before we can play that card - still worth it probably.

[perfecho]

Thanks Sawbones....I see.
You would think this would be a good marketing angle for world wide sales for Canadian beef.

[per]

Maybe it is our regulators that need to be educated. Can't cross the boarder unless it meets the same standards.

[skip]

Sean:

If you think we should match domestic supply with demand....are you suggesting supply management like in dairy and poultry?

We would have to close the border to imports and match prices to a cost of production formula...

Lots of issues to do this....not sure the industry wants to be that regulated.

[smcgrath76]

skip, I definitely DO NOT think that way,
but a lot of the discussion is focusing on
local and Canadian. I think it is
important to realize just how small that
market really is (although it is
profitable for the most part).