Cattle trade slowly adjusts after border opening
Elizabeth Huber, Saskatchewan News Network; Regina Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, November 24, 2007
REGINA -- When Sylvan Martens of Marten's Cattle Company near Spiritwood sold a Charolais-bred heifer in 2002, he never suspected it would take five years for the purchasers to collect their assets.
The operation that purchased the Charolais is located in the United States, and the Canadian bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis was just beginning.
As a result of the United States border opening to older cattle on Monday, the opening day of the Canadian Western Agribition, Martens was finally able to provide the buyer with the mature animal and several of her offspring.
When the American border opened to older Canadian cattle this week, it was marked with caution by some. R-CALF, a Montana-based protectionist ranchers' group, is attempting rally support in the U.S. and has various lawsuits seeking re-closure of the border.
To foster cross-border communications between Canadian and U.S. cattle industries, a roundtable discussion was organized at Agribition by the Consul General of Canada in Denver and Minneapolis and the International Trade Office in Regina.
Prior to the meeting on Wednesday, Scott Jones, of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, said the pending lawsuits were not a "very fruitful avenue to go down."
He said he was looking forward to the meeting as a way to create an understanding of issues on both sides of the border.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, the Saskatchewan Stockgrowers Association and the Canadian Beef Breeds Council were represented at the meeting, along with Colorado and South Dakota producers.
"I think (the U.S. cattlemen) are to be congratulated and celebrated for their open and fair-mindedness in respect to relations with Canada," said Herb McLane, executive vice-president of Canadian Beef Breeds Council and immediate past-president of Agribition.