Look, folks, I certainly did not intend to make things worse between Canadian and US cattle producers by commenting here.
I certainly never felt any condescension toward anyone north of the border!
And, when recounting the history of ranchers in western SD, I was thinking at least equally of the dozens of other pioneer families who were able to survive this climate and less than stellar land and water conditions for more than 100 years, many of their descendants are my neighbors and friends, after all. The population is far less now than it was even 25 years ago, and the era from about 1940 to '60 probably was the prime for 'West River Country', the area between the Black Hills and the Misourri River.
So far as Death Taxes are concerned, our family had the best advice available in SD well before the deaths, and still got hit very hard. SD has since ended our use of that onerous tax, and I certainly hope we never are so foolish as to re-instate it. Who could be proud of a tax which is so dependent upon promoting envy of others in people to support a tax which the extremely wealthy families rarely pay???
I do tend to forget, mean spirited people, so yes, there are those dolts who would laugh all the way to the bank.........not only over misfortune of Canadian ranchers, but of ANYONE whose misfortune increased his!
So far as Bill Bullard is concerned, IMO, he may be a slick talker, capable of convincing people he has all the answers, but ultimately, he will cause harm tol the cattle business. COOL was totally unnecessary, and is going to be used against cattle producers more than for us. At best, the unnecessary costs of compliance are going to cut beef sales. This disunity between our US and Canadian producers is just one of the disasters produced by COOL. The only good thing about Bullard being a leader of a cattle group is it is keeping him out of politics.....for the time being.
My apologies to those offended by my posts. BSE is a very complicated problem. I don't believe science has yet come up with the answers, but do suspect some of the simpler solutions from the past may be worth studying.
I do believe there is more to the financial differential between Canadian and US cattle prices than just BSE or COOL, or the prior health claims. It would be wonderful if that border could be seamless and feeders down here could easily buy your calves, or you could send them down here to feed out on your own dollar, and some of us down here in the northern states could send ours up to be fed your great barley for that great finish. We could build a respected AMERICAN beef label to feed the world, including those in other countries who can afford our superior quality beef. But I'm 73, and may not live long enough for all those fights to get ironed out to achieve that lofty goal!!!!
mrj