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Don't choke

B

Big Muddy rancher

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This is related to the beef quota thread. It's from the feed back forum from the SSGA Mag.

Topic #1: Should we put more or less emphasis on export markets?
Longtime cattle industry official, Charlie Gracey, favours doing everything we can to win back markets and increase
exports. He has said, "We can export and thrive, or do nothing and die."
On the other hand, there are those who argue that we are putting too much stock in export growth and should be putting
greater emphasis on our domestic market. Brian Nilsson of XL Foods has said, whether we like it or not the cow herd has
declined and the domestic market has already become more important to us. If we continue to focus so heavily on export
sales we will continue to be disappointed.
What's your take on this issue?
 
We can shrink and shrink and shrink and beef will continue to fill any shortfalls from Brazil or Oz or the US. We could go right down to Zero and the stores will still have beef. I am going with Mr. Gracey, either we are in business or not. Nielsons would love for our herd to shrink some more so Cargill will leave. And then there was 1.
 
having heard brian nilsson speak in moose jaw last june i think it was obvious his interests are very much opposed to those of the cattle producers of canada. charlie gracey, from my reading, also says we should diversify and meet other countries' requirements for export. he can see the mess we've gotten into by tying ourselves so closely to the usa. we have to either match american srm standards (which would be a big step backwards in food safety) or go more our own way.
 
We can and should do BOTH !!!!!!!!!

There lies the problem ,we are importing more than we export and it will continue to grow. This is what is killing our industry. Shouldn't we supply locally and export. who the hell says it is one or the other, that is a load is BS..

The government needs to get the h#ll out of our business because they sell us out every dam chance they get. That is why I brought up the quota idea, we would run it ourselves not the flippen government..
 
Why can't exports and domestic products be perpetuated at the same time?

When you have a good product the whole world wants it.
 
Mike said:
Why can't exports and domestic products be perpetuated at the same time?

When you have a good product the whole world wants it.
Click to expand...

Well it sounds good but reality is that the Canadian beef industry is in free fall.

High production costs, low returns, prohibitive land and equipment costs, and political interference mean it cannot grow and it MUST decline.

It all starts with the cow / calf operator - without him / her there is no industry.

So if they fail, the hole will be filled by other means. Imports. On the hoof or in the box - it is still an import. And any feedlots types will be happy to take an animal that puts 3-4 cents a pound more in the bank - they will NOT care where it comes from. And packers will be happy to squeeze the feedlot owners by running a few feedlots of decent size to feed their own line.

Do not want to meet our price? Heck with you Mr. Feedlot - we will run our own into the line and you can wait until we come by next month - unless you want to start begging now.

As for a good product that everyone wants - I agree with the first part and unfortunately the sad reality is that the second part does not exist.

There are vast parts of the world that want nothing to do with the Canadian product. My Danish military colleague - standing over my shoulder as I write tells me if it is not "green" and hormone free his family would not consider it. No matter what MY opinion or YOUR opinion - they are the consumer and they cannot get what they want from us. At least not today.

And even they it did - there would be no money in it for the cow calf producer - because that damned trickle down everyone likes to talk about does not happen.

So as a primary producer I no longer give a damn about export markets - I am more concerned about mere frigging survival. Let's sort that one out first and then we can look at other issues.

As well, the Canadian has been living on the dollar difference between the Yankee greenback and the Canuckle buck. That difference has shrunk and now there is no money.

And - I do not want to hear the bullschitte about becoming more efficient. Hell most of us are doing everything with nothing and in the MAJORITY of cases - both husband and/or wife have off farm/ranch income to subsidize their operation.

We feed people by working two jobs and the farm / ranch. Who is stupid here?

So - personally I do not give a damn about what we do with foreign markets - when we had them AND the dollar difference we could get by - but no one was buying a new pickup every year like the dairy and feather industries were. (Tongue in cheek comment) They were still working off farm and ranch.

Because unless the primary producer makes a living at cattle - the rest of the operators - feed lots and packers - will simply pull their animals from somewhere else.

You make it so the primary producer can actually afford to make a living and the industry will thrive - until then the vast majority of us will see most of our kids leave and go to something other than the farm / ranch

Without fed and prov support - which comes from voters - we are screwed.

And in the end - if Mrs. Joe Sixpack still can buy cheap burger - she will not give one flying fox fart about where it comes from.

BC
 
We could solve the import deal in a second by only importing from countries that have the same standards we do as to mandatory ID etc. Don't think there are many others that have had so much crap shoved down there throats by the government. If when BSE hit we'd of killed off the old cows post haste alot of our troubles would of been solved-all the feed shortages since then wouldn't of been so bad either. From what I understood the hog guys got paid to cull sows maybe it's time for that in the beef business.
 
The big problem with exports is that you can export all the beef you want, and if there are still only two processors, you will not get one red cent more. Expanded exports would move more beef, but it would not make us any more money.

It's the live cattle exports that keep them almost? kind of? sort of? fairly honest. Over the past year, as the live exports have dropped, the price has dropped with them.

I agree that trickle down is a myth. The nature of a corporation is to do whatever it can to prevent anything trickling down. Without competition, the money stays right where it is, and that is not in the pockets of producers. If the local producers all go broke, then imports will replace them.

I also agree that if other countries can demand things like SRM removal and traceability, we need to demand the same. We need countries exporting to Canada to have at least the same standards as we do. Otherwise it's not safe to eat, is it? That's what we're told by countries we want to export to, so why does it not work the other way around? Talk about a double standard. Though it's not often that a double standard is used against oneself....... :?
 
Broke Cowboy, "Do not want to meet our price? Heck with you Mr. Feedlot - we will run our own into the line and you can wait until we come by next month - unless you want to start begging now. "

I don't want to start a fight, but that has been the packers game down here for years, "Don't want to sell at that price? We'll bring 'em down from Canada and talk to you next week"
 
Sandhusker said:
Broke Cowboy, "Do not want to meet our price? Heck with you Mr. Feedlot - we will run our own into the line and you can wait until we come by next month - unless you want to start begging now. "

I don't want to start a fight, but that has been the packers game down here for years, "Don't want to sell at that price? We'll bring 'em down from Canada and talk to you next week"
Click to expand...

So it never really was about food safety? I guess it really doesn't matter now, does it. There's not much fight left to start.

Oh, and thanks, I guess.
 
Kato said:
I agree that trickle down is a myth. The nature of a corporation is to do whatever it can to prevent anything trickling down. Without competition, the money stays right where it is, and that is not in the pockets of producers. If the local producers all go broke, then imports will replace them.
Click to expand...
It is amazing how many, supposedly smart people, just don't understand this or blindly fail to acknowledge it. The producers only chance at "trickle down" is when consumers eat more beef than there are cattle to supply it. The global packer's first solution is to import cattle from where they have excess...which is why they want to sell "generic beef", no COOL!
 

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