Thanks for the great comment Diamond S. Most of us can only imagine what you folks in Canada are going through. It's unfortunate for you the way things have worked out, but, to be honest, it's not the first time a commodity has gotten into trouble in a certain country by being too dependent on export trade. Perhaps Canadian producers were somewhat justified by being told "we need your cattle down here" only to be turned on by some when the mix of things in the world changed (including NAFTA, CAFTA, BSE, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Australia, Tyson, JBS etc.) and U.S. producers came under new pressures.
You folks will adapt and adjust as you learn the new rules of the game, and I believe there will be a beef industry in Canada for a long time to come. But it has been and will continue to be painful for a while as you adjust to the new realities. Kinda like today's U.S. economy. I'd like to ask you what you believe will be the most important things a cow-calf producer must do in Canada to continue to be one of the survivors as you go into the future in your new industry. If you have the time. If not, thanks again for your great comment.
Even if a way is found to keep beef that was produced on illegally deforested land in Brazil from coming to the U.S. and the U.K. to name a couple of places, what is the right approach if their answer down in Brazil is to simply use that beef in Brazil which would free up more "legally produced" beef to be exported. So far, government programs that may attempt to keep beef produced on illegally deforested land from going to feed yards and processing plants have not been effective, or the deforestation for the purpose of producing more beef would not continue as it is. Should there be something like a new World Beef Council to attack unfair production and trade practices around the world, or should it be left to individual nations to do whatever they choose to do through WTO et al? Just a thought.