Johanns: Closed border will send jobs to Canada

[CattleAnnie]

And another.

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Swift & Co. to cut production


Sharon Dunn, (Bio) [email protected]
March 5, 2005



Swift & Co. on Friday announced a second round of cuts in its domestic beef processing plants to try to weather the two-year storm that has kept Canadian cattle from entering the United States.

Swift announced it would cut production at its Grand Island, Neb., plant by 20 percent, or a little more than 1,000 head of cattle per day. Employees will work the equivalent of four days spread over five, said company spokesman Jim Herlihy.

"Cattle prices remain out of line and with the border not being opened, we were looking for some short-term relief, at least in the immediate term," Herlihy said. Swift announced last month a 20 percent reduction in volume at its Cactus, Texas, plant as well.

"We will review this on a weekly basis," Herlihy said. "It's premature to talk about anything beyond this move."

The borders were set to open March 7, allowing potentially more than 1 million head of cattle this year into the United States, but a federal lawsuit challenging the safety of cattle shut the gates. A federal judge has ordered a hearing on the safety of cattle before reopening the borders at the request of ranchers who argued that the government hadn't done enough to ensure the cattle are free of mad cow disease.

While the news continues to get worse as the ban on Canadian beef continues, Swift's move last November to create "value-added," or more consumer-ready, meat is working, Herlihy said.

After laying off 800 employees to create a second shift of the further-processed meats, Swift initially took back about 200 employees to cover the new rotation. That number has grown to 370, Herlihy said.

"It's never as fast as you would like, but it's growing steadily," Herlihy said. "We're getting a very positive response from our customers. Every customer we've had through the plant has bought something. We're continuing to market those capabilities of that facility, and we're hopeful it will continue to grow."

Swift has plants worldwide and has been able to sustain the hits somewhat by increased production and demand in its Australian beef production plants. Any losses in domestic production have been offset by increases in pork production as well.

Swift isn't the only company making cuts because of the closed borders. Cargill Inc., the No. 2 producer in the country, also announced on Friday cuts to several of its plants, including its Fort Morgan operation. Tyson Foods, the No. 1 beef producer in the country, also has cut production in recent months.


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Take care.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Article
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Pacific Northwest Feels Pain From Ban on Canadian Cattle
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

Published: March 7, 2005


ASCO, Wash., March 4 - Here in this state's largest beef-processing plant, the butchering of cattle to feed Americans' appetite for meat goes on. Knife-wielding workers break down carcasses from the round to the chuck, while automated conveyors package 1,000 boxes an hour of 150 products.

But in a conference room inside the plant there was a palpable gloom among 10 of the state's cattlemen, whose farms provide the cattle that keep Tyson Food's plant running.

A ban on live cattle from Canada has forced slowdowns at Pasco and other Tyson plants. The ban threatens to make life more expensive for cattlemen here and could force a contraction of the Northwest market, which depends more than any other region of the United States on Canadian cattle to fill seasonal shortfalls. The ban was instituted in May 2003, after mad cow disease was found in an Alberta beef cow, and was supposed to have been lifted March 7.

On Thursday, the cattlemen's gloom deepened. The United States Senate narrowly upheld an injunction by a Montana federal judge to keep the border closed indefinitely, citing concerns that Canadian cattle were still infected. The House will now take up the issue, although President Bush has threatened a veto to force the border to be reopened.

Unlike the cattlemen from the Midwest and Upper Plains states who have supported the continued ban, Washington State cattlemen see efforts to keep the border closed as nothing more than a protectionist smokescreen. To them the border closing is a fiction. Despite the ban on live cattle, Canadian boxed beef continues to pour over the border. While boxed beef imports are down 6 percent from 2002, they jumped 45 percent in 2004 from 2003, to a still-healthy 659 million pounds, according to the United States Census Bureau.

"We are getting more Canadian product here, just in a different form," said Mike Para, who owns a feedlot north of Pasco. His pony-tailed brother, Jake Para, who co-owns a ranch with his brother, added: "Everything that protectionism does adds to the cost to the consumer. They are the ones that are going to pay before it's all over."

As the price of American beef has gone up because of the scarcity of live cattle, Canadian boxed beef has seemed a relative bargain to retail and wholesale buyers, even though the Canadian dollar is valued higher than normal.

More than anything, what worries the Washington cattlemen are Canadian cattlemen, who have used the ban to begin to develop their industry into a more sophisticated competitor to the United States' dominant beef trade. Last year, Canadian cattlemen, with some government assistance, began investing in processing plants, increasing the country's capacity by 22 percent. While Canada's capacity, at 4.4 million head a year, is just 12 percent of the United States' capacity, Canada's growth has caused some American firms to lobby furiously to reopen the border.

Tyson and Cargill, the largest American agricultural company, are making the biggest investments in expanding capacity north of the border. But they also favor lifting the ban, citing the broader importance of regaining access to Asian markets, which have been closed to American beef since mid-2003.

But the Canadians have done more than just expand processing capacity. Faced with an oversupply of cattle, Canadian cattle groups have forged marketing partnerships with grocery chains to sell more Canadian beef at home. In British Columbia, ranchers and their families regularly work behind meat counters on weekends to help spur sales.

"Canada is learning to do things on the marketing side that it has never done before," Mike Para said. "The industry has changed forever, even if we do open the border. Those folks are learning to be more independent. They are going to learn how to sell their products to Japan. They are going to do whatever it takes to get those jobs done."

For now, with too few Canadian cattle to slaughter, the pressure continues to build on the American meatpacking industry. On Friday, Cargill said it was making more production cuts at its seven beef plants in the United States. The company attributed the cutbacks to tight supply and the continued border closing. In the wake of the Montana judge's injunction, some banks have begun calling smaller packing plants, asking how long they can hang on, said Rosemary Mucklow, executive director of the National Meat Association, a trade group that represents American meat packers and processors. "Some of the smaller packers won't survive," she said.

At Pasco, production is down a quarter, to about 2,500 cattle a day, from mid-2003. The plant operates 32 hours a week, down from 45.

Said Cody Easterday, who owns an 18,000-head feedlot south of Pasco, "We have awakened a sleeping lion, no doubt."

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Take care.

 

[Tam]

Very good point Sandhusker. Ever try to get into Canada if you have any type of criminal record? Even truckers who plan to enter and leave have some real issues in that regard. The old Buszcszcszchhh Whacker is pulling out all the stops to get the border opened. Even to the point of a veto of any action of the Congress. Does this guy have a clue?!?!?!?

Ever try to get into the U.S with a criminal record :?:

You don't need to have a criminal record to be stopped at the US border all you have to be is a roast beef sandwich :lol:

 

[Tommy]

Tam...You don't need to have a criminal record to be stopped at the US border all you have to be is a roast beef sandwich .

You been trying to sneek one across Tam? :roll:

 

[Tam]

No Tommy as I know better I'm asked every time I cross the border if I have ANY beef. Don't think I would want to get caught as the US Border crossing GUARDS all pack guns and they may shoot first and ask how much later. :roll:

 

[frenchie]

Very good point Sandhusker. Ever try to get into Canada if you have any type of criminal record? Even truckers who plan to enter and leave have some real issues in that regard. The old Buszcszcszchhh Whacker is pulling out all the stops to get the border opened. Even to the point of a veto of any action of the Congress. Does this guy have a clue?!?!?!?

Ever try to get into the U.S with a criminal record :?:

You don't need to have a criminal record to be stopped at the US border all you have to be is a roast beef sandwich :lol:

I guess I better leave my lunch at home then? :lol: Next time I go south of the line.

 

[Tam]

If you take one it better be P.B. AND J sandwiches and water as that maybe the only thing they will allow.

 

[Kato]

Got caught with an orange once. Had to sit and eat it right there before we could move on.

It's all a moot point now though, because we're not going south any time soon anyway. That would mean driving through North Dakota, and we don't want to do that.

They don't want our money anyway, eh? :wink:

 

[CattleAnnie]

Article from Plainview Daily Herald

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Cargill cutting back 03-06-2005
By DANNY ANDREWS

Herald Editor

Due to low cattle prices and a federal judge´s decision to keep the border closed to Canadian cattle over "mad cow" concerns, Cargill Meat Solutions here will cut back to a 36-hour weekly operation.

General Manager Jim Rathke said Friday that Cargill here had been back up to 40 hours the last two weeks but will join the company´s six other plants in reducing hours.

"We´ve been on a 36-hour week for most of the last three months," Rathke said.

Cargill has about 2,050 hourly employees.

"We´re looking at this on a week-to-week basis," said Rathke, noting that Cargill currently is processing about 3,600 head a day.

"While we have been operating in reduced mode for some time, current market conditions and lackluster seasonal beef demand are forcing us to further reduce the number of cattle we process weekly," said Bill Rupp, president of Cargill´s beef business.

Cargill´s other plants are located in Friona; Dodge City, Kan.; Schuyler, Neb.; Fort Morgan, Colo.; Milwaukee, Wis.; and Wyalusing, Pa.

Rupp agreed that the tight supply of market-ready cattle and the continued closure of the U.S. border to Canadian cattle are making market conditions difficult.

Based in Wichita, Kan., Cargill Meat Solutions is a leading producer, marketer and distributor of branded and unbranded meats. It is a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Cargill. Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services.

Cargill has 105,000 employees in 59 countries. Posted to MyPlainview: MARCH 07, 2005 20:59 CST

By DANNY ANDREWS Herald Editor
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Take care