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Why the downward slide?

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Markets crashed after cool was thrown out so they might have been helping cattle market. I believe there are a multitude of reasons for the crash and we might now have seen the worst of it. Going to take a while to build some consumer demand with lower retail prices. I think it is safe to say expansion of cowherd is now on hold.
 
At the butcher shop the other day - sides of beef, cut and wrapped - $4.15/lb. Pork - @2.10/lb.

Not a tough choice for those on a tight budget.
 
WB said:
Markets crashed after cool was thrown out so they might have been helping cattle market. I believe there are a multitude of reasons for the crash and we might now have seen the worst of it. Going to take a while to build some consumer demand with lower retail prices. I think it is safe to say expansion of cowherd is now on hold.
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After COOL was thrown out? IT hasn't been yet. WTO just ruled against it and the market has been going down all fall.
 
Cool? I don't want to argue about it, I see where Canada and Mejico can impose 1 Billion of tariffs. But my car part can say the box is made in u.s. the part in mejico. Every apple in the bag says where it growed. I can learn my tv came from japan, my wrench from china, my Molson's Canadian from==hell, Canada or boulder Colorado?! But it's a sin to know where my steak came from?! wtf?!
 
littlejoe said:
Cool? I don't want to argue about it, I see where Canada and Mejico can impose 1 Billion of tariffs. But my car part can say the box is made in u.s. the part in mejico. Every apple in the bag says where it growed. I can learn my tv came from japan, my wrench from china, my Molson's Canadian from==hell, Canada or boulder Colorado?! But it's a sin to know where my steak came from?! wtf?!
Click to expand...

Never thought I would agree with little joe but when you are right you are wright!!
 
Yep...George and LittleJoe have it right. When one realizes the world is now a corporatocracy, things like this make much more sense.....
 
No, George and Little Joe are dead wrong on this. You have no idea where your stuff comes from, only where it last underwent some sort of significant change. The tv from Japan could have parts in it from all over the world, the wrench was probably Canadian steel stamped in the US. Just like your steak may have been born in Canada but cut and wrapped in the US.
That argument is so damn weak it's a shame to even respond to it really.
 
I wasn't trying to present an argument.

But ok, let's be fair. Let's impose a 'tariff ' on any product that says 'made in' 'grown in' 'packaged in' 'bottled in' We can work on eliminating brand names later. You can't have it both ways.
 
I'm not all up to date on the whole cool thing so maybe I shouldn't put my 2 cents in but here we go anyway. It seems to me that you guys from up north are scared of what your prices would do if all your beef was stamped raised in Canada. I can't say I blame you after all perception is reality to the consumer. I honestly don't think the United States has better cattle than Canada but if all my calves can get stamped raised in United States and can bring me a bit of a premium over Canada beef why wouldn't I want that?
 
This has nothing to do with who's cattle are better. It has only to do with unfair trade practices. The COOL law as it was imposed caused plants to segregate Canadian born cattle (even Canadian born but American fed) and slaughter and pack them separately. This law was clearly put in place as a disincentive for American firms to buy, feed, or process Canadian cattle. This process did not add value to American beef, it only devalued Canadian cattle because of the extra cost for processing them.
The fact of the matter is that a products country of origin is the product of the country under which it last underwent significant change. That's the law. That's free trade.
If I import a beef animal from the US, process it into hamburger and sell it it's now a product of Canada. That's fair. If I infect this product with e-coli or listeria or some such then it reflects on me and the Canadian standards and safety policies. Would it be fair to have a US label on my product and push the blame to the US cattleman for our lax standards?
 
Reasons can be argued and self justified many ways. The fact is MCOOL is hitting American and Canadian Cattlemen in the pocket book. We need to repeal it.
 
The major packers want to be able to import meat from any third world country and the consumer have no idea where it comes from. The NCBA has been their flunkies for years. We had the highest cattle prices on record while COOL has been in affect and so has Canada.
 
Yes we had the highest cattle prices with cool, but there's no causation - we also had the highest prices with Barry president, but again no causation.

I think silvers position has merit. An analogy: rubber comes from Brazil to France and Michelin makes it into tires. The tires are a product of France.

Mrj's point: if you want to sell source verified, nothing is stopping you.

Canadian/US beef is (with the possible exception of Kobe) distinguished as the best in the world, and delivered at a competitive price. Instead of trying to figure out ways to shank each other, we need to work to open markets - starting with the EU.
 
Again, there are at least dozens of PRIVATE ENTERPRISE labeled beef brands. Apparently, some producers want government to do it for them. Hasn't it been pretty well learned that anything government does for us costs more and creates problems? Check out the government rules for labeling beef! More government regulation costs more money. Add that to already high beef costs to consumers and we may have found a real, rather than a perceived barrier to more sales of beef.

A little addressed consideration: some, even on this site, like to bash Canadian beef producers, but should take a good look in their own country. Sadly, not all USA produced beef is of top quality. What happens when our consumers get a package of that proudly labeled beef that is tough, or worse, just not great quality ???? Not likely to be a satisfied consumer, especially given the high cost to quality ratio, is it?

For those who base their thoughts on the beef business (and, YES, even a producer of the smallest 'herd' of cattle IS a part of the 'beef business' in the USA!) on hatred of NCBA, the major goal of our members is for each of us to improve OUR segment of that US beef business BY improving consumer satisfaction. We understand that to achieve that goal, we must constantly improve our own 'act' and make sure our own cattle are the best they can be, then lean on the other segments to have the same goals. Keeping the market place the place to set the bar, rather than a "made in the USA" label which has absolutely NOTHING to do with quality! We obviously need many types of beef to please the wide array of consumer choices, and the Beef Check Off is doing some great work in showing consumers how to choose the best cuts and quality of beef for their specific need, which is helping make more satisfied beef consumers.

Apparently those who tout the labels on apples as some sort of 'holy grail' of quality have not eaten some carrying those labels lately! It takes quite a few disappointments to find one which actually tastes worthy of a label, imo.

mrj
 
If Canada also had record prices and there was no causation then how was there damage?

Canada has the same problem with packer concentration the US does. COOL has been supported by hundreds of consumer groups, actually probably more so than by producers. Very few people would have a problem with a product of Canada if the product was similar. What the packers hate about COOL (and what consumers want) is that it is something any consumer in any market can use to differentiate product. While very few would have a problem with a Canadian product, one with a list of third world countries may be a different story. Consumers see this as a no brainer.
 
What do you think about a North American label? The market now is dropping from Australia and New Zeland beef and soon we will have Brazilian Beef. You can see in the last few monthes we will have a hard time competing with them.The freezers are full of grind meet from these countrys, when the label is gone it will hit the store shelves. But who know maybe it made no difference because only some thing like 50% of beef is labeled. MO exchange rates hurt Canada prices a couple years ago I don't think the label made any difference in the price.
 
If it's coming into your country ready to eat it should be labeled with it's country of origin. If you fiddle with it after it gets there it's yours. Quite simple really.
 
The fight for prices is not between countries, it's with chicken. But since chicken can have as little as a 1.5 to 1 Feed Conversion Ratio, and cattle can have from between 5-20 to 1..................cattlemen better get to work.

I'll bet there are very few that even know what their cattle/calves are capable of.
 

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