The waitress wasn’t sure how to respond to our query.
“This steak on the menu, is that Canadian beef?” we had asked.
With furrowed brow, she scurried off to check with the chef, leaving us to ponder the new realities of beef consumption.
No doubt about it, events surrounding the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy have changed my family’s eating habits. We watched the BSE investigation unfold. We listened to the reports. We heard the stories of cattle producers.
And now we’re eating more beef. More Canadian beef, that is.
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Art tour great reminder of talent hidden in the countryside
There’s a lot of talent hidden among the canola fields and cattle pastures of Western Canada that isn’t always noticeable from the highway or gravel road.
Fortunately, the desire to help the industry by using buying power and stomach power is fairly widespread. Witness the hundreds of people lining up to buy hamburger through beef industry promotions in Alberta and Saskatchewan towns and cities. Price is the selling point at $1 per pound, but it’s clear there are no worries about food safety.
Hundreds of other western Canadians have attended beef barbecues organized to show cattle industry support.
Last week a flurry of cattle producer News release
newsinformed us that popular beef cuts make up 28 percent of a beef carcass. There’s no problem finding a market for those. But the beef cuts usually exported are piling up in the system as the border remains closed – hips, inside and outside rounds, flanks, sirloin tips.
Sounds like a good list of summer entrees. And there will be no shortage of stimulating dinner conversation either.
Over a Balsamic Beer Flank Steak, (see www.producer.com for recipes) we can discuss the way the border issue has entered the political realm, with the United States worrying about its own export trade as delays wreak havoc in Canada.
Over Rush-Hour Roast Beef Dinner, we can discuss the merits of frequenting Dairy Queen establishments when selecting fast food because that chain declared a switch to all-Canadian beef burgers.
Over Pacific Rim Rotisserie Roast, we can discuss the attitude of Japan toward Canadian beef. And we might just mention that, if Japan wants beef that can be traced to the farm of origin, it should buy rather than ban Canadian product because our industry has one of the best traceback systems in the world.
By the way, our waitress returned with word on the steak.
“It’s Canadian.” She said it with a smile, bless her heart.
We ordered our Canadian meal and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Reject GM wheat
Re: CFIA denies GM bias, WP, May 29.
The ag industry had the good sense to reject Triffid flaxseed (transgenic) based on the wise understanding that it stood to destroy our premium markets.
Now all of a sudden good judgment has taken a holiday. Why? Is it deeper pockets of the players and variety developers or their veiled threat to pare down the investments in pharmaceutical development as well as pure research?
Shame, shame, shame. For all of our sakes get a backbone and give these carpetbaggers the bum’s rush. I can’t believe anyone could buy into this … about all the potential good.
The fusarium problem will be solved, like rust before it, through standard breeding. Does the whole world have to act like a teenager with instant gratification being our war cry?
No wonder we have BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy). The MBAs are running the ranch, feeding byproducts instead of the holistic approach – only to make more money for the bottom line. Let’s all grow up and get back to reality.
– R. Miller,
Landis, Sask.
U.S. suppression
The U.S. has been using the bovine spongiform encephalopathy scare as just one more way to suppress any Canadian industry that competes with their own in the American marketplace.
Isn’t it about time our government (stood up) for the Canadian people instead of just worrying about their own pension plans?
Put a 30 percent export tax on all energy sales, the proceeds to go in relief to all those in distress because of the border closures and watch how fast the American “experts” decide that there really is no risk from Canadian cattle.
Do the same thing for the forestry workers and see how quickly the Americans decide that our forest sector isn’t unfairly subsidized after all.
As long as these disputes are boosting their profits at our expense, no one south of the border is going to be in any hurry to settle the matters.
Incur an expense to their whole country and watch the pressure on government to move away from favouring these special interest groups who have instigated much of our problems.
The only way to win against the mighty U.S. is to hit them where they feel pain, in the profit margin.
– Ian Eggen,
Cherryville, B.C.
Residue info
I want to thank you for the article that covered my presentation at the Seeger Wheeler Field Day (Residue solution found in soil, WP, June 5.)
However, I think that some points need to be clarified for producers.
If the message that producers heard from me that day was that direct seeding would be a solution for dealing with herbicide residues, then they were misled and some points need to be clarified.
It is true that high organic matter soils tend to have less problems with residual herbicide damage to rotational crops. Also, it is true that direct seeding can increase the organic matter content of the soil.
However, there is no evidence that direct seeding can increase the organic matter content of the soil to a level where it will reduce herbicide carryover.
Very little research has been conducted on the impact of tillage systems on herbicide carryover. However, the limited data that is available does not suggest that herbicide residues will be any less of a problem on zero-tilled fields.
As I mentioned in my presentation, herbicide breakdown and carryover is a very complex process involving a number of factors such as temperature, moisture, soil pH, organic matter, clay content, and herbicide chemistry to name a few.
Producers need to know the soil and environmental conditions that increase the persistence of residual herbicides and think of the long-term implications of their use before they are applied.
Those that direct seed should not expect any less of a problem than those that conventional till.
I hope that this clarifies the issue. Producers who want to learn more about residual herbicide research should come to Scott Field Day on July 9, 2003.
– Eric Johnson,
Weed Biologist, Scott Research Farm,
Scott, Sask.
BSE support
Hi, Canadians. I am a United Kingdom beef and milk producer who has been through the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) crisis here.
You guys will get through too. It will turn the industry upside down for a time but hang in there.
Canadian agriculture is much stronger than its U.K. counterpart and so long as you keep your customers informed with the facts, this situation should not do any long-term damage.
When BSE was discovered here, the press had a party printing scare stories that were based on quotes from so-called experts who had never been heard of before or since.
Although the information later proved groundless, the damage had been done. Good luck.
– Phil James,
Totton Southampton, U.K.
BSE catastrophe
This is a catastrophic situation. The U.S. is a monolith of power and our prime minister and the Liberals were foolhardy enough to criticize and curse them.
BSE is by far the most devastating crisis encountered by the cattle industry in at least a decade. The fallout and economic pain if the cattle industry fails in Canada will be devastating. My brothers farm and if they are not able to sell their cattle this fall they will lose the land that has been in our family since 1938.
I live in Brooks, Alta., and- the economic hardship and pain to be carried by this area is devastating.
Unfortunately, our federal government does not care, never did, all they ever gave us was the big finger and that is all they will give us now.
Our farmers and ranchers will regroup and survive, because that is what they have always done.
Our government’s lack of support for the West is a total disgrace. After all, it is our money in the first place, but nothing ever comes back to the West. It’s only one direction, west to the east.
If the cattle industry goes bankrupt, there will be no more transfer payments to Ottawa. Only then will they realize their perfidy in regard to the U.S.
– Linda Austman,
Brooks, Alta.
Harsh realities
Re: The Moral Economy column, WP, June 12.
I would like to commend this man on a very good grasp of a very bad situation.
He has a way of putting it so even the thick could understand. I felt the only point he missed is that the successful farmers, mainly the group over 70, who can afford to pay all their bills, have reality staring them in the face and as a result so does all the farming sector. It is like using false figures.
I felt the big change has not taken place yet.
– Richard Marshall,
Meota, Sask.
Offal problem
Since the discovery of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in one cow from Alberta a number of weeks ago, we have seen a number of economic subsidies become available to farmers, ranchers, feedlot operators and processing plant workers.
We have heard about the impact to large businesses, i.e. Rothsays Rendering, but we have not heard about the economic impact to small businesses, i.e. abattoir operators, resulting from this disease.
The reason I single out abattoirs is that my brother owns and operates an abattoir operation in Benito, Man., and this disease has had a direct impact on his business.
With the rendering operations recently announcing they will no longer pick up offal at his plant, it brings up the problem of how to deal with this part of the animal.
The local community landfill seems not to want to have to deal with the leftovers of the processing operation. The offal could be sent home with the owner of the animal and left for them to dispose of, most likely in the bush or some field for wild animals, coyotes or bears to feed on (not a good option).
The government does not like this option, but does not offer any subsidies or solutions to the small business owner to remedy the situation.
Another option would be to add this disposal cost to the processing fee, not a good option for the processing plant operator or the animal owner, increasing both their costs and in effect reducing the ability of the abattoir operator to remain competitive within his industry.
These small business owners may have to turn business away or, in the worst case scenario, shut their doors.
This option affects not only the small business owner but also the community at large. The owner of the animal would face greater overall cost in taking his or her animal to the next closest operation of this type.
The local community could lose part of their tax base and perhaps a family from their community. Smaller communities cannot afford this, as these business owners support the community not only through the tax base, but also through donations and support of numerous local organizations and other businesses within the community.
Governments both federally and provincially need to take off their blinders and support all businesses affected by this disease, not only the ones mentioned above, because they also are a vital part of small communities.
– Don Page,
Brooks, Alta.
Dairy dreams
Re: Dairy dream dashed by quota cost, WP, June 12: I don’t believe that those are the only dreams dashed, due to high cost of getting into the business.
Any business will require a substantial amount of beginning capital.
Our son would much prefer grain farming to the dairy industry, but even if we sold the dairy farm, it would not be enough to pay for all the machinery and land base needed to run a viable grain farm operation.
I would have liked to be an accountant if there had been money for university; or perhaps bought a fishing resort, but that would have cost as much as three or four dairy farms.
Yes, the dairy industry has been good for us, thanks to the quota system. It is also a 365-day-a-year job and rarely an eight-hour day. Holidays and free weekends are almost unheard of.
I agree with Rients Palsma; you need to be willing to start small and work hard, and anyone can have that dream.
– Elaine Friesen,
Langham, Sask.
