EDMONTON – There is a sense of uncertainty in the rural community about what will happen in the cattle industry, said an Alberta rural municipal councillor.
John Kolk said while there are fewer specific questions about how an Alberta cow contracted bovine spongiform encephalopathy, there is still a sense of how long the ripple effects will last.
“There is an incredible fear of the unknown,” said Kolk at the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties convention.
Cow-calf producers are surprised at how strong calf prices are this fall. Producers who background cattle are hanging on to their yearlings and feedlots are paying strong prices for calves as if the border was open and there were no restrictions.
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It’s this mixup of historic game rules that has people in the rural area uneasy, said Kolk of Picture Butte, Alta.
“There’s a funny feeling in the pit of most people’s stomach.”
During the convention, delegates passed a resolution requesting that federal and provincial governments facilitate the development of a beef processing plant for animals older than 30 months.
The construction of a permanent facility for older animals would help soothe the unease in rural areas, he said.
The rural government group also passed two resolutions about supplementary tariff rate quotas.
During the summer, the large hamburger chains willingly changed their plans to use Canadian beef in their hamburgers.
The change wasn’t without its own cost and hassles. Now that the media attention is no longer focused on the large hamburger companies, they are pushing to allow offshore beef to be brought back into the country through supplementary tariff quotas.
Kolk said the association is urging governments not to bend to the pressure to allow the offshore beef to replace Canadian beef.
