The permanent closure of XL Foods beef plant in Moose Jaw should come as no surprise to anyone in the beef business.
I’m sure it was all part of the master plan from when Nilsson Brothers first purchased it back in 2000 to enable them to maximize profits and secure the stranglehold they have on the packing industry.
So here we are in Saskatchewan, second only to Alberta, with the biggest cow herd in the country, and no packing plant in our province.
Our politicians and industry leaders’ silence on this closure is deafening. Once again our leadership seems to be asleep at the wheel.
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Do they not realize what this is doing to our industry, or what kind of economic impact this has on our provincial economy? The increased cost of transportation, added shrink on our cattle as they roll down the highway for hours and hours, all comes off our bottom line as producers. It’s time we put an end to this madness.
If Nilsson Brothers don’t want to pay a decent living wage to workers and run this plant in an efficient manner as good corporate citizens of this province, maybe it’s time the government steps in to run it like it did before.
It worked just fine then and there is no reason why it can’t again. After all, this isn’t rocket science we’re talking about here.
As producers, we need to stand up and take control of our own industry and let these corporate fat cats know we are not going down without a fight.
We can only do that by putting pressure on our governments to ensure that we as producers have markets that are fair and competitive and put an end to these corporate monopolies that are destroying this business, destroying livelihoods of proud farmers and ranchers who have worked hard to ensure a safe and reliable supply of food for this country and the world.
Lynnel Person,
Preeceville, Sask.
