Reduced Cattle Sales

[ASRG]

One of the neighbours dropped into the local auction sale at Innisfail last Wednesday. He said he got there at 10:30 AM and the sale was over! This is a pretty active auction barn and at this time of the year they usually have a pretty high volume!
He said there were some pretty grim faces in the office.
Talked to another guy at a board meeting who had about 30 culls to sell when he weans in a couple of weeks. He said if cow prices don't bounce back he will delay weaning for a couple more weeks....and hope things change! He said the XL screwup will probably cost him about $150/cow or $4500! He is not a happy camper, to say the least!
In reality I guess we all are taking a hit here due to XL and the CFIA not doing their job? We pay for their sloppy work!
During the 7 years of bad prices caused by the BSE goof up, I always said "Those cows are doing their job...I'm doing my job the best I can...the government is the only one who F...ed up"....too bad me and the cows are the only ones who pay!

[mcfarms]

I thinking Monday I will be phoning my Mp's office asking them if they want to do it
either
A) I do a deduction off any taxes owable in this fiscal year for the damages
B) Cam Pallett gets new clients and a new lawsuit against CFIA

But hey at least we have the new gutted agristabilty to save us .....

Maybe Kevin the parade marshall Sorensen will offer to pay us out of his gold plated pension for our losses.

Not bloody likely on either account.

[mcfarms]

Right I forgot Monday is a holiday , once you have cows you realise there are no Stat holidays.

[Burbert]

XL (Nillson Bros) are huge conservative contributors,
sooooo, they likely will weather this storm. Unless the
US says noooooooo, then theys dead as the doo doo
bird. XL has issued a short terse statement, admitting
no wrongs to date. Alberta Gag site is down for the
long weekend, hence no comments about the fiasco.
Cowardly way to deal with such an important issue,
eh!!!!

[loric]

Dad tells me Meadow Lake has cancelled their
sales for the time being due to prices

[ALLFARMER]

I won't be selling till the plant gets going.

So what's everyone's best guess? Does it take
another couple days or a couple weeks? If they
have to redo some drains replumb some hot
water lines??

By taking all the blame XL must be confident they
can litigate their way out of this mess. The heat
on the conservatives and Ritz is greatly reduced
with XL taking it for them. There must have been
a deal made....say it's all your fault and we ....
don't call a public inquiry.

[sumdumguy]

Wonder what kind of employees at Brooks. Hate
to say it, but Maybe employees don't know clean
because of their background.

Where would XL get that many locals?

[grassfarmer]

Mainly Sudanese and Somali workers from what I
understand. Brought in with Government assistance?
I don't think you can blame them for the mess
though. Their union has long been bringing forward
concerns that they can't do their job properly due to
the line speed and saying they were concerned
about the quality of the work they were doing due
to constraints of time and throughput volume.

[ASRG]

If XL and the CFIA had jumped on this thing right away, after the Americans shut the door, I doubt we would be seeing the reaction we are now getting?
If Ritz had got on the ball instead of diddling around for two weeks this story would be over?

In the publics mind beef is fast becoming no longer safe to eat....not just XL beef....all beef! The daily expanded recalls and ever increasing cases of sickness are sending a very clear message "BEEF IS NOT SAFE. DON"T BUY IT!"

Japan has now announced it will not allow beef from the XL plant into the country.

I know a young guy who sells food to restaurants (a company similar to Cisco)and he tells me his beef sales are drying up....lots more chicken and fish though!

I don't know if XL was any dirtier than any other plant. It appears there was a breakdown in inspection efforts. I doubt the line speed was greater than any other modern high output packing house. I would guess the ethnic makeup of the employees isn't much different at Cargill.

The fact is this was a screwup that was badly handled by the CFIA? They come across as Keystone Kops unable to do their jobs? I don't blame the public one bit for losing faith in the food safety of beef.

The unfortunate part of all this gongshow is that the primary producer is ultimately going to pay dearly for incompetent packers, incompetent inspection, and incompetent government!

[SADIE]

NOW THE MEDIA TALK ABOUT THE "ECOLI VACCINE FOR BEEF CATTLE"

WHAT THIS THING PLAY OUT AS WELL. SO FAR IT IS NOT EFFICACY VIABLE FOR USE AND WITH THE LONG WITHDRAWL TIME IS NOT PRACTICAL.

REMEMBER THAT ECOLI is a common bacteria bug that is in the intestinal tract of the animal---normal floral.

Somewhere down the road in the near future another cost to the primary producer could happen?????

[ASRG]

Sadie: I have heard that this vaccine will be about $6/animal and probably mandatory.
Like you say Ecoli is part of the gut flora (in cattle AND humans). I get nervous when the so called scientists try to micro manage nature!
Will a vaccine give us a false sense of security? If dirty unsanitary conditions are the real problem will a vaccine be the magic bullet that allows the packers to continue with the same practices? Will it get even worse?
Ecoli 57 is only one bug that can make you sick (or kill you). What about samonella or listeria or who knows what else?
I suspect if the rules in place had been followed/enforced we wouldn't need a vaccine?

[rkaiser]

Yes ecoli is normal Sadie, just as the prion is normal. And yes most food cooked properly will eliminate waste. Other than the problem with tenderizing knives used in this case. Which leads to another whole story. Why the hell do you need to tenderize a strip loin in the first place?

Factory raised cattle for "profit only" is the problem. I have heard lots of talk over the years about excessive hair on cattle and the (shit)tag issues. Another excuse to not use some forage in the feed to not only tighten the cattle up, but to also increase the good bugs that are being killed in the rumen which are crucial to creation of good trans fatty acids like CLA. Loose shit spreads fast folks; simple as that.

Every problem that we have brought on to ourselves in the conventional cattle industry can still be fixed. And it is not going to be fixed with another mask like an ecoli vaccine.

I personally don't feel we have to go to the extreme of shooting cattle finished in a grassy pasture, but hair on those who do.

There are people all over this planet ready and willing to pay more money for cattle raised and harvested with care. And the kind of care needed to supply these type of cattle would not take a complete change in the current factory system, just a shift.

First off, raise them with no implants and no antibiotics unless they need shots for illness. Exceed the withdrawal time and track those animals that are chronic. Maybe the purebred guys could even kick in here and create cattle that are don't get sick. Bet we could use some research money to identify breeds or lines within breeds that remain healthier. Cow calf guys have surely found many ways to eliminate the stressors that cause illness at weaning. What is the point of weaning into the auction mart for instance, ---profit or care?

The big change would obviously take place in the feedlot with the use of space and bedding and elimination of all the crutches and so called "money maker" unnatural shit.

From here up, we need to accept that some companies may actually have the where with all to slaughter cattle in a clean and efficient manner. I personally believe that more smaller plants are a good idea, but that is just me. Clean harvest is not usually the issue as much as greed and need to control the commodity at all levels.

[grassfarmer]

"REMEMBER THAT ECOLI is a common bacteria bug
that is in the intestinal tract of the animal---normal
floral."
The ecoli 0157 strain isn't the common, every day
variety though. It thrives in the acidic rumen created
by feeding a high grain ration, I've read that feeding
the ethanol by-products also increases its prevalence.
The way to reduce the levels naturally is fattening
cattle on grass but that likely wouldn't completely
eliminate it either.
When we had the outbreak in Scotland in the 90s that
killed 21 people the inquiry resulted in a requirement
that all animals entering slaughter plants had to be
clean and free of tag. After that we had to belly clip
all sheep and cattle through the winter housing
period just prior to slaughter. You think tagging
cattle is dangerous? wait till you try belly clipping
Limo cross fat cattle!!
It was probably all in vain to placate the public and
make it look like the politicians were doing
something. It implied the ecoli 0157 was on the tag
on the outside of the animal and not in their gut tract
which is probably flawed. I'd definitely go the $6
vaccine route before mandating clean animals going
into the plant.

[littledoggie]

rkaiser, don't give Nilsson's any ideas for why the government should give them a bunch of money and then take your ideology and have the government make it all mandatory.

Media has whipped this into a frenzy. 10 people sick? They keep adding to the number, but then the grand total doesn't keep going up. Does this mean that some of the cases have not been linked? Have there ever been any reports of vCJD in Canada related to BSE?

I'm starting to smell a rat here.

[littledoggie]

Regarding e-coli 0157, tag versus gut. The gut bag probably comes out pretty clean. The tag could be an issue if the cattle have been standing in pen muck, and then they hang the carcass with the head down and peel the hide from the top down, but what about the legs? and then they wash them - seems like any bacteria on the legs would all wash down over the carcass. I see e-coli contamination of meat to be a packer's problem, not cow/calf. Feedlots maybe need to provide more bedding and more room.