A confidence booster

[grassfarmer]

As XL try to get their plant running again the workers
union at the plant is bringing to light their
perspective. I'm guessing they are really concerned
about this or why else would they want to delay a
return to work by their members? Remember
consumers have internet and Google too - this kind
of story will really install confidence in the food
coming out of the Lakeside plant.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012
/10/04/calgary-xl-foods-union-food-safety.html

[rkaiser]

Got this little tidbit right off the CCA site. Guess our buddies at CCA have decided to use this situation to take a run at us GF and defend the system they love so dearly...LOL


Also heard there was an emergency industry leadership meeting today with the provincial ag boys. Wonder what kinda government support plan the NB boys and their ABP/CCA supporters are cooking up.



We're also looking to address information gaps regarding E.coli O157:H7 that we've seen out there as part of our media monitoring over the last few weeks. For instance, E.coli has been incorrectly attributed to large scale farms and processing facilities, and diet. The risk of E.coli is the same for cattle raised on a large farm or a small farm, whether they are raised on a grass-fed or grain-finished diet, or whether the beef is sourced locally from a farmer's market, butcher or purchased from the local supermarket.

[grassfarmer]

Unfortunately they don't seem to have the facts to
back it up. From further down the same webpage:

"Much research has been done to understand E. coli
O157:H7 in cattle IN FEEDLOT SETTINGS. This is
because feedlots are the last home for most cattle
before slaughter, and because cattle are grouped in
feedlots, making data easier to gather.

Through numerous FEEDLOT studies, the origin and
behaviour of E. coli O157:H7 in FEEDLOTS is well
known, including:

.....E. coli O157:H7 is found in cattle populations
across the country, in every environment."

Really? in EVERY ENVIRONMENT? your research only
proved it was found in FFEDLOTS ... then again that's
where the data is easier to gather.

Try maybe this Cornell University research that
indicates that grass fed animals have 80% less of this
strain of ecoli in their rumen.

"Russel, James B. Rumen Microbiology and Its Role in
Ruminant Nutrition. (Ithaca, NY: self published,
2002.)"

More importantly because the acidity of the grassfed
rumen is lower there is a greater chance of the human
stomach acid killing the ecoli if it were ingested. The
ecoli of a grain fed is more tolerant of acidity and
harder to kill.

[kato]

I don't know about you guys, but I've had about enough of this bull hockey.

These guys want to do everything but MAN UP and set the blame where it belongs. And that is with a dirty processing plant.

It's not the fault of the cattle. It's not the fault of "Alberta Beef". It's not the fault of the ABP, CCA, or any other cattle organization, or any method of raising cattle.

It's the fault of XL and it's methods. It's the fault of the CFIA (likely the management, not the inspectors) for not calling XL on it's methods, which it must have been aware of.

E coli is all over the place, but IMHO, that argument doesn't hold water. If the plant is run cleanly, properly, and if the testing is up to standard, it should never get past the processor's door.

It's time for some apologies. It's time for some real faces apologizing in public. A message on an answering machine is NOT an apology. It's a note from someone who's avoiding responsibility. This will not go away any time soon unless those involved quit hiding out. If that includes the resignation of certain people in the government as well, then so be it.

Enough is enough.

End of rant. For today.

[ASRG]

Common sense tells us cattle plastered with manure are more likely to cause contamination than clean cattle off grass. A razor sharp skinning knife loses its edge pretty quick cutting through an inch of dried shit and mud.
A dull knife means the worker struggles keeping up with the line speed.
Maybe the "experts" over at ABP or the CCA should ask the peons doing the work what heavy tag on feedlot cattle does to sanitation quality....especially when the line speed stays the same?
When the cattle are filthy the line speed should be slowed down....penalize the feedlot for the taggy cattle?

[kato]

There's a way to keep feedlot cattle from being plastered in manure as well. It's called bedding.

I agree there needs to be penalties for bringing fat cattle in. But how likely is it that they penalize themselves when the cattle come from their own feedlot? How many thousands of XL cattle come from NB owned feedlots? That would be a good place to start.

I know that we have no problem delivering clean cattle, even those housed in the yard. Once again .. it's called bedding.

We've sold feeders to NB in the past, out of the yard, and I can also say with no doubt that if they aren't clean, they WILL be discounted as feeders. So why isn't the same standard applied to them when they go across the road to the plant?

There's way to much "Do what I say, not what I do." going on in this business.

[gcreekrch]

I hope you 3 drum-beaters never have to eat crow....... Does running down the neighbor make you feel better? Improve your business? Improve the quality of your product? I personally make it a point not to deal with those that discredit others as a strong selling point for their own wares. At this point it doesn't matter "Who" is. What matters is to clean up, get back to work and just maybe the majority of cattle producers will still have some semblance of an industry. Then we can have a look at "who" dropped the ball.

[grassfarmer]

I'd rather eat crow than eat anything coming out of
Lakeside that's for sure.

[rkaiser]

Holy cow gcreech, so have you also written to the CCA?

Feeder cattle will only drop so far until the American plants gear up for the relatively short haul that happened all the time until our numbers dropped to a point where Cargill and NB could handle all the Canadian slaughter capacity. Have you ever really looked at the basis that NB and Cargill ultimately decide on over the last few years. A random figure designed to make Canadian plants dominant over Northern US plants. With slaughter numbers as low as they are, the North American market will find a way to pay you for your feeder cattle gcreech, but their will never be a better chance for those of us that want to see positive sustainable change in the industry.

I am sorry for your suffering and will never feel that you deserve this treatment gcreech, and am still determined to cause a wholesale change and not just use this issue to gain a few customers in our stores. Those people are walking in on their own without any prompting from me or GF or anyone else on agriville.

If you want to help the matter, make a few calls of your own and ask our government to support a diverse industry rather than simply propping up the oligopoly once again.

[gcreekrch]

Randy, we've lived on nothing for so long building this outfit that it won't make a lot of difference in the short term for us.
I agree that a transition that would bring more players in would be beneficial. Regardless of the ruthlessness of NBI's history, I still have trouble gloating over anyone's demise. The NB worked hard to get where they are just the same as you or I do, they just managed to take it to a higher scale. I have no problem with another's success, in fact, I try to learn what they did right rather than dwell on their failures. This has done us a lot more good in the long run.

I find it ironic that GF wants to know all the particulars of the issue with XL but refused to share the e-mail sent to his customers. Talk about openness and being forthright and pride of self! My personal guess is that it was filled with vilifying of XL and not much else.
I can say that a lot of folks don't like me but most respect me because I'm not afraid to call things as I see them.
Don't look for change anytime soon. (smile)

Best of luck in your endeavors, Dave

[grassfarmer]

On the contrary Dave an email running down XL foods
and doing nothing else would be as meaningless to
my consumers as the generic assurances of safety
coming from Ritz and the cattle organisations like
ABP and CCA.
My email was an explanation of the bacteria involved,
why it was in the headlines, the steps that the
processor we use takes to prevent it being a problem
in the meat that we sell. As such it was a personal
email between me as a food producer and our food
consumers and that relationship is one build on trust
and personal connection. I don't need to be spreading
that conversation to the general public because it's
nothing to do with you or them.
If it satisfies your idle curiosity the 2 lines in a 32 line
message that could be construed as negative towards
XL Foods/NB were as follows:

"XL Foods has a history of being a low
quality/maximizing profit outfit and that is reflected
throughout their organisation (they also own ranches,
cattle, feedlots, auction markets etc) where their
facilities are generally in run down condition and they
employ the lowest wage immigrant workers they can
find."

Rush to their defence if you like but I believe these
facts to be correct and they are my opinion and we
are all allowed those the last time I checked.

Dave, I seem to remember you sending me a thank
you message a few years back when, in conjunction
with the NFU, I had a cow slaughtered to expose the
level of profiteering that was going on in the beef
processing sector at that time primarily due to NB's
influence. But I guess with your tactic support you
weren't really running anyone down then (well not
publicly anyway.)

[BFW]

For all you armchair quarterbacks out there I hate to burst your bubble but ecoli originates in cows at the ranch. certain cattle carry it and shed the bacteria allowing it to spread. As for dirty cattle in the feedlot yes, keeping them as clean as possible helps but it is not the source of the contamination. Do you think the cattle were carrying tag this August and September when the problem occurred?

[grassfarmer]

Jeff, Did they test some cattle for ecoli 0157 in your
feedlot to prove that it exists in my cattle on grass?

[BFW]

We have done fairly extensive tests over the years (collection of manure samples) and at certain times of the like the fall in particular find at times a low incidence of infection. this is not a feedlot exclusive problem. Ecoli 00157 exists that is why we take the food safety measures that we do.

[kato]

E coli is everywhere. So is salmonella. Which is why reducing the level is the goal. No one expects to eliminate it completely, but every effort should be made. In this case, that came up short.

From what I've read, the first line of defense was to wash those cattle before they were skinned, and the hot water hoses used to do it were not working properly.

Why weren't they working? Why weren't they fixed?