Politics?

[dferguson]

Please correct me if i'm wrong.
The federal assistance programs seem to be slanted toward the feedlot sector at the expense of the cow/calf operator.A good number of feedlot cattle in the west are owned by the packing plants. These plants are selling boneless meat into a record high market in the us.Is this situation causing any frustration among western cow/calf operators? Any backlash from taxpayers? Opposition from polititions?

[dferguson]

Politicians?

[dferguson]

Oh yes !!!! All you have to do is read the posts on the Beef site here on agriville and you will sense the frustration. A lack of slaughter capacity for the OTM cattle and the monopoly by Cargill,Tyson etc.

[dferguson]

Yes I see , particularly on "Just wondering" thread. We don'thave the big feedlots here, obviously, and the provincial gov. programs have been helpful to the cow/calf sector but, in the face of machinery replacement costs and fuel and fert. increases it will be difficult to continue.

[dferguson]

Don't know what you pay for power/hydro there dferguson but in Alberta the cost has risen considerably over the past few years, fuel and fertilizer costs have gone up too. It is increasingly more difficult for producers to continue to remain viable. Many farmers here have turned to off farm jobs to try and keep going.

[cowman]

I would suspect the BLOC is rubbing their hands in anticipation of achieving just about everything they have ever desired? With a Conservative minority government they would clearly be in the drivers seat and with a looming Quebec election soon they stand to have a seperatist provincial government. How long until the next referendum?
The Maritimes will never vote for Harper, neither will Quebec. I sincerely doubt Ontario will go Conservative...especially now that Martin has offered them $3 billion more a year in bribe money(I wonder who will have to pay for that)! We are starting to see a definitely polarized country?
Hopefully Alberta will go 100% Conservative this time but you never know, lot of "liberals" in good old Redmonton? I would really like to see old shrill Annie get the boot!
Read an article in the Calgary Herald where Layton spoke about Quebec being a seperate nation within the Canadian federation! They should have "special status" and be treated different than all the other provinces he said!
Now somehow that just doesn't feel right to me. Why not Alberta, why not Saskatchewan? We sure don't have much in common with Ontario(Toronto)?
This "special status" garbage for either a province or Indians is hardly fair in my opinion?

[cowman]

The discussions at the Western Premiers conference certainly indicated the inequity across the country. Tne north does not receive any royalties on resources and Nunavet doesn't even have an adequate road system. The take from the resource rich provinces to buy votes in the east !!!

[FarmRanger]

Very reminiscent of the British Empire days. Eventually the commonwealth countrys gained their independence when there got to be fewer and fewer loyalists. The fact that we don’t ever throw out the crooks we have running the country will likely speed up the unrest in the “colonies”.

[FarmRanger]

sad isn't it ?