US Buyers

[ALICIA]

I heard tell that soom US buyers are buying cattle and getting Canadians to put them in the feed lots up here to fatten them up for them, and then I guess they will kill them and send them back as boxed beef. They are buying cheep.
Is this helpfull?

[ValueChainFX]

ALICIA this has been a practice for a long time, both Cargill and IBP have cattle on feed in Canada, I am not 100% sure how IBP ships to the US, but Cargill will ship both boxed product to the US (as I am sure IBP does as well) and ungraded swinging sides to their Fort Morgan breaking plant!

Is this a good thing? Well, I would think that if it takes cattle out of the system .... this would be a good thing! Since these big guys are able to ship more beef south than anyone else I say fill your boots big boys!

As far as getting the cattle at low prices, all we can hope for is that the prices climb to a point the producer can sustain themselves (and maybe make a little profit (after all the producer needs to make a living)

[ALICIA]

I haven't checked the price per pound lately but I plain to right now. But I would think that the price isn't to good because they are the only buyer right now. But your right this will get soom of the back log moving for the stockers any way.

[cheray]

is this not a great opportunity for US

meat buyers to buy cheap Canadian beef

then ship to the US at a price 2 to 3

times the price canadian producers get

[cheray]

Sounds like the CWB is handling your beef sales now too.

[ValueChainFX]

I guess this is an opportunity for the US (as if they haven't had plenty of opportunity in Canada before) now though they can really take advantage. Like the soft wood though, Canadians tend to make the bad situations work. The soft wood guys have become far more efficient and are now a bigger than ever competitor.

Canadian grows now must do the same thing and start to think outside the box on what they are going to do to survive this. We've spent a lot of time looking at who has been to blame, now we get down to business and figure out how we make this work the best for us.

A meeting I was at the other day, had several producers saying we need to take control of our own marketing. Get away from Cargill and IBP doing the major part of our marketing however, when they said this, the talk was putting a plant in a major center.


I suggest that when we take a look at building anything for agriculture in a major center it takes away from the rural communities. I know this is a stretch, but who is centralization work best for the producer or the corporations? Is it less costly to ship a 1000 live animal to the city, or 500 pounds of meat in a box? There are already distribution centers in the city .... Do we need more?

I understand that this fall there are going to be producer meetings all over the province, I hope that the producers ask the tough questions! Like when the government says it spends money in agriculture how many dollars does that put in the jeans of the producer. Government centers, academics, and the packer to consumer side of the supply chain have seen dollars spent helping them, time for the producer to see money spent on giving back the infrastructure taken away in the last number of years!