The Rural Voice, 2003-07, Page 46News in Agriculture
Farm leaders welcome BSE aid package
Farm leaders cautiously welcomed
an announcement of up to $460 million
in federal/provincial support but
warned things could get worse unless
the borders, closed to exports after the
discovery of a single case of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), are
reopened.
"This is encouraging news for beef
producers across Canada," said
Canadian Federation of Agriculture
President Bob Friesen. "CFA acknow-
ledges the government for recognizing
industry needs and taking action to
assist one of the country's most
important sectors. Another key factor is
the effect that the crisis has had on
producers of other ruminant livestock."
Ron Bonnett, President of the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
(OFA) called it welcome news to
Ontario livestock producers and others
involved in the sector.
"Getting the borders reopened to
trade in livestock and meat products is
a primary objective of the industry, but
this funding will give the industry
some breathing space until that
happens," Bonnett says.
CFA asked governments to maintain
maximum efforts to get the
international borders open. With lost
export revenue estimated at $11 million
per day, CFA agreed with the
governments' stance that future
assessment is required in order to
secure stabilization of the beef industry.
According to a recent study by Serecon
Management Consulting, the Canadian
beef sector may incur costs of $2.5
billion if border closures were to last
four months.
"In the meantime, farmers
appreciate the government's clear
communication approach on this issue
and will continue watching closely for
any updates on the border situation.
There are grave concerns that grow
deeper as each day passes," said
Friesen. "Governments need to
Foreign customers doubt Canada's
food safety, speaker says
Continued from page 41
following up with them on the BSE
issue to find out what their
impressions are on Canada and its
food quality and food safety system.
"Much to my dissapointment but
perhaps not to my surprise, many of
our international customers are
starting to question whether we do
have the safety conditions in hand in
this country as we thought we did."
The one thing Froehlich says
customers will not accept under any
circumstances is any question about
the safety of their food.
He believes that international grain
subsidies will probably be solved
sooner than people think.
"The war on terrorism has created
huge budget pressures in many of the
countries, markets, and areas of the
world. I think we're going to find
that there is going to be a faster move
away from subsidies than we thought
would happen," but, he said, "it's
probably not going to result in
significantly higher prices, if at all, in
42 THE RURAL VOICE
terms of real dollars for the
conunodities that we're producing"
Froehlich just spent five weeks in
Africa as avolunteer and said "the
fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter
what price our grain is, most of this
world cannot afford to buy it."
He also said South America has
enough land available to come into
production in the next 10 years to
equal all of the land that's in
production in Europe right now.
"I don't think there will be a
shortage of food, it will just be a
matter of who's going to be prepared
to pay for it."
This should create opportunities for
a country like Canada, Froehlich
said, in terms of developing the right
food products for our customers.
"I would just caution that whatever
we do as an idustry as it pertains to
wheat, we make sure that we know
what the customer wants . .
anything short of that and I think
we're going to have a real failure."0
maintain the Canadian livestock
industry through this difficult time,
recognizing it already competes with
U.S.-subsidized grain. The overall
benefit of this package will depend on
its immediate accessibility and how it
lasts throughout the trade disruption."
Meanwhile, according Kathy
Keeler, CEO of the Beef Information
Centre, beef sales in Canada remain at
normal levels, but the current trade
disruption is creating challenges within
the distribution chain. Canadian
packers are not able to sell a large
portion of the beef carcass typically
sold to export customers.
"As packers cut back production
levels, Canada is left with a surplus of
some cuts and a shortage of others,"
says Keeler. "Without exports, the
domestic market has an over supply of
marinating and simmering steaks, pot
roasts and rotisserie roasts. BIC staff
have been working hard to ensure
Canadians remain confident in
Canadian beef, continue to choose
Canadian beef for their meals, and
support our industry by eating more
Canadian beef."
BICs retail team has been working
with retailers and packers across
Canada in developing merchandising
strategies addressing the current market
situation. The retail team has met with
every key retailer in the country,
encouraging them to utilize a larger
portion of the carcass and discussing
options to increase feature activity.
Two new consumer resources that
promote hip, chuck and ground beef
recipes, are being developed and will
be distributed to over 3,000 retailers in
time for the Canada Day weekend.
From the onset, BIC has undertaken
consumer research, which shows that
consumer confidence in beef and the
regulatory system is high. This
research is important in helping BIC
target its message to consumers.
"Through various vehicles we will
continue to encourage consumers to
buy and enjoy Canadian beef more
often," says Keeler. "All of our
messaging will drive consumers to
BICs website and the 1-888 line for
additional meal ideas."0
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