The Rural Voice, 2005-09, Page 42NOW WHAT?
Canada's beef industrg tries to put Humptg Dumptg together
again after more than two gears without live cattle exports.
What's the state of the industrg after 26 months
of devastating prices?
By Keith Roulston
Two of the worst years in the history of cattle production in Canada have changed the face of the industry forever.
The border is open again, at
least for young cattle going to
market but the pain will go on
for a long time.
That's the consensus of a number
of people involved in the beef
industry who spoke about the state of
the industry and the changes they can
see the 26 -month BSE crisis bringing
to cattle farming in Ontario.
Remarkably, says Ian McKillop,
president of the Ontario Cattlemen's
Association, most producers have
been able to hang on through the
crisis though $600 million in cash
and a lot more in equity has been
lost.
"We're still in a financial crisis,"
McKillop says. "It will take years
and years to replace the lost equity."
Still, he says, "We've come out
relatively well considering. We're
battered and bruised but we're still
here."
Gertie Blake, field rep for the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture in
Grey and Bruce, Ontario's prime
beef production area, says it's hard to
get a firm grip on just how harmful
the crisis has been in her region.
Some people tend not to talk about
38 THE RURAL VOICE
their problems, she says.
Still, she says she's talked to a
number of people who were very
concerned about the loss of equity
over the 26 months of the crisis.
Producers have told her it will take
10 to 15 years to rebuild the equity
they've lost. Others had to find an
off -farm job to try to keep paying
their bills.
Blake says she's not sure she can
say she has seen farmers depart the
business because of the crisis, though
membership in the Federation has
declined.
"A lot of people were on the verge
of leaving the farm or having it taken
from them if the border hadn't
opened when it did," she said.
Besides the obvious improvement
in prices the reopening of the border
has brought, there's also been a
renewal of hope, Blake says. There
had been an air of general depression,
she says, with people wondering how
they could go on. Now people can
dream of a future again.
Robert Emerson, a cattleman who
is also president of the Bruce County
Federation of Agriculture said some
producers have chosen to sit out for a
while but others will leave
permanently. especially if the return
on raising a cattle beast from birth to
market continues to be 20-25 per cent
below the cost of production. Some
people who had taken jobs off the
farm to get through may decide they
like the lifestyle of not doing chores
and worrying about money and give
up farming for good, he predicts.
As well, those who got out sold at
distress prices and if they want to get
back in they'll have to buy at higher
prices. "It's a double whammy once
you're out," says Emerson.
That problem also worries Len
Gamble of Brussels Livestock
Limited. One of the province's
largest livestock markets, Brussels
has lost a lot of customers during the
crisis even though the number of
cattle being sold has remained fairly
steady. But Gamble worries about
cattle feeders who have lost equity
being able to find the money to buy
back in at higher feeder cattle prices.
Ron Kuhl of Keady Livestock said
most of his customers managed to
hang in through the crisis though he
knows there's been a lot of hurt. "We
don't see their bank accounts," he