The Rural Voice, 1994-10, Page 27Beef producers in the
Rainy River
District are finally
getting something people
in that area have been
talking about for 20
years: a fully designated
Port of Entry with the
United States. On
August 19 it became
official: the long
awaited border crossing
was officially declared
open.
The Rainy River,
which flows from Rainy
Lake near Fort Frances
to Lake of the Woods on
the Ontario/Manitoba
border acts as the
Canada/U.S. border
between Ontario and
Minnesota. Along the
banks is a 70 by 30 mile
strip of Ontario
agriculture tucked in
under the wide expanse
of northern Ontario.
Wade Desserre and
Kim Jo Bliss arc two of
the many involved in the
Port of Entry project.
They say the landscape
Persistence Pays
Rainy River Cattlemen prove where there's
a will, there's a way in getting border crossing
By June Payne Flath
Refusing to take no for an answer Rainy River Cattlemen pushed ahead and
built their own holding facility.
within the agricultural strip varies
greatly from one arca to another.
Kim Jo, who lives north of Emo,
has a 45 head cow/calf herd of
Herefords on 1,200 acres. "Half of it
is cleared," she says. She describes
the land on her farm as rolling with
plenty of rocks and trees.
Wade Desserre has approximately
a 120 head cow/calf operation with
760 acres, "Most of
which is cleared." His
farm, which is north of
Pinewood, is prairie -flat
land. "You'd have a hard
time hiding there."
Producers in the area
have been anxious to gain
a Port of Entry in their
district because of the
distances involved with
selling and buying cattle.
Travelling north over the
Lake of the Woods to
sales arenas in Manitoba
is approximately a 250
mile drive. "It's a snake
trail," says Desserre.
"It's a good highway, but
it winds. It adds a lot to
transportation costs."
Cattle, purchased at the Manitoba
sales by American buyers, are
then shipped another 150 miles
to the nearest Port of Entry on the
North Dakota border.
Ontario producers in the Rainy
River District both buy and sell cattle
to Minnesota farmers, across the
river. However, until now the cattle
buffalo. These
back and forth.
All types of animals, he says, not
just livestock, would be able to go
across the border. "As it is now
tourists that come across with pets at
Fort Frances cannot go back into the
States except at North Dakota or
Sarnia, those are the two closest Ports
of Entry with ful designation."
have travelled
about 800 miles to
get across that
river.
The Port of
Entry will
benefit both
cattlemen who sell
to the U.S. and buy
from the U.S., say
Desserre and Bliss.
Both would get
fresher cattle, and
it would guarantee
less mixing, less
sickness, and
eliminate the
middle man, get-
ting farmers a
better return for
their money.
"It has been all
Cattlemen's
Association people
working on it,"
says Desserre,
however all
livestock producers
will benefit. There
are also farms in
the area raising
exotic animals
such as emu, and
animals can also go
Lake of the
Woods
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00 Vllae
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I Rainy River I
r
ort Frances
international
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The new crossing will save 800 miles of travel for cattlemen and their cattle
to get to U.S. markets just across the river.
Two years ago a
group of local
producers began to
work towards
becoming a fully
designated Port of
Entry. There were
two things
necessary, a
handling facility
and veterinary
personnel to man
it.
"We got tired of
going through thc
political arena to
get ourselves a
Port of Entry. We
need these facil-
ities to push thc
OCTOBER 1994 23