The Rural Voice, 1998-09, Page 41Ij
directly to Better Beef. "Before we
started doing business (together) we
sat down and talked to them. I know
we're producing the product they
want. I would say we have a good
relationship with them."
At the Brussels meeting Bcnnctt
suggested the association could work
toward the day when a branded
product, such as "Ontario Corn -Fed
Beef" would be available on the
province's supermarket coolers. "We
know that this would take the co-
operation of the packing industry as
well as producers and the retailers.
"I personally don't feel we could
come up with the same weight
criteria they have in the West, but we
certainly could take steps toward
consistent rations and tenderness of
our products and availability."
That kind of quality control is a
major concern of the new feeder
association. Bennett told the Brussels
meeting the industry could be
haunted by issues such as improper
withdrawal periods for drugs or
broken needles found in meat that
reaches the consumer's table. It's the
feeder that gets the blame for such
problems, he said.
Gardiner says one of the new
group's goals is to help feeders
follow all the necessary steps to
ensure a quality product to meet
consumer demands.
One of the advantages Gardner
feels Ontario feeders have over
larger, out -of -province feedlots is
their diversified sources of income.
Unlike the huge feedlots in Alberta
where all the income must come
totally from the cattle, most Ontario
feedlots are run by feeder -farmers,
who also share the risk among
cropping operations. Since they
produce much of their own feed,
Ontario's producers have a cost
advantage when grain prices are
high.
The Gardiners, for instance, crop
1600 acres, most it dedicated to
producing feed for their own
operation but some for cashcropping
(120 acres of wheat and 75 acres of
peas for canning this year). They're
carrying on a farming operation that
his father, James W. Gardiner came
to as a 12 -year-old boy in 1923. For
many years he operated it as a
traditional mixed farm before he
began to specialize in beef in the late
1950s. The farm was incorporated in
1966.
At the Brussels mccting Bennett
worried that feedlot owners could be
caught in the backlash of
environmental concerns over the
expansion of the hog industry. The
industry must be proactive to prevent
the kind of legislation now in place
in Quebec where farmers arc required
to have a permit for spreading
manure on any particular day. Most
feeders farm for the good of thcir
land and their community, he said,
but there are problems with a
minority.
Gardiner said so far the cattle
industry hasn't come under attack
like the swine industry but feeders
must be careful to prevent problems.
With 1600 acres, he and his brother
have plenty of land to accept the
manure from their livestock
operation.
One of the concerns raised in
questions from the floor at the
Brussels meeting is the grading
system and the fact the Ontario
lettering system to designate grade
doesn't match the U.S. system of
Choice, Select, etc. Gardner agrees
that all feeders across the country
should work together to try to bring
changes.
"I know all our triple-A beef will
make Choice (the U.S. top standard)
and part of our double -A's will. But
someone else put it this way — if
you have meat stamped U.S.D.A.
Choice, people will take it rather than
a Canadian AAA. That's wrong."
Though there are other issues
(Bennett said there are some aspects
of the national check -off, and
marketing and grading that the
association must keep a watchful cyc
on) Gardiner feels the greatest
challenge for the feeding industry
will simply be in working together.
Farmers are an independent lot, he
admitted, recalling a story told by his
friend Stan Fergusson who had been
a speaker at the Brussels meeting.
Fergusson had told of working with a
group of farmers who were trying to
remove a bulk milk tank from a
burning barn but they couldn't agree
on how to do it.
"I think that if the feeders can
work together as a united body there
are a lot of things that can be
accomplished."0
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SEPTEMBER 1998 37