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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2004-03-25, Page 16Discussing the issues Huron Bruce MP Paul Steckle, left; MPP Carol Mitchell with Huron County Federation of Agriculture president Neil Vincent listened to farmers' concerns and discussed agricultural issues at the annual Federation of Agriculture's Members of Parliament dinner. (Keith Roulston photo) NORRIS PEEVER DIRECTOR (ELECT) West Wawanosh Mutual Insurance is seeking your vote at the ANNUAL MEETING Tuesday, March 30/04 Saltford Valley Hall 2:00 pm • Challenge: Getting enough iron to help feel energetic and prevent iron deficiency anemia Solution: Women 19-50 years of age should aim for 18 mg of iron per day. For iron, choose red meats, clams, oysters, cooked dried beans and lentils, iron- fortified breakfast cereals, soybeans and tofu. You can also get iron from other meats, fish, poultry, eggs, pasta, bread, oatmeal, oat and wheat bran, nuts and seeds, dried fruit, prunes and prune juice. FARM SAFETY FACT Did you know? 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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2004. Steckle blasts packing companies By Keith Roulston Citizen publisher Amid cries of pain and suffering brought on by disastrous prices in the beef industry, Paul Steckle nearly spit fire as he blasted packing companies for taking advantage of farmers and consumers in the wake of the BSE-related border closure. The MP for Huron-Bruce told Huron County farm leaders at the annual Members of Parliament meeting, Saturday that he was outraged At testimony of the leaders of big packing companies who recently appeared before the Parliamentary agriculture committee, of which he is chair, to explain why retail prices remain high while farmers are going broke because of the low price for cattle. The poor return for cattle, particularly older cull cows, was illustrated by Robert Emerson, vice- president of the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture who told of a farmer he knew who sent two Hereford cows to market and netted $1.57 for the pair. "That wouldn't buy a cup of coffee and a doughnut at Tim Hortons," he said. "It wouldn't buy one pound of hamburger." "The industry is on its knees," Emerson told Steckle. "I've been farming 45 years and this is the worst we've seen it." Speaking for the Huron County Beef Producers, Les Falconer told Steckle that the situation had already surpassed the prediction in the early days after the discovery of a single cow with BSE last May that this could escalate to become the worst catastrophe in the history of Canadian agriculture. "No drought, crop failure or weather condition in our history has ever inflicted so much economic damage upon Canadian agriculture as this event already has," the beef producers' brief said. "It's far escalated past a beef issue to be one threatening the very fabric of rural Canada — farm equipment dealers and supply stores, vehicle dealerships, auction barn operators, livestock transporters, veterinarians and many, many more." The brief added producers are on the verge of bankruptcy and stress levels have never been higher. Steckle acknowledged the pain in the farming community from first hand experience. "I see proud people come to my office and put their heads on my desk and cry because they're losing everything they have because of one animal," he said. He raged against packing company heads whom he accused of stonewalling his committee. "We're in deep," he said of the haughty attitude of the packing company heads. "I've never played in a game like this in my life. You have to stickhandle pretty fast just to stay on top of this." Packing companies claimed they controlled only two or three per cent of the market through ownership of cattle or contracts with producers but their control would be closer to 60 per cent, Steckle charged. He said the government was ready to announce additional funding to help beef producers some time ago but delayed while trying to find a way the money would actually go to producers, not result in a drop in prices that would end up with the money in packers' pockets. He called Alberta's $400 million program to help farmers "a boondoggle" because farmers received so little benefit. Perhaps the solution was to establish a floor price for cattle and if problems then develop, it will be the packers who have to come to the government for changes, he suggested. Falconer complained about 76,000 tonnes of beef still being imported into the country and wondered if this beef meets the same standards Canadian beef would require. Steckle said he understands it cull cows, he said. Steckle said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been asked to concentrate only on food safety issues in the short run to allow the plant to start operating as quickly As possible. "When you have to move a wall four inches to comply with a standard that is not health and safety oriented it- doesn't make sense," Steckle said. As for opening of the U.S. border to Canadian live cattle exports, Steckle said "The process has gone beyond animal science to political science." The U.S. proposal for reopening the border has been submitted for public comment and "unless there has been some animal science concern, then they are almost obligated to move (on opening)," he said. However politics in an election year is likely to trump science, he suggested. When i, comes to the ability to identify and trace animals, the U.S. is trying to catch -up to Canada, he said, and he suggested Canadian farmers must stay in front, moving toward DNA tracing. "We have to lead in this. We can't afford to be behind them," he said. The problem for the beef industry is how to get rid of the surplus of older animals for which there is no market, Steckle said. "If we start killing (and burying) cows, there is a fear people (consumers) are going to start backing off buying beef. I feel we should put it into cans and give it to world (food) relief." But Bill Dowson, Huron County Warden warned that the experience of the Ontario white bean board had not been good in canning beans and giving them in food aid. Countries that normally didn't use canned beans sold them on the world market and undermined the market, he said. must meet Canadian standards. This is the historic level of imports and Canada can't stop this level without risking trade retaliation. But with the traditional quota for the entire year already filled, companies are coming to the federal government asking for supplementary imports because they say they can't source enough lean meat in Canada, he said. That's why it's important to get the MGI plant in Guelph up and running to slaughter