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The Citizen, 2006-03-16, Page 25Safe, Dependable Trucking Service • Livestock • Bulk Brussels, Ontario 887-6122 1-800-667-8399 PAGE A4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2006. Agriculture 2006 Producers can wait 6 months to register On the job Some local businesses will the farmer purchases the photo) Continued from A3 starting calf date." Also, Ferguson said it is not important to do this every time a calf is born. "They can wait six months if they want. Some get worried about getting it done when the calf is born. It's only necessary to have it done when you sell that calf." Recent meetings across the province have been used'to help get the word out. Age-verified calves will be an extra bidding tool at enter the age verification data if tags on premises. (Bonnie Gropp auction. But there's also a second benefit, better management practices on the farm. "The other thing is that once they have the tag in they can see the yield and the grade. They see the added value based on the data we get on a cross-reference with the identification tag." Perhaps the greatest reason to get Canadian beef age verified, Ferguson said is the export market. "The Americans aren't quite up to speed on this. They don't have a national database. They can't advertise that. We are unique that way that we can move these animals from province to province and maintain the age verification." "We should be getting past the point of not doing this. There is a narrow window of reaction time for us to stay ahead of the U.S. We have this advantage for the export bargaining clout. If we wait too long they will have their system ramped up. We have our foot in the door." By Keith Roulson Citizen publisher A combination of a high Canadian dollar and record low prices for U.S. eggs for processing has effectively wiped out tariff protection for Canada's egg farmers. Brian Durst, Huron's director on the Ontario Egg Producers Marketing Board. and vice-chair of that board, told farm leaders attending a meeting with Huron-Bruce MP Paul Steckle and MPP Carol Mitchell, March 4, that :U.S. "breaker" eggs for processing have dropped from $1.26 per dozen two years ago to 35 cents today. Meanwhile with the Canadian dollar rising against its U.S. Currently the Americans use oscification to determine age. This is the colour of the cartilage along the spinal column. "The negative of that system is by the time they've looked to get the colour referencing they've already dropped out some- of the material that has salvage value. We can recoup that value." Ferguson said they are hustling to get people on board with this. "It's better to our trading partners to have more." counterpart, it's now economical for processing companies to import breaking eggs even with the high tariff designed to protect supply management. Even with the tariff in place and working, Canada "is not a closed shop", Durst said. Under the last round of trade negotiations, Canada promised five per cent market access without tariff. In eggs, that has actually worked out to eight per cent, he said. "Other countries have not even kept their five per cent commitment. Many are in the 1-3 per cent range," he said. Meanwhile Canadian trade negotiators seem ready to make concessions while other countries state their special cases are non- There is, however, no legiSlation that a producer must age verify his animals. "The identification tags must be on herd of origin by this fall, and in all cattle by the end of 2007. But age verification right now is voluntary. It's a really good thing to do for the industry, and also to enhance on- farm record keeping. It's the whole other aspect of due diligence on the farm. There is a paper trail behind your cattle - a better tool to fight misunderstandings." negotiable, Durst said. There are suggestions Canada could use the "special products" box to protect supply management but the ramifications of such a move aren't known, Durst said. Holmesville-area chicken farmer John Maaskant, Huron's representative on the Chicken Farmers of Ontario board backed up Durst's arguments. If all countries allowed five per cent market access as Canada has, there would be a 90 per cent increase in world trade, he said. "We're anxiously awaiting to see how the new (Conservative) government will uphold their pledge to protect supply management," he said.. High dollar, low U.S. prices impacts egg producers