May 18, 2005

Canadian cattle industry says beef ban will not benefit US.

The longer the US border remains closed to Canadian cattle, the less important the American market will become north of the border as producers there slaughter and process more of their own animals, said an official with a Canadian industry group. In addition, keeping out Canadian beef will drive up prices for US consumers.

Bill Bullard, chief executive of R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America, thinks otherwise. He thinks it is only in the interest of the Canadian beef industry to regain access to US markets as quickly as possible. In February the rancher group successfully blocked a move by the USDA to lift the ban.

In 2002, Canada shipped 1.6 million cattle to the US, its largest foreign market. The border closure has cost Canadian ranchers some C$5.7 billion, according to industry estimates. In the US, a study released in April by the Kansas Agriculture Department says the industry has lost between C$3.2 billion and C$4.7 billion, and an estimate of 6,000 jobs.

Masswohl of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association said he believes that US cattle prices are deliberately being kept high by declaring that Canadian cattle pose a risk. He added that the reality is, the risk of mad cow disease is pretty much the same in the US and Canada because of the same polices and practices in both countries and the roughly equivalent levels of enforcement.