November 22, 2004

Canada's Quebec Beef Producers Set Minimum Price for Meat

Canada's Quebec beef producers are responding to the mad-cow disease by setting a minimum price for the sale of their meat to slaughterhouses as of November 29.

The producers described themselves Friday as victims of the US decision to close the border to live Canadian cattle after the discovery of the disease in one Alberta cow in May 2003.

Eighteen months later, they say that they are in debt and that government programs are not enough to compensate for all their losses.

Hoping to improve their financial situation, the beef producers are going to demand payment of 42 cents a pound for the cows they sell to Quebec's biggest slaughterhouse, which has a virtual monopoly in the province.

They are presently getting between 15 and 20 cents a pound.

The Union des producteurs agricoles, which represents the producers, said it hopes consumers will not have to pay more for ground beef and that the slaughterhouse will agree to smaller profits.