For many in the agriculture industry and especially the beef industry, the announcement that BSE had been found in the Canadian cattle herd was one of those moments where you’ll likely always remember where you were when you first heard it. I was at work, my first job in publishing, and the news came over… Read More
It’s already cost the Canadian hog industry a billion dollars, but Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL, is not done with hurting the hog industry just yet. At least that seems to be the conclusion drawn from the USDA’s proposed “amendments” to the requirement to meet the WTO’s 2011 ruling. As RealAgriculture.com has reported before,… Read More
If you cannot seee the above embedded audio player, Click Here This morning I talked to Martin Unrau, President of the Canadian Cattlemans Association about his recent trip to Washington, DC to lobby for the repeal of the US mandatory Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) legislation. As Martin Unrau mentions in the interview, groups like the… Read More
A WTO ruling from late in 2011 sided with Canada, among other countries, that U.S. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulation was “inconsistent with its WTO trade obligations.” But instead of amending the labeling requirements in time for the late may deadline, the US has seemingly upped the ante, and will now being to add… Read More
The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association (SSGA) hosted its annual roundtable meeting between Canadian and US beef industry leaders during Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. Now in its seventh year, the roundtable brought cattle producers from North Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin to meet with their Canadian counterparts at Agribition. The event gathered six American representatives… Read More
As important as the domestic beef market is, the success of Canada’s beef industry depends on exports. That means a continued focus on growing current export markets and looking elsewhere for new opportunities to market our beef. It’s those relationships that will be responsible for growing the industry. SEE MORE ILC 2012 COVERAGE. Robert Meijer… Read More
This year’s International Livestock Congress gave producers a chance to gather together to talk about some of the industries big issues. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association hosts the event that covers a wide range of industry topics from global economic issues all the way to individual efforts toward sustainable production. Martin Unrau is President of the… Read More
We could easily call this episode of the Beef Market Update the “even Steven” episode or the “good news bad news” episode as it seems as though every point has a counter-point and every yin, a yang. In some cases it’s less of a counter-point than it is a “wait just a minute, not so… Read More
I am not surprised by the decision that has been made by the US government to appeal the recent decision by the World Trade Organization. Many American producers and packers were hoping that the government would not appeal but the level of shock should be low. The American Farm Bureau and the NCBA recently passed… Read More
The World Trade Organization’s ruling on the country of origin labelling (COOL) legislation brought some small sense of victory to the Canadian beef industry. The excitement over that victory was short-lived however as producers realized that any tangible results stemming from that ruling would be a long way off. The potential for an appeal by… Read More
With the recent ruling by the World Trade Organization declaring elements of the U.S. Country Of Origin Labelling program to be unfair, Canadian livestock producers feel that the first steps have been made in restoring exports lost when the program began. While Canadian producers applaud the move, there is an underlying skepticism that this decision… Read More
The major story on every beef industry radar was last weeks WTO ruling in favour of Canada with regard to the U.S. Country Of Origin Labelling legislation. The resulting effect on the market……meh. The fact is, the entire industry is awaiting the U.S. appeal and the looong drawn out process to begin again. It’s a… Read More
By most accounts the 2010 NCBA convention in San Antonio was a huge success. This was my first NCBA meeting so it is fitting that we talked to Anne Dunford a wily veteran of the NCBA festivities. Anne wrapped up the week and talked about what she thought were the major things to be pulled… Read More
Canada and Mexico have taken the issue of country of origin labelling (COOL) to the World Trade Organization (WTO). We are basically one year into the implementation of COOL and the financial impact is severe. The impact on the Canada and Mexico livestock markets has been very hurtful. The interesting thing that I found at… Read More
One of the great things about attending the NCBA convention is that you get a chance to hear what some of the NCBA analysts an staff have to say about the industry. I was very fortunate to get a chance to talk with Gregg Doud. Gregg Doud is the Chief Economist at the National Cattlemans… Read More