Wanted: more R&D dollars for Canada’s beef industry expansion

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Comments

Its simple if you want to get the cattle numbers up then the packers need to keep paying the farmers a fair price, and if they don't the cattle number will once again decline.

The idea of wasting money to produce more reports its foolish, the big packers like Cargill who buy the majority of our cattle dont need some, primary report done by over paid desk jockeys to tell them how to make more money from selling beef.

When ever government gets involved in any commodity sector they just distort the pricing and upset the apple cart,

The best thing the beef industry officials can do is just leave well enough alone.

Sean McGivern

Who exactly do you think does these trade deals with the likes of Korea and Europe, the farmers??
Who is fighting to get COOL rescinded!
Your dislike of Government involvement is totally unjustified.

Artificially increasing the farm gate price of something is, as is the case with tariffs for supply management and ethanol mandates for corn, almost always counter-productive.

Therefore, instead of forcing packers to pay more for beef, and thereby creating the ratchet effect of higher costs to consumers = lower consumption = fewer cattle on feed = higher fixed costs for each animal = less profit for cattle farmers, the smart thing to do would be to eliminate the tariffs and mandates which unfairly subsidize supply managed and grain farmers respectively, thereby lowering land and/or feed costs for beef farmers.

While government isn't distorting the price beef farmers are receiving for their product, it definitely, through supply management and ethanol mandates, is distorting their cost structure.

Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON

How do they expect to increase herds when 600lb. heifers are selling at such record stocker prices?
You can't blame cow/calf operators for taking the sure money now than keeping and breeding the heifers for future money that might not be near as good.

I would certainly like to see the bankers face when approached for money to buy 30 or 40 cows at this point .

If you wanted to become a beef farmer, the best time to enter into the beef business was about 10 years ago, not now.

Opportunities exist when prices are low, not at their peak.

That's why I'm averaging into energy stocks.

Raube Beuerman

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