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American Ranchers Soon to Feel Impact From Return of Canadian Cattle

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 15:01 CDT

Jul. 19--Trucks hauling Canadian cattle started heading south Monday, the first such shipments since May 2003.

Although they are a trickle now, imports of feeder cattle and slaughter animals soon will start to affect the pocketbooks of American ranchers, said David Wright, a Neligh, Neb., rancher.

"To us cow-calf guys, there's a lot at stake," Wright said.

Canadian officials announced with "great pleasure" Monday that at least one shipment of live cattle crossed the U.S. border from Ontario during the morning and another truck crossed from Alberta later in the day.

Last Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Montana judge's decision that had kept the border closed. The United States banned Canadian cattle in May 2003 after Canada's first case of mad cow disease.

Thursday's decision allowed live cattle younger than 30 months to begin moving south again.

Andy Mitchell, Canada's agricultural minister, cautioned producers that a hearing next week in Montana could result in another injunction blocking imports if U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull sides with the ranchers' group that is suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

United Stockgrowers of America, a ranchers' group, hasn't decided whether to appeal last week's ruling because no opinion there has been released explaining why the judges ruled as they did.

The ban hurt the U.S. meatpacking industry, which has laid off an estimated 8,000 workers. The industry estimates that Canada shipped 1 million head a year into the United States before the ban.

It also hurt Canada's cattle industry. Stan Eby, president of the 90,000-member Canadian Cattlemen's Association, called Monday "one of my better days." In the United States, the head of a meatpacking industry group called the shipments a victory.

It "should signal the world that the North American beef market is back open for business," said J. Patrick Boyle, president and CEO of the American Meat Institute.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is issuing export certificates to cattle shippers. Cattle shipped into the United States must be younger than 30 months and carry a "CAN" brand. The import ban on other livestock such as bison, goats and sheep also has been lifted.

USDA officials acknowledged Monday in an Economic Research Service report that cattle prices likely will fall as seasonal numbers increase and "more beef enters the market from Canada."

Wright, the Neligh rancher, disagreed with government officials' suggestions that producers' profits only slightly increased in the past two years while the border was closed.

Wright, who typically sells his cattle in January, said that in 2003 his calves sold at 84 cents a pound. Last week, calves were selling at $1.19 a pound for November delivery.

"I'd say we've made a little more than a slight increase in income," Wright said. "I just hope that market doesn't wash out because of this."

The higher-cost cattle have translated into costlier beef. The USDA price report showed that choice-grade beef set a record-high price this spring of $4.23 a pound at retail stores. The record prices reflect steady consumer demand, but prices are now expected to decline because of increased cattle volume.

This report contains material from the Associated Press.

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Source: Omaha World-Herald

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