Competitive disadvantage for Canadian cattle

One big problem in Canada’s beef industry doesn’t get a lot of attention. Canada’s rules for dealing with SRM, Specified Risk Materials, are much stricter than in the United States. SRM are the tissues in a beef carcass most likely to harbour BSE prions. Since July of 2007, the use of meat and bone meal containing SRM has been banned from livestock feeding and fertilizer in Canada. The industry supports these strict rules, but they come at a cost. For slaughterhouses, the regulations result in additional costs for removal and disposal of SRM that amount to roughly $5 per head for cattle under 30 months of age and $30 to $40 per head for cull cattle. The United States does not intend to adopt a similar regulation, so the competitiveness of Canadian slaughter companies is seriously affected, particularly on the slaughter of cull cattle. Cattle can just move across the border to where the regulations don’t apply. XL Beef in Moose Jaw has been shut down for the summer and the high cost of SRM management has been cited as one of the reasons. The government of Canada needs to find a way to compensate the industry for the cost of our more stringent rules. I’m Kevin Hursh. for more information on fertilizer prices call DynAgra at 1.800.941.4811

www.hursh.ca

Kevin Hursh PAg CAC