BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Times have been tough for Chelmsfor cattle farmer Gerard Lavigne since the American border was closed to Canadian beef 19 months ago.
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MIKE OBOMSAWIN subsidizes his farm with his Inco pension. Nickel Belt MP Ray Bonin says he is working on bringing a packing co-op or abattoir to the north, which should provide some relief for struggling farmers. |
Lavigne has been operating at a loss because the ban caused a glut in the market, which in turn prompted the big abattoirs in southern Ontario to lower their prices.
?It?s costing more money to keep them than what we?re making...We sold our calves at $400...but it costs $500 to keep a cow for a year. That?s if we?re lucky and we don?t have call the vet or anything. It?s a real hard thing for us,? he says.
Lavigne was forced to reduce his herd from 60 to 20 animals in the past few years because it was costing so much to feed them.
But the farmer hopes things will get better now that the United States is reopening its borders in March to Canadian cattle under the age of 30 months.
Older animals are under a trade embargo.
?Well, that should help,? if prices go up as a result, he says. ?But farmers still are getting just about nothing for their beef. The abattoirs, they?re the ones making a fortune. There?s no justice.?
Unfortunately, just as the cattle ban was announced last week, Canadian agriculture officials confirmed a 10- year-old Alberta cow had tested positive
for mad cow disease.
U.S. officials say they will still lift the beef ban because the cow never entered the food chain.
But this latest case makes Lavigne nervous. ?It just happened at the wrong time. But I?m sure in the States, they must have some over there too. But we don?t hear about it...As soon as we get one here, then everybody knows,? he says.
Another Chelmsford cattle farmer also says he?s happy the ban has been lifted, but agrees things won?t get any better until cattle prices go up.
A few years ago, Mike Obomsawin was able to sell his cows to commercial slaughterhouses for $700. Now he?s lucky to get $500 for his animals, and
that?s only because he sells them privately.
If he were to sell them commercially, he?d only get $200.
?Right now, I?m looking at going back to work...We?re really in deep,? says Obomsawin, who subsidizes his farm by drawing on his Inco pension.
?I?ve talked to a lot of farmers, and they?re all quitting. We?re not going to have any farmers left.?
If nothing else, the lifting of the ban will create some stability and confidence in Canada?s beef industry, says Charlie Angus, NDP agricultural critic
and MP for Timmins-James Bay.
?It?s not going to end the structural problems that we?re dealing with however,? he says.
?We?ve got major problems that have been revealed because of this crisis in our inability to process our own beef. We do not have the slaughterhouse
capacity that needs to be there regionally.
We?re still under the thumbs of the big giant packers who?ve made a killing through this process and are probably going to come out of this much stronger than when they went in.?
The Canadian government needs to do more to help devastated cattle farmers, says the MP.
He thinks the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) program, which was supposed to provide some relief for farmers, has been an
unmitigated disaster. ?The vast majority of cattle farmers that I?ve talked to who should have been able to access...funding have been rejected and haven?t received a cent,? says Angus.
But Liberal Nickel Belt MP Ray Bonin defends his government.
He?s never heard of anybody being denied access to CAIS funding - the money is there and it is being used by farmers, he says. In fact, the Liberal government deserves praise for finally getting the United States to back down, says Bonin. ?It?s not easy fighting with a giant. The Americans fight differently.
They?re big and they?re tough and I think that we stuck together.?
The Liberal MP hopes beef prices will go up again once the glut in the market has cleared up. He is working on bringing a packing co-op or abattoir to
the north, which should provide some relief for struggling northern farmers.
Canadians in the farming industry have suffered, says Bonin.
?Some people lost their farms. Many people paid the big price...let?s hope that it all turns to the good and we can get back to normal.?
