Cattle Call by Leonard Friesen
July, 2003
There is an old saying, "There is nothing as dead as yesterday's newspaper." That may not always be true. But I am going to publish a column that I wrote for the July issue. For the first time in writing a column for 28 years, I missed the deadline. The truth is very little has changed with the BSE situation. Here is what I wrote on June 23, 2003.
I usually write this column about two weeks before the magazine is published. Sometimes things change during that two week period. I was hoping something positive would have happened by the time I wrote this column concerning the phoney mad cow fiasco. As of now (June 23rd) the border is still closed.
I have had a lot of phone calls asking me about the situation, I give them my opinion, but as to when the border will open - that is anyones guess.
I will give you an abbreviated version of what people have told me. A number of them expressed their doubt as to the validity of the tests on that one crock cow.
One man told me that they should not have been in such a hurry in announcing to the world that Canada had BSE. He said after a little more investigation, the federal Minister of Agriculture should have contacted his US counterpart and told her we have a problem. As a good neighbour we would voluntarily close the border for a short period for Canadian cattle exports. That way the ball would be in our court. The way it is now the Americans closed the border, so it is up to them to open it.
Do you folks think for one minute that if this isolated case of BSE had occurred in the backwoods of Mississippi that the Americans would have blown the whistle on themselves - I think not.
Another comment made to me was, if our goofy Prime Minister had a better relationship with George Bush, this incident would already have been resolved. I agree with that.
This is a terrible thing to say, but the truth is this whole affair is like a dream come true for some bureaucrats and a few politicians from Canada, the USA and Japan. It makes them feel important. They do not own any cattle - so what is a delay of a month or two?
Chretien and a few other officials should have been in Washington a few days after we blew the whistle on ourselves. Having said this I will say there some who are seriously trying to get the border open, namely Ralph Klein, Shirley McClellan, Lyle Vanclief and a few others.
One of the most outrageous suggestions was made by the radical (lunatic - ED) R-CALF organization headquartered in Montana. They said the border should be closed for seven years. There still are some common sense people like the Texas Cattle Feeders, the National Cattlemens Beef Association and others who want the border opened as soon as possible.
Several Americans from Kansas phoned me and said some people were glad the border was closed. They did not agree with that sentiment adding that it is not good for the North American beef industry. One suggested that we deport the catfish farmer back to Mississippi. I told him it was too late - the damage was done.
A few people said they though the BSE cow owner was paid by terrorists or other radicals to inject his cow with the disease - I rather doubt that. The fallout from this disaster has only begun, we will feel the affects for years to come. The government bailout will help some cattle feeders survive. In the long run, the industry will be severely damaged, especially since it follows a tough year of losses for cattle feeders.
I am almost embarrassed by what I wrote in the April edition of ABM. In that column I mentioned all the negative things that have happened to the cattle industry in the past 6 decades. Here is a direct quote from that column.
"I have witnessed the unexpected in the cattle business for six decades. The era we live in today is no different than it was in the past. Just when you think you have all your ducks in a row, something happens that throws everything out of kilter. It can be weather, diseases, low beef consumption or worst of all government meddling." I almost feel guilty that I wrote that. I do not like gloom and doom, but once again the unexpected has happened.
By the time you read this we will know if Ralph Klein's journey to Washington was a success. I hope and pray, as do thousands of others, that this issue can be resolved very soon. The border should be opened to all classes of cattle, not just cattle that are under 30 months.
PS: I am pleased that Albertans and Canadians in general have gone the extra mile to demonstrate their confidence in Alberta beef by holding a number of rallies where they served free beef.
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