Taking the Scottish road?
Lambeth dairy farmer wonders if the marketing system he left behind in his native Scotland will soon come to CanadaLambeth-area dairy farmer Craig Connell came to Canada in 1981. He's kept an eye on the dairy system in his native Scotland as it shed its regulations, and he wonders when Canada will do the same.
"I think the writing is on the wall as far as what is coming down the road," he says. It's just a question of when it will happen.
Connell thinks the system will devolve to the state it was in 30 years ago, when dairy farmers had contracts that gave them access to domestic markets, but were vulnerable to price changes, especially in export markets. The result may mirror what has happened in the U.K.
The European Union forced the U.K. to abandon centralized marketing. They called it a monopoly, Connell says. The marketing board was broken up into co-ops, with many producers sticking with Scottish Milk, in Scotland.
Meanwhile, private companies sought to "cherry pick" the better farmers, the ones that were largest and easiest to pick up milk from, by offering them a little more return for their milk to entice them away from the co-ops. This worked for the bigger shippers for a while, but after they were split up the companies played them off against each other, Connell says. "They are between a rock and a hard place right now."
Farmers have no opportunity to export because their currency is so strong. Because the British pound is so high, it brings the price of milk down three or four pence (seven to 10 cents).
Connell fears that large dairy companies in Canada will find a way to directly contract with producers, break up co-op marketing, and play farmers off against each other. "It's quite obvious to me that the [Canadian] government won't lose any sleep if supply management disappears," he says.
Dairy producers are looking at ways to cut the cost of production, Connell says. "Without any doubt at all, we will be producing milk for less money in the future than we do today," he says. More and more of it will be sold into classes that bring farmers a lower return.
The price of quota makes no sense at all, Connell says. He can't make it pencil out at more than $10,000 or $11,000 per kg. "It bothers me to have that kind of money invested in it." - Don Stoneman
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
back
Test herd takes aim at competition
The Gencor Holstein test herd will help Canadian genetics compete against Dutch and British breeders who run similar test outfits
By DON STONEMAN
The future of co-operative Holstein genetic development in Canada may well lie in the results that come from a unique herd of heifers kept in Huron county.The Gencor test herd at Peter Schuttel's freestall operation at Goderich is an opportunity to accurately rank the female side of top Holstein genetics, says Mike Lohuis, assistant professor of animal science, University of Guelph.
While the Goderich test herd, run by Gencor, is the first in Canada, it is following in the footsteps of some tough competitors. Holland Genetics already has its Delta nucleus herd, and the U.K. has its Genus herd. Both these test herds are run by corporations that own the animals being tested. The Gencor herd is more in keeping with the Canadian way, Lohuis says. Because farmers own the animals being tested, they remain involved in the process.
The goal is to make Ontario's Holstein exporting industry more competitive, says Lohuis. The national Semex Alliance will be watching closely. With success at Goderich, watch for similar herds to spring up across Canada.
Breeders will pay $500 per heifer to test them against other top animals in the Goderich herd for one lactation. The cost would be far higher but for about 40 kg of research quota granted by Dairy Farmers of Ontario to market milk from the heifers.
The test herd is also going to make the Ontario and Canada Holstein exporting industry more efficient and competitive with similar operators overseas. Gains in genetic improvement can be made far faster if females get proper ranking.
It all comes down to selecting the top females that will be the mothers of Holstein sires, says Lohuis.
Leaving ownership of the heifers in the hands of their breeders will increase the efficiency of sire selection programs, he says. When farmers still own the cows, costs are reduced.
With heifers being kept in a centralized testing area, the costs of flushing eggs after the peak of their lactation has been passed will also be reduced, resulting in another cost efficiency.
The accuracy in choosing females is dogged by the varied backgrounds and management under which they are raised. If other countries are testing females, Canada has to follow, Lohuis says. There are 5,000 progeny tested bulls around the world for farmers to choose from, he says. A decade ago no one expected that progeny testing would become so popular.
There is now so much competition that prices are falling fast on semen from proven bulls. Lohuis says the U.S. blend price is just over US$7 a straw: "It's a very competitive market. It has been coming down steadily."
Other testing that benefits Canadian Holstein breeding efforts will also be conducted at the Goderich farm.
Data on as many traits as possible will be recorded. "Cows will really come under the microscope," Lohuis says. They will be tested weekly for blood type, DNA, milk samples, general health, body condition scoring, body weight, and mastitis.
The DNA information collected will become more valuable in the future, Lohuis says. A DNA "warehouse" of traits will be created, allowing researchers to match DNA sequences to certain traits in particular cow families. Researchers feel it will eventually be possible to link milk composition to certain traits. For example, some cows produce milk with a high casein score. This milk has a better ability to form curds for cheese making.
There may also be factors in the milk that are associated with human health, such as milk with certain types of cholesterol. "Some of these are long shots, but they are worth collecting when we have these cows," Lohuis says.
The test herd is also an excellent opportunity to test electronic recording equipment and data collection, which will be beneficial to associated companies such as Ontario DHI, Lohuis says.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
back
Go-ahead for butteroil review
The federal government will look at reclassifying the butteroil-sugar blends that dairy farmers charge are threatening Canadian industrial milk markets.Dairy Farmers of Canada says the imported butteroil-sugar mixes are costing milk producers millions of dollars in lost income by replacing the domestic butterfat used to make lower-cost ice creams.
Last month, Robert Wright, Deputy Minister of National Revenue, asked the Canadian International Trade Tribunal to review the existing classification for butteroil blends. The government said this is the only recommendation among 13 in a CITT report on butteroil blends tabled in early summer that had garnered significant producer support.
A tariff classification review is consistent with Canada's international trade rights and obligations under recent trade laws, International Trade Minister Sergio Marchi said in a press release.
"They are going to proceed with the alternative that we preferred," says John Core, first vice-president of DFC. But the process could take up to four months and Core says he is "still disappointed that it has to go to this."
A well-organized plan to lobby the prime minister's office on the butteroil blends issue may have influenced the government to take this route. DFC sent a circular to county dairy committees encouraging farmers to call the prime minister's office on certain dates, asking that the butteroil issue be dealt with as soon as possible. The aim was to telephone Jean Chrčtien day after day in early August, with a mix of calls coming from dairy farmers across Canada.
"I have to believe that it had some influence in moving the process along," Core says. - Don Stoneman
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
back
Cross-border beef made easier
New regulations should make it simpler for U.S. beef to cross into Canada, but right now only western producers are getting the benefit
BY DON STONEMAN
It's going to be less burdensome to import U.S. feeder cattle into Canada this year. But it remains to be seen whether Americans will still want to buy our beef.The Northwest Cattle Project, an attempt to further ease trade in beef cattle between the U.S. and Canada, got a boost last month when Ottawa eased off on cattle importation regulations.
There's no benefit in the program for Ontario beef producers yet. Only Montana and Washington have undergone the health risk assessment to take part in the program. Until that assessment takes place in states close to Ontario, provincial beef producers' access to feeder cattle won't really be eased.
Still, the project is one more step toward opening up the entire continent to north-south trade in beef cattle, and it is an improvement on last year, when less than 1,000 feeder cattle were sold to Canadian feedlots in the Wes t because of rules that were too tough to swallow.
Canadian beef producers who buy American cattle this fall won't have to subject their entire feedlot to special scrutiny and strict protocols as they did last year.
Canadian Cattlemen's Association executive vice-president Dennis Laycraft describes as "onerous" regulations that forced a buyer to identify every animal in his feedlot as an import and ship them all directly to processing. Now, only penmates of the imports get special scrutiny.
This all seems rather academic as the U.S. government considers making the labelling of beef products that come from Canada mandatory. If the law is passed, Canadian beef exports to the U.S. are expected to be choked off.
A key date is Sept. 10, Laycraft says. That is when a key group of senators and representatives reconvenes after a summer break. The proposed labeling law must pass their scrutiny.
Minister for International Trade Sergio Marchi has requested a formal consultation under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The issue of importing feeder cattle to Canada is small, but still important to follow through on, says Laycraft.
The amendments to regulations necessary to ease the imports have been sought for nine months, he says. Furthermore, the fact that Canada continues to smooth the path for American imports "also demonstrates our commitment to free trade," Laycraft says.
Amended regulations require only that the imported animals be eartagged and undergo a special protocol.
The imported animals receive an ivermectin treatment to kill parasite larvae and grubs. Then they must undergo a therapeutic treatment to rid the cattle of possible anaplasmosis carriers. After this is completed, animals are considered to have a health status equivalent to Canadian cattle and can go to grass, processing or another feedlot, Laycraft says.
Bill Anderson, associate director, animal health and production division of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, says it will be up to American beef producers to ask their state veterinarian to get the state qualified under the regulation, which requires risk assessment.
Even then, cattle can only be imported under these rules during the fall and winter, when a killing frost prevents adult insects from being imported as well.
High-risk states - those at risk for blue tongue, tuberculosis, brucellosis or anaplasmosis - won't be considered at all as part of the program, Anderson says. Cattle from those states must go through an involved and expensive testing procedure before they can enter Canada.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
back