Rainy River Cattlemen hope to hogtie a solution to mad cow crisis

Ken Johnston
Editor

Doom and gloom.
That is the easiest way to describe the future for the Rainy River area’s cattlemen if the border does not reopen to Canadian live cattle soon.
Stratton Sales Barn Manager Russell Richards reported that despite the discovery of Mad Cow Disease last year, they managed to survive as an industry in the area and actually turned a profit at the sales barn.
Total income on the year was $2, 368,945.97. Expenses were $2,361,462.64 for a net profit of $7,483.33.
RRCA President Peter Spuzak said, “Our spring sale was the best one ever, but it was a fast down hill ride from there because of one (mad) cow.”
Richards said they debated about having any further sales, but did and said that local producers managed to get prices comparable or better than Winnipeg. “It shows how important the local sales barn is to the area. Farmers can bring their cattle to the barn and if they don’t like the prices they can take them home at very little expense. To bring them home from Winnipeg would be costly.”
President Spuzak said that the RRCA executive spent most of the year working on ways to combat the devastating effects of that “one cow” have had. In December they met with Kenora-Rainy River Member of Provincial Parliament Howard Hampton to look at options. “We drafted a letter to Steve Peters (the new provincial Ag. Min.) suggesting that rather than spending the estimated $400,000 the area’s cattlemen will get under the Mad Cow Compensation agreement ($165 per animal) that $250,000 of the money be used to help fund the construction of an Abattoir in Northern Ontario.
Spuzak said that Russel Pollard of Stratton has indicated a willingness to invest considerably in a plant if it were located in this area. “He has done a great deal of ground work on this project. The stumbling blocks now lie at the government level.”
RRCA sees a plant in the region as an option that will help ease the pain of the border ban on live cattle. “It is too expensive for us to ship our culled cows to Alberta or Southern Ontario,” said Spuzak. Those are the two closest locations to have culled animals processed.
It is estimated that there are about 2,500 animals that need to be processed in this area.
The Ag. Minister acknowledged the stress RRCA members are under and informed them that he has forwarded their letter to the BSE task force.
Cattleman Amos Brielmann asked who made that decision to ask that the compensatory money be shifted away from the farmers to the abattoir project.
Spuzak said, “We did not feel the government would go for this plan, but we felt we had to try and find some local solutions. It is better to lose $165 versus $800-$900 which is what those animals are worth.”
Cattleman Jim McDermid said, “Someone might depend on that money to make ends meet. We should have had more meetings to discuss BSE and what is going on.”
Spuzak fired back, “Right now a culled cow won’t buy a battery for a tractor.”
Cattle producer Kim Jo Bliss explained that even if the government went for the proposal the farmer would have the final say as to whether they would want to turn over their compensation cheque to the project.
Ag. Ministry Rep. Gary Sliworsky echoed that saying, “You are not going to see the government take people’s money.”
Cattleman Archie Wieresema noted that at the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association meeting most associations were opposed to the government’s proposed compensation package, offering $165 per culled cow. “Most felt it should go into a program like the abattoir.”
OCA board member and guest speaker at the RRCA meeting last week Roger Griffiths said that OCA agrees that the money should be put towards a processing plant rather than into a compensation package.
RRCA past president Tom Morrish said, “It is worth more to us to have some place to sell our cattle locally.”