Agriculture committee  Thanks, Brian. First of all, I think it would be hours of conversation about what would make this industry competitive. I've been here many times talking about a number of those things, outside of this issue. But I have some comments on this. First, we're asking for $31.70 toda

Agriculture committee  We're working with exporters and people who purchase cattle, and we're putting that case together. It is being developed along with the Government of Canada, but we're asking that until such time as we can actually present it, we'd like to keep it confidential, because obviously

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Brad Wildeman, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association. Thanks for the opportunity to appear here this afternoon to share our perspectives on the impact of the SRM regulations that came into effect in the summer of 2007. In a nutshell, th

Agriculture committee  I don't know that. I would argue that we're going to see a significant downsizing in the industry, from what we hear in my part of the country. Part of the reason it hasn't occurred yet is simply a matter of slaughter capacity--just getting them into the system and getting them

Agriculture committee  Obviously we had some very quick actions back in 2003, so we appreciate that again from this committee and others. There has been some precedence, but not on this issue. There has been lots of discussion. I think we both said that. But really, if we look at the key acts that co

Agriculture committee  I think there was another whole document tabled at this committee that talked about short-term options all related to business risk management. Let me be clear that certainly we're very worried about countervail. Again, we're traders, and we've said that. We think the existing f

Agriculture committee  Fair enough. To the first question, yes, we're worried about countervail risk, no question. I think we've been one of the stronger proponents of that. Secondly, the reason the feedlot industry is getting mentioned most is that they're going to be most directly impacted first,

Agriculture committee  For some people, particularly the cow-calf sector, I think there is some need for the loans. I think our bigger issues are not on the loan side; they are in trying to get these programs to actually work. I've heard from most producers that if they're not going to get anything, at

Agriculture committee  As grain prices have gone up, the feeder calf prices have dropped. Cow-calf producers, who have feed at home and are able to feed these calves to higher weights, have a way to improve the value of those animals. The problem for many is that the calves are worth less, so their cas

Agriculture committee  Again, we're still struggling with some regulations. The other thing is that the trucking industry hasn't grown back from the losses that occurred when the border was shut. We lost a lot of that transportation infrastructure. But it has helped. We're seeing basis levels narrow.

Agriculture committee  I think the report that came out of this committee not very long ago would go a long way toward doing that. We're saying the foundational building blocks of a good business risk management program are here. The devil's in the details. We've tried to help with those details. We'

Agriculture committee  My answer will be short. If somebody thinks the problem's solved and the money's flowing, they might want to come out to Saskatchewan. I could perhaps introduce them to some producers. That's my comment on it. Certainly, again, we've continued to work on it, and officials have b

Agriculture committee  Yes, I have just a very brief comment. An ad hoc likely isn't the best thing to do, but we have a program and we have to make it work because the program we have isn't getting the chores done either. So although there's a lot of concern about countervail, I met with producers to

Agriculture committee  I think the cattle industry is somewhat behind that. Ours is a little longer production cycle. We don't have the things happening, but equity is being lost. What has happened is that some of these people have gone to their lenders and extended their loan provisions, but they're n

Agriculture committee  No. Again, we are a cyclical industry, and I think the hog people would agree with that. So we have seen tough times come and go. That's the nature of the business, so we are prepared for that. But I don't think we've ever seen swings particularly that weren't related so much to