LIZ TWAN: Playing field not level
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Updated: November 30, 2009 2:47 PM
Bits and pieces for your digestion; (warning) some morsels may be harder to swallow than others.
“Cattle prices will come back with the economy,” states Purdue University Extension Economist, Chris Hurt, speaking to R.J. Gabbett of Meatingplace.
The big nose-dive in 2003 was a direct result of BSE and then, when recovery looked like a possibility, the North American economy went in the tank. Hurt says that beef and cattle prices are far more directly impacted by the economy than either pork or poultry and he expects beef prices will rise as the economy improves.
A rise in the average length of workweek, falling percentages of new unemployment claims, the rising stock market and a rise in building permits are all factors that forecast a strengthening economy. Hurt predicts a decline in per capita supplies of beef in the U.S. in the next year (as much as two per cent) with shorter supply pushing the prices upward.
At home, our nation’s beef packers (producers) are asking the federal government for consideration (money) to ease the costs of complying with the removal/disposal of cattle parts deemed to possess the greatest risk of transmitting BSE. The director of government and international relations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, John Masswohl, has asked for a payment of $31.70 per head of cattle (over 30 months-of-age) to pay for the removal of specified risk materials. That figure was derived from what the Canadian beef industry has identified as the difference between what Canadian beef packers pay for SRM removal and what American packers pay.
The playing field, once again, is not level. Surprise!
In other news, Walmart (U.S.) has announced a series of weekly price cuts (discounts on groceries) for the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving (U.S.) and Christmas. They are emerging as a major player in the retail grocery business so their announcements make the news in the beef industry. One of the featured items in the price reductions are rolls of 73 per cent lean ground beef at $1.25 (U.S.) per pound (a 26 per cent saving).
