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November/December 2015

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SAFE FOOD CANADA: ‘LIKE CHANGING THE ENGINES ON AN AIRPLANE WHILE IT’S STILL FLYING’ SQUAW VALLEY RANCH: 2015 TESA AWARD WINNERS WINTER MARKETING TIPS FOR THE MEAT DEPARTMENT m e a t b u s i n e s s .c a

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IN THIS ISSUE

November/December 2015

5 6 10 14 16

meatbusiness.ca

What if We Don’t Do the TPP Deal?

By Cam Patterson

Safe Food Canada: ‘Like Changing the Engines on an Airplane While it’s Still Flying’

By Scott Taylor

Squaw Valley Ranch: 2015 TESA Award Winners

By Cam Patterson

How far to the left did Canada just swing?

By Chuck Jolley

Subway shifting U.S. meat supplies to no-antibiotics

17 21 22 24 26

Who Is WHO kidding?

By Meathead Goldwyn

Give the Gift of Lasting Legacy

Winter Marketing Tips for the Meat Department

By Ronnie P. Cons

Small business to the Trudeau government: Here’s what we can agree on

By Dan Kelly

Meat price inflation to slow

November/December 2015 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 3

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e r s o – r k d

GUEST EDITORIAL

November/December 2015 Volume 14 Number 6

PUBLISHER Ray Blumenfeld ray@meatbusiness.ca MANAGING EDITOR Scott Taylor publishing@meatbusiness.ca DIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR Cam Patterson cam@meatbusiness.ca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Scott Taylor, Chuck Jolley, Dan Kelly, Ronnie P. Cons, Meathead Goldwyn CREATIVE DIRECTOR Christian Kent Canadian Meat Business is published six times a year by We Communications West Inc.

WHAT IF WE DON’T DO THE TPP DEAL?

By Cam Patterson, Digital Media Editor cam@meatbusiness.ca

It seems everyone these days has a comment on ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in principle while pointing out the short comings and how it doesn’t favor all of Canada’s interests but these are the vagaries of trying to establish any multinational agreement. We’ve been down this road before with NAFTA, and more recently with less encompassing deals like CETA, yet the same alarmist rhetoric continues and cries of pending disaster rear up.

Economists and political analysts are throwing the word “secrecy” around like they’re reporting on Watergate, meanwhile the meetings and summits in the years leading up to announcing the agreement in principle in Atlanta this past fall were pretty much an open deal. They just didn’t merit press attention in the early stages.

At any rate, my concern goes the other way. The question no one seems to be asking is, what if we don’t sign the agreement? I say sign, not ratify, because one is very different from the other, and Canada like most countries, have plenty of trade deals signed yet never ratified.

I’m wondering what implications will befall Canada by not participating in the TPP?

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Regardless of how nervous or defeatist we get with dire economic predictions at the hands of corporate corruption rendering governments into nothing more than banking law puppets and flat out sell outs, the reality is the TPP is too big and the member countries are too strong to not be a member. If Canada does not sign, never mind ratify, the resulting export loss could do irreparable trade damage, and add up to greater economic losses than dealing with the shortcomings currently contained in the deal.

The concerns seem to hover around intellectual property, privacy laws, internet governance, and the ever present – should be at the top of our concern – environment. It’s complicated and convoluted, but what does inclusion mean to us in the Ag sector?

In our last issue of Canadian Meat Business, I interviewed CCA’s John Masswohl who spoke from his personal involvement with the TPP, and the one point he reiterated about the TPP just prior to the Atlanta summit was that Japan is the jewel.

The why is simple math. If signed by Canada, Japan is promising to eliminate high tariffs on a wide range of pork products as well as reducing the current fifty percent tariffs on beef by 9% over 15 years. This is significant since Canadian producers exported $2.6 billion in pork and 1.3 billion of beef to TPP markets last year. So if you’re a meat industry professional and you do that math, you’ll reach out to your MP pretty quickly saying, “sign, sign, sign!”

As for the dairy, chicken and egg farmers, they’re to be compensated with over $4.3 billion over 15 years. Even the president of Dairy Farmers of Canada issued a statement, albeit with a caveat about market access, but still supporting the deal when that announcement came down.

Bottom line is the beef and pork sectors in particular, and the Ag sector in general, are the big winners in a deal that is still more inclusive than it is exclusive. Think about it.

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November/December 2015 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 5

SAFE FOOD CANADA: ‘LIKE CHANGING THE ENGINES ON AN AIRPLANE WHILE IT’S STILL FLYING’

By Scott Taylor

Safe Food Canada’s President and CEO, Brian Sterling, is well aware that his organization’s Mission Statement combines a lot of words to reach a simple goal: “...to promote food protection excellence through learning partnerships by generating knowledge that addresses research gaps and delivering practical expertise on food protection for private and public good.”

Yep, it’s pretty simple.

To his credit, however, he has also come to realize, after nearly four months on the job, this is a great challenge to have.

“I think you can take as a given, that the current training in food safety is good,” said Sterling, an executive and engineer who is in the process of starting his third food organization.

“The problem we face everywhere in the world is that there is no standardization. You can’t find a standard anywhere when it comes to the quality of developing and teaching food safety. It’s taught differently throughout Canada and in all the other countries that are concerned about the safety of their food. Whether it’s Canada, the United States, Great Britain, even Japan where it’s a major concern, nobody has a standard that says: ‘This is the standard for designing and teaching food protection.’

Brian Sterling, Safe Food Canada’s President and CEO

6 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS November/December 2015

“That’s the problem Safe Food Canada is trying to solve.

Another key component for us is that we aren’t going to do the training. Our partners in institutes of learning will do that. We’re going to be the keepers of the standardized requirements and the common competencies needed.

With that done, we can provide accreditations – courses, diplomas, degrees – so anyone who is in the food safety industry can be trained to a level that is consistent. We will have national standards that also harmonize with other countries in the world.”

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Again, it sounds simple, but if it was easy, it would have been done a long, long time ago.

Safe Food Canada is a public-private partnership that involves industry, government and academia. One of the organization’s primary objectives is “to define competencybased learning frameworks against which all food protection learning can be benchmarked and certified.”

By prescribing content and requirements that meet international standards, Safe Food Canada will build a foundation that ensures all learning and training -- designed and delivered by learning providers that already exist across Canada -- will uphold, and continuously improve food protection performance from farm to fork.

In August, Sterling was asked to head the company. There is little doubt that his background makes him the ideal first President and CEO. Prior to accepting the post at Safe Food Canada, he was Special Advisor and Managing Director of the Global Food Traceability Center (GFTC), a program created by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and located in Washington, DC. He held that position from mid-2012 until coming back in his home country.

Previous to his position in D.C., he was Chief Executive Officer for Ontario’s own agri-food traceability corporation (OnTrace), and since 2003 has been an outspoken advocate and successful implementer of food traceability solutions.

However, his achievements extend far beyond food safety and traceability and he has proven in the past that he is equally adept at driving business start-ups and growing companies.

“I wouldn’t call myself a Foodie,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Nor am I an aggie or a food guy. In 2002-03, I was talking to people in the grocery retail industry who had questions about following the production of food from farm to fork. As an engineer by training, I thought that was a terrific problem to solve.

During his career, Sterling has held senior management positions in several consulting firms. He was Director of Business Development for RFID and product traceability at IBM Canada in 2005 and 2006; and before joining IBM, he was Vice President and General Manager at RCM Technologies, responsible for their Canadian IT staffing operations.

Sterling started his business career with the DuPont Company, where he advanced through a series of senior management positions all over North America.

However, his work in the food industry is what makes him the ideal candidate to head up a new, national safe food initiative.

He was, after all, program director of a year-long seafood traceability research program that focused on the use and impact of traceability on business performance, food

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waste, and global consumer perceptions about seafood.

become a self-sufficient organization by our fourth year.”

“The program also delivered a new on-line software tool that helps seafood businesses calculate their payback (ROI) from traceability investments,” he explained.

3. Partnerships have already been established with key organizations and according to Sterling, “We continue to seek new partners and sponsors.”

As the CEO for OnTrace Agri-food Traceability, for which he was responsible for all aspects of the operations, he was first CEO of the company that was formed with funding secured from the provincial government, and it led to development of the first provincial, multi-commodity agrifood premises registry system in Canada.

To date, that list of partners and members of the Board includes Wal-Mart Canada, the University of Guelph, Maple Leaf Foods, Olds College, Olymel, the Canadian Meat Council, Food and Beverage Ontario, Cargill Foods, the University of Saskatchewan, the World Bank - Global Food Safety Partnership, the University of Manitoba, the International Food Protection Training Institute, the Food Processors Human Resources Council, and the Grocers Manufacturers Association (Science and Education Foundation).

“OnTrace provided leadership that helped the eventual creation of a national livestock identification and registration system in Canada,” he explained. “We advised many of the livestock sector associations on the founding principles of traceability for their respective systems.”

He was a member of the Agriculture Canada/Department of Fisheries and Oceans industry-government committee for traceability with the Seafood Value Chain Roundtable (2012 to 2014); a founding co-chair (2006) of Canada’s IndustryGovernment Advisory Committee (IGAC) for the National Agriculture and Food Traceability System (NAFTS) and continues to participate in it; was Associate Partner with IBM Canada for food traceability and RFID solutions (200506), which included working on end-to-end traceability solutions for the seafood, produce, and meat industries in Canada and the USA; he led the consulting program for Can-Trace, a ground-breaking traceability project, sponsored by Agriculture Canada (2003-04) and has spoken about food traceability at international conferences and summits since 2004.

Now he’s decided to move in a slightly new direction. In his role as President and CEO of Safe Food Canada, Sterling will provide leadership for all aspects of the SFC business operations, corporate development, and projects.

“SFC is in the business of modernizing how people learn about food safety and food protection,” he explained.

“Its vision is to be recognized as a world leader in food protection learning systems and expertise. Its Mission is to serve consumers, businesses, and regulators by promoting food protection excellence through learning partnerships.

While we are just getting started (Sterling came on board in August of 2015), we have already accomplished a lot.

Indeed, the list is quite impressive: 1. The Board of Directors, with leaders from food processing, grocery retail, and academia has been created and according to Sterling, “The Board includes observers from the federal and provincial governments.”

2. The Board has accepted a five-year business plan that establishes the initial goals and objectives for the company.

“Among our key objectives,” he noted, “is the need to 8 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS November/December 2015

4. SFC has already published a position paper on a “Training Quality Standard” that was broadly disseminated across the food industry for comment and input. “We can now begin developing a publicly available specification for a consistent set of requirements on the quality of food safety training in Canada,” Sterling said.

It’s an impressive list of accomplishments in a very short time and it demonstrates Sterling’s commitment to the project.

It’s also only a start. Sterling is dedicated not only to the educational aspect of the project, but also to the company’s future financing.

“This is a public-private partnership, but at some point, we must be self-sufficient,” Sterling said. “That’s one of the things on my plate right now: We have to execute a business model so that we don’t have to go cap-in-hand to government or business all the time. We need to stand on our own.”

To be frank, however, government and business were the driving forces behind Safe Food Canada’s creation. Sterling knows this and he also understands his responsibility to the people of Canada.

“This organization is the culmination of about a decade of discussions among all the stakeholders in Canada’s food protection system,” Sterling explained. “The need for this organization is quite simple, I think. We have been training people across Canada in disparate ways and ultimately that drives up costs. We need the food safety community in Canada trained to consistent standards – both industry and government professionals need to have common knowledge and understanding.

“So we will create the standards and then, answer the question, ‘Who is going to be trusted to do the training?’

Safe Food Canada is going to provide a process for accreditation and these organizations will do the approved training.” meatbusiness.ca

Of course, while it’s easy to create an organization that is going to set the standards of safety training, those standards must be transferable to the entire food system: To the farmers and ranchers, the producers and processors, the butchers and food sellers and the restaurant owners, their chefs and servers.

It is a huge industry (among the largest employers in the country) that starts on Canada’s farms and ends up on our plates.

At Your Fingertips:

“Listen, here in Canada, we already do a very good job managing food safety,” Sterling said. “The government and academia, as well as businesses, have always trained people to guarantee that the safety and quality of our food is at the highest level. However, we need to do better if we are to keep up with our international competitors, and also deliver what Canadians expect.”

“Make no mistake, we aren’t the only country in the world that is thinking about this. That’s why we have to answer some big questions. Like: ‘How do we do this so it fits in with what we’re already doing and how do we make it fit into the programs like the Global Food Safety Initiative?’

We aren’t doing this in a vacuum, and we are not yet at the forefront.”

According to its mission, Safe Food Canada’s goals benefit all stakeholders regardless of their roles. The more the relationship between stakeholders is open and engaging, the more Safe Food Canada contributes to the population at large. Because safeguarding the health of Canadians, our resources and the environment is a collective effort.

Safe Food Canada’s road map is clear. At least for the next five to 10 years: •

To ensure Safe Food Canada’s success with sustainable and operable funding.

•

To earn credibility and trust worldwide in our reputation for excellence in competency-based food protection learning.

•

To create a network of trusted partners that will help continuous improve the performance and reliability of Canada’s food system.

“We say we want the most trusted food system in the world,” said Sterling. “We don’t say the most economical or the most expensive, but the highest quality and most reliable. That’s a big goal. What constitutes high quality?

What is the standard for reliability? We’re trying to build a common, high quality food safety and food protection learning system right across the board. That’s the effort we’re trying to focus on. As an engineer, these are the ideas that excite me.”

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SQUAW VALLEY RANCH: 2015 TESA AWARD WINNERS

By Cam Patterson

The 2015 Canadian Cattleman Association’s (CCA) Semi-Annual Meeting took place in Winnipeg this past August and the highlight of the President’s reception was the presentation of The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) to this year’s winner, Squaw Valley Ranch of British Columbia.

The prestigious industry award is presented annually to the producer who exemplifies the best in environmental and sustainable farming. Each of the nominees are selected regionally in each province and from those ballots the winner is chosen.

Squaw Valley Ranch is run by Darrell and Doris Squair along with their son, Travis and his wife Katie. The ranch is tucked into the lush, northeast corner of the Okanagan Valley, and we couldn’t help wonder if their location and the unique challenges the valley presents to them could have been part of the reason they were nominated.

Canadian Meat Business spoke with the Squairs who

generously agreed to answer some of our questions.

CMB: Congratulations on winning the TESA. What has it meant for your ranch since the award was given at the CCA meeting in Winnipeg?

SVR: Having the opportunity to attend the CCA’s Semi Annual AGM in Winnipeg allowed us to see what other ranchers across Canada were doing to preserve the integrity of their environment and ranch. We were fortunate to meet and learn from each others insight and experience.

It also gave us a deeper appreciation and understanding of the dedicated commitment of our representatives in the industry. As ranchers we are fortunate to have such Continued on page 11

10 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS November/December 2015

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committed and informed individuals representing us. Without their insight and hard work our industry would not be what it is today. Yet, Darrell and I both know that with recognition comes great responsibility. As ranchers living on the land and making a living off the land you are always trying to preserve and sustain your environment. But when you receive recognition such as we have with the TESA this year, your desire to preserve even becomes greater as you try to include and educate the onlooker.

CMB: What set you apart from the other nominees and what was your experience in participating?

SVR: Canada has a very diverse landscape and each of the nominees, not unlike ourselves, from the different provinces have done an excellent job of dealing with different environmental challenges that they face in their area. On our ranch lands we have always put an emphasis on cohabiting with the surrounding wildlife and landscape. This includes a healthy bear, deer, fish and waterfowl population. This has been a philosophy that my parents adopted when they started ranching and has been a continued practice for us even today.

CMB: If you had to define environmental stewardship as it relates to the meat industry, how do you feel we’re doing overall?

SVR: Well, with the support of environmental programs and initiatives from our Federal and Provincial governments, the increased industry awareness has become more public, thus allowing us to be more conscientious of our practices, and so in return, allowing us to educate not only ourselves but the general public as well. It has given us opportunity to share practices, which include production of crops, the use of range lands for natural grazing, and the importance of riparian areas. Environmental Stewardship programs and initiatives have allowed us to be able to afford environmental upgrades which in return allows us to be more responsible users of the natural environment through both conservation and sustainable practices.

CMB: Tell us about Squaw Valley - how many head? Acres and range? A family business? How did you and Darrell get into the industry?

SVR: Squaw Valley Ranch is located in the North Okanagan, 40 km north east of Lumby, B.C. Our main ranch headquarters are located in a secluded valley surrounded by mountains with Ireland Creek flowing through it. We generate our own electricity with a small hydroelectric plant Continued on page 12 meatbusiness.ca

November/December 2015 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 11

that runs off the creek. Our closest neighbors are 8 km to the south.

We also have two satellite properties, one bordering the Shuswap River, where we grow crops and pasture, the other at Rawlings Lake, closer to Lumby, where we grow feed. In total we own 2,800 acres, lease 700 acres and have thousands of acres of crown range. To help diversify and supplement ranch income we acquired a 1300 acre woodlot in 1993.

This crown forest is managed in conjunction with the forested areas on our private land. The cowherd has been built up to the present 500 cow/calf as land was acquired and developed over the years. The ranch is now third generation with our oldest son Travis and his wife Katie taking an active role in running of the operation.

CMB: What are some of the hurdles you’ve encountered in the type of ranching you do and where you do it?

SVR: The cost of land to ranch in this area has been driven up by urban people buying the land for recreational use making it very difficult for anyone to get established in the industry.

12 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS November/December 2015

CMB: Were you affected this year by the bush fire epidemics and is there an evacuation plan for such a scenario in your farm plan?

SVR: Fortunately for us we were not affected by the epidemic of fires in B.C., however we were placed on water restriction and water management recommendations.

With that said though we did have equipment ready for the unexpected. Because our cattle range on a crown grazing license we would have had challenges trying to locate, contain and evacuate our animals. Like many parts of the west it was a very hot and dry summer with a dramatic decrease in forage production.

CMB: What are some of the challenges for running a ranch in BC as opposed to the plains, for instance having to coexist with grizzlies and other wildlife in the region?

SVR: We are reliant on a Crown Grazing License which involves working in co-operation with many different stakeholders. Changing timber harvesting practices are becoming more focused on growing trees and less on forage production. In the past there was greater emphasis on site preparation and grass seeding on the newly harvested

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cut blocks. Grazing of cut blocks is a major component of grazing on crown range and vital to the success of our cattle production. The increase of recreational users on crown land is creating many new challenges. Sharing of water resources is requiring more creative solutions as the demand for the resource increases. Yet, though concessions have been made to co-exist with the grizzly and wildlife population such as goodhouse keeping practices, you always have to be aware of the potential risk and problems that could arise.

Environmental programs, associations and organizations can only improve. As ranchers we want to live cooperatively in our environment, sustaining it for generations to come.

CMB: You’re heavily involved locally with creating the environmental farm plan and the no hunting philosophy.

What was the impetus for you and Darrell to be as active as you are?

SVR: Actually the no hunting philosophy originated with my mother Mona Chambers. Her love for nature and the ability to co-exist with the environment was a practice she had always believed in. Because we shared the same philosophy it was not difficult to put those requests into practice. Darrell was our initiator of our two Environmental Farm Plans as well as our Fish Channel project. He worked closely with Community specialists as well as government experts to complete many of the initiatives.

CMB: Where do you see ranching in the future and how would you summarize our sustainable attitudes today?

SVR: To continue in the industry families will need to be creative with solutions to their practices. We will also need to be proactive by taking advantage of Industry leaders such as Provincial Cattleman’s Association and the Canadian Cattleman’s Association. These associations have their fingers on the pulse of the industry. They are actively involved with the changing climate of the market. Our practices with the support and assistance of meatbusiness.ca

November/December 2015 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 13

HOW FAR TO THE LEFT DID CANADA JUST SWING?

By Chuck Jolley

Any way you want to measure the change in how Canadians have just chosen to be governed, it was huge. The country had been under Stephen Harper’s prairie conservatism for nearly a decade until an unexpected backlash opened the door to Justin Trudeau, the left-leaning populist from the East.

Often called the last of the Bush era conservatives, Harper kept the country well to the right of center, lowering corporate and sales taxes, staying out of international climate agreements and toughening criminal sentencing.

He seemed to underestimate the appeal of his much younger opponent, though, a political misstep that might have been caused by being out-of-touch with ethnic and youthful urban voters, numerically powerful groups who backed Trudeau. Those same blocs haunt the future prospects of the similarly older, whiter conservatives south of the border.

When asked why, he responded with a tag line that will follow him for the rest of the year; “Because it’s 2015.”

His new administration moves Canada several giant steps to the left, allowing a more diverse national constituency to directly influence government decision-making. Taking it too far, too fast, though, could be his undoing. Managing it carefully could leave him in office for years. Either way will be an indicator of how the American political process might play out in the long run-up to the first Tuesday, November 2016.

So how will he govern? More than Harper, he seems to understand Canada’s liberal heart and conservative mind. Two key appointments signaled Trudeau’s plans for agriculture and world trade. He immediately named Lawrence MacAulay, a very popular, long-time political operative, as federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and newcomer Chrystia Freeland of Ontario as Minister of International Trade.

He will be a suitcase-toting Prime Minister during his first months in office. His immediate travel agenda includes four global conferences, with important early stops at the G-20 economic summit in Turkey and the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. A more immediate issue, Obama’s awkwardly timed rejection of the Keystone project, will give Trudeau his first and riskiest political ‘at bat.’ While the decision riled the energy-centered home base of Mr. Harper, it was a brush back pitch that Trudeau shook off.

Before embarking on a career in politics, MacAulay earned his Ag credentials as a seed potato and dairy farmer from PEI. The province’s longest serving MP, he is a former Minister of Labour, Solicitor General of Canada, Secretary of State (Veterans) and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency). He was also the Official Opposition Critic for Seniors.

Changing metaphors, the Keystone decision landed on his doorstep with the thud of a thick, rain-soaked, bad news loaded Sunday newspaper before he had his first cup of coffee in the morning. Taking a more cautious approach than his often belligerent predecessor, Trudeau calmly said, “We are disappointed by the decision but respect the right of the United States to make the decision.”

Freeland, the MP for University-Rosedale, is probably best known as a journalist and author. Her books include “Sale of a Century: The Inside Story of the Second Russian Revolution” and the prickly but tellingly political “Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else.”

Obama replied, “We both agreed that our close friendship on a whole range of issues — including energy and climate change — should provide the basis for an even closer coordination between our countries going forward.”

Trudeau’s long list of appointees shared that same 50/50 balance of men and women and, more reflective of modern Canada, it includes Muslims and First Nation Canadians.

Both men were acknowledging the most important issue between the U.S. and Canada has always been trade. Along with the Keystone XL pipeline Trudeau also backs the TransPacific Partnership but he won’t go to the mat to defend it, either. The country has a healthy respect for the realities Continued on page 16

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of American politics. Pierre Trudeau’s accurate assessment was, “Living next to the U.S. is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant: No matter how friendly or temperate the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”

Politically, the younger Trudeau is much closer to Obama than Harper was so most of the twitches and grunts associated with trade issues should be easier to manage with one critical exception: Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). It will remain a potentially ugly meadow muffin floating in a punch bowl that will test the friendship between the two nations and their liberal leaders.

Soon, if America continues its refusal to rescind COOL forces Canada’s hand on its threat of economic retaliation, Trudeau will have to begin a disastrous trade war between the two nations. Harper’s hard line on the issue in his battle to make Washington accept the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) repeated decision will leave Ottawa with no other option.

Four times the WTO has found that COOL violates U.S. trade obligations. Following the final U.S. appeal, the WTO authorized Canada and Mexico to impose retaliatory tariffs that could total $3.5 billion, an action that could begin by the middle of 2016. The U.S. House quickly voted to end COOL; a stubborn Senate expressed its intent to do battle over the issue, placing the Obama administration in the

center of an international cross-fire just months before the U.S. elections.

The U. S. Senate is gambling that Canada and Mexico are not actually going to make good on their trade threats.

They’re betting it’s a bluff and that those two major trading partners won’t have the courage or the political will to carry it out. After more than a dozen years of legal battles and no sign of backing down, both countries seem almost eager to get it over with and play their trump cards.

Asked how far Washington is willing to push the issue, Tim Reif, chief counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative, evasively said the administration will “consider all options going forward, and will continue to consult with members of Congress and interested members of the public regarding possible next steps.”

There can only be one ‘next step’ to prevent a North American trade war - the nullification of COOL. If Washington can’t cajole a coalition of warring factions to kiss and hold hands by May, 2016, the battle will begin.

How firm Trudeau intends to be will be the first defining moment of his administration.

Chuck Jolley is the President of Jolley & Associates and is a respected writer, editor, publisher and public relations expert with more than 25 years experience in the meat and poultry industry.

SUBWAY SHIFTING U.S. MEAT SUPPLIES TO NO-ANTIBIOTICS Subway Restaurants has announced they will start serving antibiotic-free chicken and turkey at its 27,000+ U.S. restaurants in early 2016 and within the next nine years will stop selling any meat from animals given antibiotics.

The chain indicated this transition will be completed within 2-3 years and pork and beef raised without antibiotics will follow within a six year period after that.

“A change like this will take some time, particularly since the supply of beef raised without antibiotics in the U.S. is extremely limited and cattle take significantly longer to raise,” said Dennis Clabby, executive vice president of Subway’s independent purchasing cooperative. “But, we are working diligently with our suppliers to make it happen.”

sector to reduce use of antibiotics in meat production.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and U.S. Public Interest Research Group said they and other groups were about to deliver a petition with nearly 300,000 signatures calling for a concrete timeline for such action.

Public health experts and federal regulators have long been concerned that routine feeding of antibiotics to animals could lead to antibiotic-resistant superbugs, a health hazard for humans. Finding enough protein raised in the United States without such drugs has been a challenge for food companies.

The transition will occur across the United States and there is no word yet if Subway Canada plans to follow suit.

Subway’s plan is one of the most aggressive by the food

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WHO IS WHO KIDDING?

By Meathead Goldwyn

On October 26, 2015 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that processed meat was to be classified as Group 1, “carcinogenic to humans”, and red meat was classified as Group 2A, “probably carcinogenic to humans”.

YesGroup_CanadianMeatBusiness-Qtr-pg.pdf 1 2014-05-16 1:20:17 PM

The report is problematic and extensive mainstream and social media coverage has been sensational, unquestioning, and often flat out wrong.

Let’s start with the fact that of the 22 scientists from 10 countries on the panel, 15 voted for the conclusions that were published and 7 disagreed or abstained. Usually these panels seek consensus and one prominent FDA food safety scientist I discussed the results with was surprised at how far they were from consensus. Why the significant dissent and why publish such far reaching conclusions designed to change lifestyles and damage livelihoods with a vote of only 68%? And why publish only a summary?

Where is the full report?

The first big problem is the paper lumps processed meats with red meats despite the fact that their evaluations of the risks were significantly different. Instead, in the media’s mind and thus the public’s mind, the two have been basted with the same broad brush. By their own definition, processed meat “has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes” while red meat is “unprocessed mammalian muscle meat—for example, beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, or goat meat.” The key word is “transformed”.

Many media reports equated the meats with cigarettes because they are both Group 1. As an NPR listener and donor I was shocked to read this headline on their Continued on page 18 meatbusiness.ca

November/December 2015 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 17

website “Bacon, sausage and other processed meats are now ranked alongside cigarettes and asbestos as known carcinogens.” After several days they changed it.

Yes, Group 1 includes asbestos, solar radiation, air pollution, X-rays, plutonium. This does not mean that they are equally dangerous and in fact cigarettes are vastly more dangerous. Getting hit by a bicycle or a train can kill you, and they are both hazards, but the risk is very different and the rate of lethality is very different. Elsewhere on the WHO website, not in the widely reported study, they explain that they evaluate cancer “hazards but not the risks associated with exposure. The distinction between hazard and risk is important. An agent is considered a cancer hazard if it is capable of causing cancer under some circumstances.

Risk measures the probability that cancer will occur, taking into account the level of exposure to the agent.” They go on to say “two substances or agents classified in the same Group should not be compared.”

In other words, these groupings are meant to convey how certain they are that something is dangerous, not how dangerous it really is.

What are my odds?

So why didn’t they say so in the document so uneducated reporters who slept through science class in college would know better than to equate cigarettes with bacon? And why not explain the risk? I want to know what the odds are that I’ll get cancer if I eat two slices of bacon with my eggs every morning. The WHO panel says that eating 50 grams of processed meat (less than 2 slices of cooked American style bacon) per day increases your odds of colorectal cancer 18%. And they leave it at that. What the heck does that mean?

The Center For Disease Control (CDC) says that over

a lifetime your risk of colorectal cancer, the focus of the WHO research, is under 5%. Two slices of bacon will up the odds to less than 6% not 23% (5% + 18%) as some math challenged reporters have told us.

Heck, according to CDC data, the incidence of colorectal cancer is significantly higher in Pennsylvania than in Maryland. Should we conclude Maryland is bad for your health and evacuate everyone?

As bad as it is, colorectal cancer is rarely fatal. So why scare the public and give people the false impression that a hot dog is as dangerous as plutonium? If the WHO wants to be informative and influence behavior, start by producing meaningful statistics and release the info in a meaningful way because surely scientists aren’t so dumb that they don’t know that the media will misinterpret if they have a chance to.

Then there is the problem of their batting average. You’ver heard people scoff and say “everything is carcinogenic”?

Well that’s pretty close to true if you ask WHO. Since 1971 they have evaluated more than 900 potential carcinogens and determined that only one, a chemical used in making nylon, is “probably not” carcinogenic.

In an article in the New York Times, Amy Elmaleh, director of Colon Cancer Canada, an advocacy group said there’s a “conversation to have about screening, which is a huge opportunity to prevent colon cancer.”

The limitations of observational studies The panel based its conclusion by studying existing studies, a practice called meta-analysis. Many media reports claimed they looked at 800 studies, but that’s not exactly true. They started with 800 and eliminated all but 15 red meat studies and 18 processed meat studies.

Continued on page 19

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The studies they studied were all what is called epidemiological orobservational studies. These studies are done by asking people to keep a food diary and a medical diary and then the scientists come along and study everything in the diaries to see if they can find correlations between how much bacon they ate and how many got colorectal cancer. But correlation is not causation. The causes of their cancers could have been many other things, called confounders. Perhaps the real cause was that these people were not eating enough vegetables with cancer inhibitors or any number of other variables. Or that people who eat a lot of hot dogs are doing or eating other things that are high risk. Or that people who avoid them are also exercising more. The scientists claim they took into account such confounders but it is also well known that people are really bad about keeping accurate food diaries. They forget to write it all down, especially if they are asked to keep diaries over many years. And they fib. Two donuts becomes one because they feel guilty and they don’t want their spouse to read the diary and give them grief.

Consumers, governments, and doctors should take epidemiological studies with a grain of salty pastrami, they are the lowest form of research. The gold standard for science is a focused study with minimal variables and a control group, perhaps one comparing vegetarians to omnivores over several decades.

The problem is, as my wife, an FDA food safety scientist told me, “You can’t put humans in a rat cage.”

This restriction means that almost all nutrition and dietary research is crude.

It is nowhere nearly as reliable as, say, physics, chemistry, agricultural, and other sciences where lab research can provide definitive answers. As a result, dietary recommendations are a moving target. Remember when butter was bad and margarine good? When we thought that the fat we ate ended up lining our arteries? When eggs were evil? All three of these shibboleths have been trashed in the past few years.

The red meat conclusion is not supported in their own report My biggest complaint is the pronouncements about “red” meats. The report states that only 7 of the 15 “quality” studies they included found a correlation between red meat and cancer. That means that a majority of the studies found no correlation. So they concluded “no clear association was seen in several of the high quality studies.” They also stated “there is limited evidence in human beings for the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat.” The report also says “Red meat does have nutritional value too and is a major source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12.”

So how did they get from there to the conclusion that red meats are “probably carcinogenic to humans” and how did they assign the increased risk to 17% based on such sketchy evidence? And why have they included this data in with the processed meat data?

How can they lump beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, or goat meat? The chemistry of beef and pork are pretty different. Just taste them or look at their colors. The iron part of hemoglobin, called the heme, gives it the dark purple pigment and is the subject of suspicion in some other studies. There is more heme in darker meats. So why paint veal or pork with taint? Why endanger people’s livelihoods with such sketchy evidence. If a crime is committed, police don’t just arrest everyone in sight, they find the criminal.

They mention that high temperature cooking has been shown to be a possible cause of carcinogens. So maybe the risk isn’t the meat, maybe it isn’t the heme, maybe its how some people cook it. If so, how dare they blame the meat?

Ironically, the meeting was held in Lyon, France, one of the great food cities of Continued on page 20 meatbusiness.ca

November/December 2015 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 19

the world and home to the culinary icon Paul Bocuse. A lunch at his restaurant might have caused someone to ask some impertinent questions. Maybe some of them did and they were among the dissenters.

Lousy WHO reporting = lousy media reporting = food scare All the blame for a story poorly told should not go to WHO. Reporters have taken the opportunity to sensationalize the story. This is because so few media outlets can afford to employ science reporters capable of analyzing this sort of study nowadays, and partially because we consumers are so good at biting clickbait. No less a credible source than TIME magazine blamed nitrates and nitrites in precessed meats when other previous studies, even studies by WHO, have absolved them of guilt pointing out that we get 95% of our nitrates and nitrites from vegetables.

Sadly, in today’s evolving world of journalism, we are subjected to a steady bombardment of poorly reported news, facts, myths, research, and pseudo research. A direct result is that people are afraid of their food. Some of our silly diet regimens go beyond goofy to downright dangerous. Food anxiety will probably kill you faster that anything you can eat.

So before you become a vegetarian, think about this: Far more food-borne illnesses from bacteria, viruses, and parasites are caused by raw produce (46%) than by meat (22%), dairy and eggs (20%), and fish and shellfish (6%),according to the Center For Disease Control. That’s because anything raw is high risk. Lettuce and spinach in the fields are exposed to contamination from birds, bunnies, Bambi, and farm workers. CDC estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. So about 1 in 12 get sick from produce each year.

And remember, by far the most dangerous thing we do is get behind the wheel of our cars.

I have pointed this out before in a more detailed discussion of food and health, but it bears repeating: If you live to 79, the average life US expectancy, you will eat 86,505 meals.

It is doubtful that a few bologna sandwiches, an occasional hot dog, or even a few bags of Cheetos will dent that. If you ate one hot dog a week for your entire life, that would be

20 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS November/December 2015

4,108 hot dogs out of 86,505 meals. By the way, in Spain, where their cured meats are treasured, life expectancy is 82 years.

Every good dietician will tell you that Mom was right. Eat a balanced diet and don’t overdo anything, and I might add, that means anything, from sausages to salads.

A wellknown meat industry writer said, “Perhaps we should just stick a hyperbolic, one-size-fits-all label on all consumables that says, ‘Warning, the Surgeon General and the WHO have determined that everything you consume in excess is harmful to your health and will eventually kill you.

No matter what you consume in excess, in the end, you will not survive it.’”

The sad part is that the WHO has damaged its reputation.

They had a great opportunity to educate and communicate and expand their influence. Instead they went for sensational headlines. Reading news coverage online is almost uniform: People are unimpressed. They knew they shouldn’t eat too much processed meat, red meat, candy, lettuce, whatever. And most are not about to swear off their bacon and beef. The ones who are most alarmed seem to be the ones who have already given up gluten, soy, sugar, fat, and fun.

As I have said before: We all want a long, healthy life, but life should not be an ascetic journey of denial of pleasure so that we can arrive at the end with a perfect body. I plan to watch my diet and take everything in sensible proportion, but deny myself no opportunity for great pleasure because of some research paper that will be invalidated in a few years. As Dr. David Katz, the founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center has said “The cold hard truth is that the only way to eat well is to eat well.”

I plan to arrive at the pearly gates with a bottle of wine in one hand and a rib bone in the other, laughing and regaling anyone within earshot with tales of how great my life was.

See you there!

Meathead Goldwyn is the BBQ Whisperer and Hedonism Evangelist behind AmazingRibs.com, the world’s most popular BBQ & grilling website. His book, “Meathead, The Science of Great BBQ & Grilling” will be published May 10 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Visit www. amazingribs.com

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GIVE THE GIFT OF LASTING LEGACY Searching for a meaningful gift for that special cattle person who has everything? Why not make a donation to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation in their name and give an enduring gift that helps to preserve and protect the very lifestyle they love?

Officially launched in 2015, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation supports the sustainable advancement and legacy of the Canadian beef industry. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation was established by industry leaders passionate about preserving the sustainable legacy of Canadian beef.

They recognized that increasing competitive pressures, particularly for agricultural land, is making the time-honoured profession of beef production an unattainable career option for many young producers and with that comes the erosion of the benefits to the broader society the beef industry supports, like environmental stewardship and conservation. The beef industry plays a vital role in preserving the environment, biodiversity and wildlife habitat on working agricultural landscapes. With this in mind, industry leaders set in motion a plan to protect this invaluable grasslands resource and the role of producers as conscientious stewards in legacy preservation.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation has three main focus areas: • To create and/or support education, leadership development and outreach programs to serve youth involved with beef cattle; • To facilitate and encourage stewardship practices and conservation activities that preserve and/or enhance the environment, biodiversity and wildlife habitat on working landscapes; • To support beef industry sustainability through research and awareness.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation is a registered charity and eligible donations of $25 or more qualify for an official charitable tax receipt. Donations made as a gift in this manner will receive a special printed certificate acknowledging their gift.

Donations can be made by contacting the Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation.

For more information, visit www. canadiancattlemensfoundation.ca or contact Jill Harvie at 403-275-8558 or harviej@cattle.ca.

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WINTER MARKETING TIPS FOR THE MEAT DEPARTMENT A MEATY TRIO RECUPERATE, MAINTAIN AND COMFORT

By Ronnie P. Cons

As the winter season approaches it is important that managers of grocery meat departments ask themselves if there are any winter seasonal marketing tips that can be implemented by them in order to drive higher sales of their meat and poultry products?

As outlined in the first two articles in this series proposing seasonal marketing tips for the spring and fall seasons, the first step is to identify the macro events and the child and parent attitudinal profiles that include what has occurred in the months transitioning to the winter season and what has actually surfaced during this season, both of which create a particular set of needs and thus opportunities that can be addressed by the meat department.

In brief, the last three months of the fall season that transitioned to the winter season were characterized by: A busy school schedule for youths made of early mornings; stressful late nights studying for exams; mild to moderate sleep deprivation and all too often, over consumption of non-nutritional processed fast foods and sodas (and energy drinks) to give the youths a quick energy boost so 22 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS November/December 2015

s/he can continue studying.

The younger kids also usually consume less milk and more soda and processed foods at school than their parents’ desire. As well, parents usually find that kids are too busy or distracted by homework or sports events and activities to eat the well balanced meals they provided for supper.

In addition the busy schedule of team sports and parents events often leads to quickly prepared suppers that often lack in nutritional benefits.

Most parents are aware of this trade off and consequently have pangs of guilt over the reality that their kids are not getting the essential nutrients their bodies require and maybe becoming nutritionally deficient.

Meanwhile, the winter season is characterized by:

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A transition from the chilly fall season to a cold three month winter season with diminished sunlight that most kids and youth would prefer to skip and go straight back to spring!

The long nights often lead to diminished moods and a desire for extra comfort foods like chocolate.

A welcomed winter vacation break where the parents know the kids will now get a chance to “catch up” on their sleep and generally nutritionally recuperate and re-energize from the first few months of school with the intense studying for exams. This winter break often occurs at home due to the high cost of travel.

A possible winter vacation trip with the family to an out of country destination, or, as the dollar is weaker, to a local destination like a ski resort.

From the above description we can propose that the meat department communicate the below messages to their parental clientele which clearly displays to them the message they have the products to satisfy their above mentioned needs and concerns. As such, they should communicate by word of mouth and by some nicely designed posters that indicate: Meat and poultry are great sources of Iron, vitamin B-12, protein and Zinc, and that children may be deficient in these due to poor eating habits during the last three months of school.

and many other vital functions. As such it will help in the recuperation of the child’s health from the last three months of school as well as help maintain their health in the coming winter months.

Meat and poultry are low in sugar which will help maintain their blood sugar on an even level which is ideal.

Meat supplies Vitamin B12 which essential for production of red blood cells and for brain function.

Meat is a great source of iron which is essential for red blood cell formation, a functioning immune system and cell growth. Low iron levels can lead to anaemia which can lead to serious learning problems.

By promoting the above messages that clearly communicate to parents that purchasing meat and poultry will help them satisfy their above desires to help their children recuperate and also maintain their health as well as to comfort them with a nice family meal, the meat department should see a nice boost in the sale of meat and poultry during this coming winter season.

Ronnie P. Cons is the EVP of C&C Packing, a leading Canadian distributor of meat and poultry. He can be contacted at Rcons@CCpacking.com.

Visit www.ccpacking.com

They should therefore stock up on meat and poultry for the winter break season as that is an ideal time to help their children rebuild their energy and nutritional stores that they may be deficient in.

Meat and poultry are great comfort foods to comfort their kids during the long winter nights that lie ahead. Nice hot meaty meals like hamburgers and steaks will do the trick to boost their children’s moods.

A nice meaty meal will get the kids around the table which may not have been happening often recently due to homework and activities.

They should stock up on ready to eat meats (cold cuts, etc.) for their local vacation trip as its ideal for a quick yummy and nutritious sandwich in the car, hotel room or at other outdoor excursions.

Serving meat and poultry to their children during the winter season will help maximize their success in school. As such, they should remind the parents what we mentioned in the previous article including: Canada’s food guide recommends portions of meat and alternatives each day for their children ranging from 1 to 3 portions depending on the age of the child.

Meat and poultry is a good source of protein which is very important for the child’s health as it is needed for proper growth for the skin, for muscle repair and regeneration meatbusiness.ca

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SMALL BUSINESS TO THE TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT: HERE’S WHAT WE CAN AGREE ON

By Dan Kelly, President, Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)

After a long, roller-coaster ride of an election campaign, a majority Liberal government took the reins of power on November 4, 2015.

First, a sincere tip of the hat goes to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his party for their convincing election victory and to the Hon. Lawrence MacAulay who was appointed the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. We are excited to meet with the new government to outline our 109,000 members’ top priorities, including 7,200 agri-business owners, and to share with them the perspectives of Canada’s small business owners.

For over 44 years, CFIB has been a non-partisan organization working with federal and provincial governments of every political stripe on issues affecting small business. We’ve scored victories and had big fights with almost every government in our history. We are committed to working cooperatively with the Trudeau government on priorities we share and are equally committed to pushing back forcefully if the government makes changes that create roadblocks to growth and job creation for small firms. An early review of the government’s agenda suggests we should expect some in both columns.

During the campaign, I was very proud that all of the main national parties, including the Liberals, pledged to reduce the small business corporate tax rate from 11 to nine per cent by 2019. During the campaign, Prime Minister Trudeau made some comments about the small business tax rate, telling Peter Mansbridge, “...a large percentage of small businesses are actually just ways for wealthier Canadians to save on their taxes.” If his government is simply seeking to ensure that only legitimate small business owners are benefiting from the small business deduction, we will take no issue with that. However, if there is any consideration of reducing access to the small business rate for professionals

(e.g., doctors, dentists) or to cut out any small firm with three or fewer employees (as is happening in Quebec), CFIB will jump into action.

Another positive plank in the Liberal platform was a plan to waive EI premiums for new jobs for young people between the ages of 18-24 for the next three years. This is a welcome sign that the new government appreciates the relationship between excessive payroll taxes and job creation, and is an encouraging sign for young workers, many of whom get their first work experience in a small business.

The Liberals also promised to maintain the Canada Job Grant while bringing back federal-provincial Labour Market Development Agreements. According to the Liberal platform, this will provide the provinces and territories with half a billion dollars per year in skills training. As the shortage of labour continues to affect many small firms, we look forward to working with the government on these commitments.

Liberal MP Emmanuel Dubourg’s Bill C-691 proposed changing the Income Tax Act to ease the tax burden on business owners seeking to pass their business on to their children or grandchildren (currently, it is less costly for business owners to transfer their business to a third-party than to their own family members). I was pleased to join Mr. Dubourg when he proposed this bill and hope it will be an early measure on the new government’s agenda.

We also expect some common ground with the new government on our proposal to replace the Temporary Foreign Worker Program with greater access to the permanent immigration system for employers seeking Continued on page 26

24 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS November/December 2015

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November/December 2015 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS 25

employees from overseas with technical or more junior skill sets.

CPP will likely be our biggest early battle with the new government. Based on Prime Minister Trudeau’s comments about supporting the general direction of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, my expectation is the feds may look for a 40 per cent increase in CPP benefits. Our members are deeply concerned about the huge new costs this would add to their payrolls, and the effect it would have on hiring plans.

Until the economy is back on solid ground, we feel expansion of public pension plans of any kind should be off the table. CFIB will raise our concerns on payroll taxes and provide realistic alternatives to the new government.

On deficits, the government has already signaled its plans to run them for the next three years. After all the hard work to finally get us out of deficit spending, we hope this will be a short-term bypass to living within our means.

I really look forward to building relationships with the new government, the new cabinet and their political staff, and

senior officials. We are prepared to stand at any podium with the Prime Minister or any minister to commend good public policy for small business. But we are also prepared to push back whenever needed to battle ideas that would harm independent businesses and their ability to create jobs. The road ahead promises exciting times for the country, and CFIB will be at the table, ensuring that small business continues to be a key brick in the building of our nation.

Dan Kelly is President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). Follow Dan on Twitter @CFIB and learn more about CFIB at www.cfib.ca.

Established in 1971, CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses. CFIB takes direction from more than 109,000 members (including 7,200 agri-business owners) in every sector nationwide, giving independent business a strong and influential voice at all levels of government and helping to grow the economy.

MEAT PRICE INFLATION TO SLOW The prices of live cattle and hogs have dropped sharply this fall from their peaks earlier in the year, meaning cheaper meat may be on its way to supermarkets next year.

After this summer’s expensive barbecue season, cattle prices are under pressure because of a strong U.S. dollar and consumers who have changed their eating habits.

“Demand for beef has moved down in the U.S. because of very high retail prices,” said Patricia Mohr, a commodities analyst at Scotiabank. She says consumers are choosing cheaper poultry and pork products in response to the high price of beef.

In recent U.S. trading, feeder cattle are down more than 24 per cent and hogs are down 27 per cent on the year.

Canadian cattle prices also are off their spring highs.

“The price in Canada is influenced by the price in the U.S.,” Mohr said. The high prices in late 2014 and earlier this year were a result of tighter supply, she said.

But this fall, the U.S. has been exporting less beef because the strong dollar is making it too expensive for most of the world. That has increased the supply in the U.S. and brought down prices, she said.

The drop in the price of beef has been slow to reach the supermarket shelf, while pork and poultry prices are dropping in the U.S. because of increased supply which is having an impact on consumer buying habits.

had risen 9.5 per cent in the past year.

But whether your grocer will pass on the cheaper prices they pay for meat to the consumer is another question, according to food marketing expert Sylvain Charlebois of the University of Guelph.

“You might see some sales, but the supermarket chains are wary of getting caught in another price war,” he said.

He believes meat price inflation will stall, but prices may not drop in real terms. “Bringing prices down and moving them up again is much more difficult than keeping them at a certain level,” Charlebois said.

Canadian producers have had a banner year because of high beef prices but that may be coming to an end.

Country of origin labelling laws in the U.S. that demand meat-packers outline where cattle are born, raised and slaughtered have increased the cost of handling Canadian cattle in the U.S. Those laws have been overturned by the World Trade Organization, but the U.S. still maintains them.

Canadian producers primarily send live cattle into the U.S. markets to be fattened in feedlots. Mohr said despite the labelling laws, exports of Canadian cattle to the U.S. remain strong.

Producers this year are benefiting from a low Canadian dollar and feed and energy prices that have dropped substantially.

Feed grains are often the highest cost to cattle producers.

Statistics Canada figures for October of this year show the price of fresh and frozen meat, excluding poultry, in Canada 26 CANADIAN MEAT BUSINESS November/December 2015

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