Why Farmers Like Those Hurtin' Songs

I think it's safe to say, that where BSE and a closed Americian border is concerned, the plight of the Canadian beef industry has over- shadowed the reality for dairy breeders. In these parts, where the the first Holsteins were imported, breeders continue to raise some of the best dairy animals in the world. Their customers, including a significant number of American dairy farmers who have relied for years on Canadian replacement heifers, have faced a real dilema.

This story suggests that dairy farmers, who have had few options but to buy additional quota, will now be relucant to get back into the export market.

"The beef guys got hit bad, (but) it wasn't nothing like the bath that we took," he said.

In the short term the dairy guys at least had a milk cheque coming in. In the long term the beef industry has made some changes that could protect them should there continue to be border restrictions. Supply managment makes those kinds of changes difficult for the dairy industry.

American dairymen have had to keep cows in production longer than they would have in the past. But time is fast running out for those old cows and they need that border open.

I hope the cow/calf guys in the western U.S realized what this is going to cost American farmers trying to make a living milking cows. A higher Canadian dollar and the cost of that additional quota suggests, at least to me, that when the trucks do start rolling across the border the price of replacement heifers is going to be pretty damn hard to swallow.

I could be wrong. But I think they're all going to be hurtin'.