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It’s about time!

“Open the gates and let ’em in boys!”

Any Leroy Van Dyke fan should recognize the opening line of his Auctioneer Song. Late last Thursday, a three judge panel representing the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a unanimous decision stayed the preliminary injunction order closing the U.S./Canadian border, reversing Judge Richard Cebull’s earlier ruling. It’s about time.

In overturning the Montana judge, the appeals court set in motion USDA’s action to immediately reopen the border to live cattle imports of animals less than 30 months old. In the words of National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Jim McAdams, “The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is pleased that the 9th Circuit Court agreed with the science: beef is safe from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). U.S. Cattlemen are best served when international trade is based on science and we expect our trading partners to follow the science that BSE does not pose a public health or food safety risk.”

So maybe your twin sister isn’t so ugly after all. It’s too bad it took over 2 years to figure that out. The American Meat Institute estimates more than 8,000 processing industry jobs have been lost since the border closed over a year ago. Canadian processors were handling about 66,000 head per week prior to the border closing; they are now handling 88,000 and will expand to 94,000 head in the near future. By closing our borders more than 2 years ago to our North American neighbors, we forced them to grow their processing industry and set them up to compete with us in the world market.

On Monday, the first live Canadian cattle crossed into the U.S. since BSE was diagnosed in Canada in May 2003. Dennis Laycraft with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said the first shipment was kind of a trial run, “I’m told this group was about 35 head and they were typically a load to go down and just find out how the procedure works.” Laycraft says they’re dealing with new certification and notification requirements, “all those things were sort of tested.”
Laycraft said “There aren’t a lot of cattle sitting, waiting; in fact numbers are a little tight right now.” He says part of that will be dependant upon how much U.S. processors are ready to pay, “We’ve seen a very dramatic increase in our processing capacity up here and it’s going to take some pretty strong, competitive bidding to pull those cattle away.”

U.S. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns said, “This is great news for the future of the U.S. beef industry, specifically the many ranchers, feeders, and processing plants that have been struggling to make ends meet due to the closed border. It also bolsters our position with other international trading partners by following the very advice we have given them to base trade decisions on sound science.”

A hearing into R-CALF’s request for a permanent injunction against Canadian live cattle and beef must still be heard in U.S. District Court, Montana Division on July 27.

“We look forward to the correct decisions being made in any future court actions,” said Stan Eby, President of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “We will continue working to ensure that adequate slaughter capacity is maintained in Canada to make us less vulnerable to border disruptions. However we all benefit from a North American marketplace that is permitted to operate according to marketplace signals.”