11/13/08 COOL heats up Canada

COOL went into effect and Canada heated up. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back right after this to explain. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) was implemented on October 1st and shortly there after Canadian beef and pork producers got a little hot under the collar. They claim numerous U.S. beef packing plants won't accept Canadian cattle or only process them on certain days. The U.S. law has only been in effect for one month and some Canadian feedlot owners are predicting a $500 million a year value loss of Canadian cattle. Possibly these feedlot owners need to give the program a little time to see how things level out. At any rate, Canadian producers are urging their government to start trade actions against the United States. There is even a Washington state feedlot owner who purchases and feeds Canadian cattle who is suing the U.S.D.A. to rewrite the beef labeling provision. First of all, as a producer myself I know the sinking feeling that comes when your product is losing value, and I don't wish that on any producer. I also know Canada had no problem sending beef products to the U.S. retailers marked "Product of Canada" and I also know the American beef industry dropped billions of dollars in lost export markets when a cow of Canadian origin was diagnosed in the U.S. with BSE. I believe COOL's future lies in the hands of the consumer  they will tell us what product and who's product they want in the coolers. I'm Jeff Keane.