The demand for beef in Canada remains strong because I think people in America, in North America, know that we have a very strong food safety system and that our food is safe to eat.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
We remain very confident in the safety of U.S. beef.
I think it's a little early to tell what the economic impact will be. This year our cattle prices have been particularly high. The demand for beef has remained strong in this country, even though there was the single find in Canada earlier this year.
America is essentially an entrepreneurial culture: the sizzle is the steak, because, after all, if you buy the sizzle, the steak comes with it. Canada's, in contrast, is a primary-producing culture: we'll buy the steak and hope to get a little sizzle with it. But we know we can't eat sizzle.
Canada is like an old cow. The West feeds it. Ontario and Quebec milk it. And you can well imagine what it's doing in the Maritimes.
I have a fond appreciation for the Canadian culture and the Canadian food scene in general.
The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined.
We associate the North Atlantic with cod. The motto of Newfoundland used to be 'In cod we trust.' It was a joke, but it was essentially true. But there is no cod anymore. And that's extraordinary. It's all because of either greed or politics - Canadian politics.
U.S. agricultural products, including safe, high-quality Montana beef, face unscientific trade restrictions in many important markets.
People love steak all over the United States.
Now is not the time to open the border to receive Canadian beef down to the United States.