Last week’s ruling by a US District Court Judge (Montana) to grant a preliminary injunction preventing the implementation of the US minimal-risk rule that would have allowed a resumption of US imports of live cattle from Canada is fuelling the impetus to increase cattle slaughter capacity and expand beef processing in Canada. With access to the US market continuing to remain shut for up to 1.5 million head of cattle annually, the Canadian cattle industry and the Canadian and federal governments have turned their focus from BSE producer-aid packages to investments in the cattle processing industry that will certainly transfer some of the advantage of the North American beef value-chain to Canada.

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