041162 Quebec Beef Producers Dig in their Heels

Montreal, Canada - Quebec beef producers are responding to mad cow disease by no longer selling their meat to slaughterhouses below a minimum price as of Nov. 29. The producers described themselves yesterday as victims of the U.S. decision to close the border to live Canadian cattle after the discovery of the disease in one Alberta cow in May 2003.

Eighteen months later, they say they are in debt and that government programs are not enough to compensate for all their losses.

Hoping to improve their financial situation, the beef producers are going to demand payment of 42 cents a pound for the cows they sell to Quebec's biggest slaughterhouse, which has a virtual monopoly in the province.

Currently, they are getting between 15 and 20 cents a pound. The Union des producteurs agricoles, which represents the producers, said it hopes consumers won't have to pay more for ground beef and that the slaughterhouse will agree to smaller profits.

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