COOL rules spooking U.S. producers

A little-noticed news item out of Canada tells a poignant story about the impact of the pending Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) of red meat and other ag products. Because Congress cannot agree on a new farm bill that might clarify or modify the rules, the U.S. Department of Agriculture bureaucrats are pledging to have rules in place by the September, 2008 deadline. Career civil servants doing the job, beyond the reach of Congress or farmers, scare most people to death.

It seems that hog weanlings are being killed in Canada, because U.S. producers who have contracted for 25,000 head per month are refusing to take them until they know the COOL rules as to whether they have to be labeled U.S. or Canadian. That's one big, confusing area of concern. The baby pigs certainly were born in Canada, but they are to be raised in the U.S. to slaughter age and slaughtered there. Is it U.S. pork or must it be called Canadian pork?

This is only one of dozens of unanswered questions, but is already having big economic consequences for both U.S. and Canadian producers.

There is a real glut of pork in the U.S. right now, which probably also weighs into the decision not to take in Canadian baby pigs. Producers on both sides of the border are hard-pressed by high grain prices and pork surpluses that are driving prices down while costs are going up. This economic vice concerns everyone.

In difficult economic times like the present, the uncertainty of no U.S. farm bill and the unknown COOL rules are making a bad situation much worse. Agriculture is a very low priority in the overall scheme of things in Washington, and yet Congress needs badly to pay it some attention.

Not wanting to turn blue, I won't hold my breath waiting.