ASSINIBOIA, Sask. - Canada has underestimated the influence of an American protectionist lobby group, concedes the president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

Stan Eby told the Saskatchewan Stock Growers’ Association’s annual convention that the Ranchers-Cattlemen’s Action Legal Fund-United Stockgrowers of America, better known as R-CALF, has had more success than many predicted.

The CCA holds its discussions with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which has publicly supported reopening the border between the two countries.

"Yes, we have underestimated R-CALF," Eby said.

"But basically we have to go with a national group ... R-CALF is not."

The R-CALF website claims a membership of 9,000 cattle producers in 46 states.

It successfully obtained a court injunction in late April that stopped the importation of Canadian bone-in meat. The group argued that the U.S. Department of Agriculture should have heard from the public before expanding the list of Canadian products it would accept.

Murray McGillivray of Radville said R-CALF should be taken seriously.

"Somebody’s heading R-CALF ... somebody’s financing it," he said.

While many, including the NCBA, have discounted the group as a radical anti-trade group, McGillivray said it has the ear of many legislators.

"They do have some clout."

He asked if the CCA was prepared to negotiate with R-CALF.

Eby said producers in Ontario, where he has his cattle operation, have been talking to R-CALF every week for the last two years, but added taking those talks to the national level would jeopardize CCA’s relationship with the NCBA.

Eby said officials on both sides of the border assure him that talks are continuing, but he declined to predict when the border might reopen.

"I’m optimistic that this is getting resolved," he said.

Producer.com