Report: Canada too dependent on cattle & beef sales to U.S.
Canada's dependence on cattle and beef sales to the United States leaves it at risk of becoming a net importer of beef from the U.S. as it buys back higher-value processed products, a report on the C$6-billion ($6.1 billion) industry said on Monday.
Reuters reports that Canada, the No. 5 beef exporter, ships 85 percent of its beef and cattle exports to the United States, racking up C$1.8 billion in 2011 sales. Much of those supplies, however, are backfilling the U.S. market, allowing the American beef industry to process more meat to take advantage of higher value and margins, said the report by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute.