A national aid program has been launched to provide temporary assistance to the cattle and beef industry affected when a case of mad cow disease prompted the U.S. and other countries to place an exporting ban on the product.

The aid package will have two components:

• Cattle farmers will be eligible for payment on stock owned as of May 20th, 2003 provided it was sold for slaughter in Canada. Payments will work on a sliding scale, where government support increases as the average price decreases. The average price will be determined by U.S. market value. Ruminants producers will also be eligible for compensation under the program with specific details to be announced in the near future
• Incentives will be put in place to encourage processors to sell or move surplus meat cuts that have been inventoried after May 20th. Normally 60 per cent of Canadian beef is marked for export. However, the border closings have created a growing surplus.

The funding, totaling $460 million, will be divided into three groups:

• $420 million for cattle producers whose cattle is slaughtered to fulfill the domestic market, and for other ruminants
• $30 million will be used to reduce product inventory that doesn’t apply to the domestic market
• $10 million will go to administering the program

The program is expected to run until the U.S. border is reopened, funds are exhausted, or the 900,000 cattle on feed as of May 20th have been slaughtered. Once the U.S. export ban has been lifted the program will be re-evaluated to see if it should continue.

Contact information is expected to be available early next week.

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