Dear Editor,

I like your recent post Letter From the Editor on Counting Cows.

Don’t forget Canada who is the USA’s largest trading partner in beef (reciprocal trading too) is also very capable of tracing back to original farms and the animals – we have the best technology in RFID tracability – albiet not easily accepted by Canadian cattlemen in the early days.

However, with disease managment and food safety outbreaks it is much easier to trace back to origins in the food chain.

Do we need to export – yes there is a demand from U.S. packers – so why is R-CALF so upset ? Canada imports U.S. animals when there is a shortage too of various age animals – packers here need to meet supply demands.

Thanks for the great insight – keep objectivity – it helps with all of us in the Food Safety Profession

— Toni (ASQ CHA), Cedar Creek Ranch, Black Diamond, Alberta Canada