Cattle producers gathered with some of their animals at the Legislature on Monday for a rally to ensure word of their plight remains in the national spotlight, after the province announced details of further assistance to producers on Friday.

While some of the new extended assistance program was welcomed, cattle producers said they don't want another loan to compound their debt, they need grant assistance, and above all, to have the U.S. border reopened to live cattle.

Thus over 200 producers gathered for the rally on the Legislature grounds in Regina on Monday, in order to let their federal officials in Ottawa know they still need federal help for their industry.

Donald Kaufmann, a long-time cattle producer in the Ceylon area, was one of those gathered at the Legislature, as he took 15 head of his cattle, plus some from a neighbour, to be a part of the rally.

In talking with fellow producers at the rally, Kaufmann said they all feel the same way, that cow-calf producers, and particularly those with culled cows to sell, have been left out in the cold with assistance programs, and money is needed this fall if producers are going to make it.

"Loans really aren't what producers want. A loan just gives us another debt that has to be paid back later. In the purebred industry, lots of us do culling in June, bulls especially, and they're still sitting there. These should be sold on the market," said Kaufmann. "We should've pushed harder for a grant and had less talk of a cash advance."

He noted he is 70 years old and has only seen such low prices for cattle once before, back many years when Saskatchewan last dealt with the foot-and-mouth disease. He said the 13-to-15-cents a pound being seen for some cattle now is comparable to the 10 cents he saw back then.

Of the rally itself, Kaufmann felt it accomplished its goal of getting awareness of their plight known, as provincial and national media carried coverage of the event.

"That's all we were trying to do, was raise awareness. In no way was it a protest. It was very quiet; I didn't hear any negative comments, and the cows behaved themselves, nobody got hurt," said Kaufmann, adding everybody he met at the rally was very cooperative, including grounds workers and police.

In the government program announced on Friday, there are two components to the assistance offered; one is a compensation program for slaughter cattle on feed, with a maximum payment to be capped at $250 a head, and the other will be loans to producers of backgrounder cattle, breed stock and beef calves.

The compensation program is intended for cattle sold for slaughter which were on feed at May 20, the day the U.S. closed the border to Canadian beef after one cow was found in Alberta with BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

For backgrounder cattle, loans will be in the amount of $200 per head, and are to be repaid when the animals are sold; for breed stock, the loans will be $80 per head and will be available as of Oct. 1, to be repaid within four years; and for calves, loans will be at $60 per head, to be paid back when the animals are sold. Assistance will also be available for producers of sheep, goats, bison and domestic game farm animals.

Provincial Agriculture Minister Clay Serby said the federal government needs to top up these programs with their contribution, and noted this crisis stems out of a trade issue that is in the federal government's jurisdiction.

Premier Lorne Calvert also took Saskatchewan's message to a meeting with U.S. governors, held Sept. 13-16 in Big Sky, Mont. He backed up a request along with Alberta Premier Ralph Klein for the governors to speak up on Canada's behalf, but the premiers apparently received a cool response at the meeting. The premier also sent on a petition circulated throughout the province asking for the border to be opened. The petition, sent to American ambassador Paul Cellucci, had a total of 30,431 signatures on it.

Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Brenda Bakken was at the rally, and agreed with Kaufmann that the purpose was to heighten awareness of consumers and the government of the ongoing crisis, "so they're aware that a partial opening of the border has not solved the problem."

She noted the public at large continues to be supportive of the industry by buying and eating more beef, but the awareness probably isn't there for eastern Canadians.

On the announcement of the BSE program, the MLA commented, "We were very happy to hear the province did finally come up with this program. We've been calling on them to do this since the federal government ended their program on Aug. 17. We certainly believe the federal government should be paying their share, as it is a trade issue."

Bakken noted producers will welcome any help offered, but the amount available per calf is not anywhere close to the amount of money producers need to make it through the winter.

The Liberal candidate for Weyburn-Big Muddy, and a local cow-calf producer, Janet Ledingham, said the program does not address producers who have culled cows that need to be slaughtered. She noted there are 800,000 cull cows slaughtered each year in Canada, and the industry cannot handle having that number of cows held over to next year.

"We have Ag ministers federally and provincially who would rather fight than do what they were elected to do. We need both governments working together to find and fund a solution," she said.

There are indications from the United States that the border could reopen soon to live cattle, but only to young cattle under 30 months. Ledingham said it's possible it could be years before the border reopens to cattle over 30 months of age, and getting a loan of $80 per head will not cover the costs that are incurred.

"The only thing that's really going to solve the problem is getting the border open," said Ceylon producer Keith Kaufman.

Some of the current calf prices aren't bad right now, he said, but the problem is what to do with culled cows.

"They're telling us to back off on culled cows. We usually cut about eight to 10 per cent of our herd, but now the market won't be able to handle it," said Kaufman.