The first federal program announced to help cattle producers deal with the older, cull cows from their herds has left some disappointed with the conditions under which the producers can get help.

The Cull Animal Program was announced by federal Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief on Friday, and Saskatchewan's Ag minister, Clay Serby, has indicated this province will be signing on to it.

The program is a 60-40 federal-provincial program which will pay producers a maximum of $320 per cow when their older animals are sold for slaughter. The federal government is providing $120 million of the funding, with the provinces to kick in the balance to bring the program's total up to $200 million.

The assistance comes in the wake of the U.S. border being closed since May to live Canadian cattle since one cow was found in Alberta to have BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) or so-called mad cow disease. The border partially reopened to allow boxed beef products, and there are indications the border will reopen to live cattle possibly by February, but only to cattle under 30 months of age.

According to the government announcement, the program will provide a payment of $159 per animal slaughtered between Sept. 1, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2004; plus a dollar a day from Dec. 16, 2003 up to the date of sale for slaughter or May 24, 2004, whichever is earlier, to help offset winter feed costs. The cattle have to be slaughtered by Dec. 31, 2004, to qualify.

"The thing I didn't like is you have to kill the cows first. If it doesn't drive down the price too much, it would be a good deal," said Fillmore cattle producer Tom Grieve, adding most producers he knows would have preferred an outright payment for their cull cows.

One of the problems producers have right now is older cows fetch very, very low prices, and this payment would hardly add to it. Grieve noted a recent sale he attended in Weyburn saw prices range from 2.5¢ to 24¢ a pound, with cull cows getting in the range of 8-12¢ a pound.

"If we could get the money directly into the producers' hands, it would be all right. I think the whole system is just slowing down. It sounds like a big thing when the government announces it, but by the time it gets down to the producer, there isn't much left anyway," said Grieve.

Tribune-area cattle producer Janet Ledingham said she was also getting in the range of 10 to 14¢ a pound for cull cows. To put it in perspective, one of her son Don's cows went for 10¢ a pound; it weighed 1,745 pounds, so the cow only brought in $174.50. The payment under this program, if the animal qualified, would be $159, which wouldn't even bring the total price up to 20¢ a pound.

In comparison, she sold cull cows in November of 2002, and these animals at that time earned a price of 50 to 64¢ a pound.

Young heifers with no calf are getting 39¢ a pound, when they should be garnering between 70¢ and a $1 a pound, and bred cows are getting 25-30¢ a pound.

Calves, on the other hand, are getting good prices right now, said both producers. Ledingham said she's gotten $725 for her calves, while Grieve said he was getting in the range of $600.

The problem that has caught up to Canada's beef industry is we simply don't have the capacity to slaughter the number of cows that need to be processed right now, said Grieve.

"The plant they're proposing for Qu'Appelle will be a tremendous asset to the industry," he added.

The BSE crisis hasn't had a negative effect on interest in the Agribition, which starts this week in Regina. Grieve has taken part in the annual show ever since it began, and this year he'll be taking 15 heifers up. While he was initially skeptical there would be interest, he noted the numbers for the commercial barn are already up by 40 per cent over last year.