Pete and Nichi Bonter. Photo - Ginny-Lou Alexander
There is a large ranch that lies just off of Highway 24, near 100 Mile House in the interior of B.C. It's around 500 acres of land, including 70 acres of upland fields and 80 acres of meadow. Some of the land is leased out but most is used by Pete and Nichi Bonter, owners of O'Neil Creek Ranch. They run a Hereford-Angus cross cow/calf operation. In order to make ends meet, Pete takes off-ranch jobs: firefighting, logging truck driver, excavator operator. During the summer months, Nichi works part-time. Ginny-Lou Alexander interviewed the Bonters on their ranch.
Alexander: A BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease) cow was discovered in Alberta in May 2003. How has this affected your ranch?
Bonters: The beef industry is export driven. In 2002, 70% of product (beef and live cattle) was exported, and of that, 76% went to the U.S. In the beef industry, supply and demand is the rule and with the American border closing calf prices dropped dramatically.
Alexander: Did finding a second BSE cow on December 23, 2003, have any further ramifications for you?
Bonters: The same things happened all over again and set the process back seven months. A lot of ranchers couldn't see their way clear to keep going and they just filed for bankruptcy.
Alexander: There was widespread drought in many areas in B.C. during the past year. How has the lack of water impacted the ranchers?
Bonters: Due to the lack of water on the range, waterholes dried up completely, making it necessary for ranchers to haul water long distances and at high cost, out to the watering areas.
Some waterholes receded to the point of making it dangerous for animals to try to get to the water. There were many reports of ranchers pulling animals out of the mud. We had an animal get stuck in the mud. We pulled her out, got her back on her feet, and thought she was doing okay. A couple of days later, she was bloated. We dealt with the bloat but thought we should keep her where we could keep an eye on her. Not long after that, we found her lying by the barn, dead. Now we have her orphan calf to bottle feed.
Alexander: What other factors have made ranching difficult in the last year or two?
Bonters: The BSE crisis has, in and of itself, been hard to deal with. All the other complications seem like poor timing. Rising fuel costs are making it almost prohibitive to fertilize or drag equipment over fields that aren't likely to produce much again this year. We've been fertilizing, but are only applying half the amount we should be.
The government is bringing in new drinking water regulations, which will mean that all ground water will be regulated – more rules to live by and more dollars to be spent on permits.
Alexander: What control, if any, do the ranchers have over these various factors?
Bonters: There's almost nothing we can do except keep a positive attitude and fight depression amongst ourselves and others. We know that God is in control of the situation and of our lives. We have faith to say that even if the ranching industry fell apart completely, God isn't going to leave us lying flat. For example, we had a $15,000 hay bill last fall. Pete got an off-farm job fighting fire and earned almost enough to pay the whole bill, plus the money we got for the calves we shipped.
Alexander: What would help solve the problems ranchers face?
Bonters: The short-term remedy would be to get our export market back. For the long term, we need to broaden our base of export. We have to learn how to deal with [the problems] on our own by finding other countries to ship to. We need to develop facilities to process other kinds of beef. At present there are no large Canadian owned and operated facilities.
Alexander: Describe the effects that this crisis is having on individuals, relationships, families, and communities.
Bonters: In 99% of farm families, women juggle the finances. This has put tremendous pressure on them, and they have felt it more than the rest of the ranching community. We've heard of some families breaking up because of the strain on relationships. We have seen hopelessness and despair written on the faces of lots of our friends and neighbours. Depression, death, suicide and abuse are all on the increase as this crisis seems to be continuing. Personally, we've had a lot of support from our family, especially our kids. One thing in our favour, however, is that the majority of ranchers are strong natured. We just pull our hat down further and sit a little deeper in the saddle.
The Impact of BSE
The nitty gritty:
- As of March 2004, retail beef prices dropped 20 per cent due to BSE.
- On Dec. 1, 2004, Hong Kong announced it would immediately resume trade in Canadian beef. (In 2002, Canada exported 604 tonnes, valued at more than $2.8 million, to Hong Kong.)
- The cost of one mad cow to Canadian cattle producers is approximately $5 billion, according to a recent Bank of Montreal report. In 2002, beef and cattle exports were worth about $4 billion – 80 per cent of exports were to the U.S. The American ban on importing Canadian beef, however, has cost more than $2 billion in lost exports since spring 2003.
A show of support:
- In the wake of the BSE crisis, Canadian per capita consumption of beef rose five per cent – in 2003, each Canadian ate 14.2 kg of beef as compared to the year before when it was only 13.5 kg
- Canadians have eaten 26 per cent more home-grown beef than in 2002
- More than $402 million in provincial and federal funds was distributed to cattle producers in Alberta in BSE compensation programs. More than 22,000 producers received payments that averaged approximately $18,000.
- The Alberta government estimates that the BSE compensation payments "resulted in a $1.25 billion impact on Alberta's rural economy."
