The appearance of BSE in the Canadian beef herd brought immediate financial hardship to the industry due to the immediate closure of export outlets to Canadian beef, live animals and by-products. Nobody knew how long the border would stay closed and many worried that the Canadian beef industry...

A long history of producing mostly for the domestic market led to institutions and "ways of thinking" that left Canadian producers ill prepared for major exposure to the severe demands of the international market place. The industry expansion that started in earnest in the mid-1980s led by...