Expanding trade the focus of this year's meeting

This past year was easily the most difficult the Canadian cattle industry has seen in years, and that was reflected in the mood at this year’s Canadian Cattlemen’s Association semi-annual meeting.

CCA President, Brad Wildeman began the meeting with a report that focused mostly on the Canadian government’s inability to help the beef industry in the world of international trade.“What we want is to establish an International Trade Directorate for agriculture,” he said, adding that they have been working to get this developed and are utilizing the expertise of retired civil servants who have experience dealing in the area of international trade.

Executive Vice President, Dennis Laycraft, summarized the year from his perspective by criticizing the Canadian regulatory system for adding unnecessary costs that which in a high volume, low margin business, makes it difficult to stay competitive.

The Canadian packing industry is at a $34 per head disadvantage to the U.S., explaining why packers on this side of the border are operating below capacity.
Laycraft also said regulators are slowing down the development of new feed grain varieties and approvals for veterinary drugs that could make us even with U.S. counterparts or even one step ahead.

It has been five years since BSE closed our export borders and Canada still lacks normal beef trade with key markets such as South Korea. Everyone is frustrated by the fact that even though the Canadian industry has jumped through many hoops, including—increased disease surveillance, SRM feed ban and traceability—off-shore trade remains elusive.

How important is trade?

One way of explaining the value of trade is to see each animal as a sum of its parts. While the Canadian market provides a decent price for the prime meat cuts - short ribs, tongue, liver and other cuts don’t sell well here, but are popular overseas. Limited access to those markets reduces the cut-out value of Canadian cattle by $100 a head. Upping the value of the finished product is key to bringing profitability back to all sectors of the industry.

Complicating matters is the fact that the Canadian cattle industry can’t simply go into a country to sell beef. Agreements between the trading countries’ food safety organizations must be arranged beforehand. Since all countries are different to deal with, a concerted effort must be applied before there are results.

A combination of factors are slowing down progress. Politics between countries, lack of coordination between government departments, bureaucracy and a certain level of apathy means our beef industry is having difficulty striking outside of North America. As the world continues to move forward, Canada seems to be standing still.

The CCA is asking the government develop an International Trade Directorate that would have representation from agriculture, foreign trade and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency coordinating a focused effort to develop more foreign markets. Read more!

Broadening the experiences of tomorrow's producers

by Matthew Wright

There is a saying that the future lies in the hands of our youth. In the world of cattle production, the new generation starts by getting down and dirty feeding and raising cattle. But there’s another aspect of the industry seldom seen, because of lack of opportunity; that involve the broader issues occurring off the farm that affect every aspect of their business.

So it was with great fanfare that four Manitoba 4-H Beef Club members attended two days of the recent Canadian Cattlemen’s Association Semi-annual Convention held in Winnipeg in mid-August. It was an eye opening experience.

“I learned a lot about the cattle industry,” said 18 year-old Larissa Hamilton from Glenboro, Manitoba and a 4-H member for nine years. “It made me realize it takes a lot of people and time to get problems solved in the cattle industry.”

The quartet began their visit at the president’s reception on Tuesday night where they welcomed and met many guests, speakers and leaders in the agricultural industry including Manitoba Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Rosann Wowchuk, CCA president Brad Wildeman and MCPA president Martin Unrau.

On Wednesday the group attended a day long seminar where they heard from industry experts on everything from environmental planning to what the future holds for cattle producers.

“All of the guest speakers spoke about something different but they all related to the cattle industry. They were all very knowledgeable and confident about this industry, even though we all know that there are problems. I think it kept everyone confident about owning cattle,” Hamilton said.

The conference attendees were bussed to the Hitchin’ Post banquet hall near Grosse Isle that evening for an meal and entertainment that included a live auction. The 4-H members strutted their stuff, showcasing the many donated items auctioned off by John Lamport of Winnipeg Livestock. The proceeds from the evening were split evenly between the national 4-H Club and the Manitoba 4-H Beef Club. In total, $2,360 was raised that night.

The group also had the chance to hang out and get acquainted with one another.
“Also I made friends with the other 4-H’ers that were invited, we had lots of fun together, and learned more about the industry that we can take back to our clubs,” Hamilton said.

The other three 4-H members who attended the conference were Dillon Hunter, 15, from Kenton; Joe Lindal, 17, from Fisher Branch; and Matthew Riding, 18, from Lake Francis.
The members were sponsored through a joint partnership between the MCPA and the CCA that covered the member’s registration and accommodation costs.

Read more!