SASKATOON – It’s been a tough ten years for the cattle industry on the back of the mad cow crisis but Saskatchewan farmers are optimistic about the future.
As producers get back on their feet, the industry still faces many challenges moving forward.
It was in 2003 that the industry was devastated as BSE slammed shut international boarders sending prices per head of cattle plummeting.
“Beef producers have been through a very hard ten years with BSE and they’re only now realizing some potential profit in their business so they’ve been through a long hard ride,” said CEO of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, Craig Douglas.
Second generation farmer Howard Toews runs a 1,000 head cow calf operation near Watrous and says he’s optimistic about the future but admits he sees some challenges.
“We see a lot of people because of their age that have moved out of the cow calf industry and I would like to see more young people come into the industry, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about that,” he said.
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Toews believes the future is bright and there is money to be made but he says one of the biggest problems is that it doesn’t come easy.
“There’s no doubt about it, it’s 12 months of the year and probably 16-17 hours a day,” said Toews.
“It takes a love for it, you have to really love something if you’re going to put that much effort and time into it,” he added.
“It’s highly capitalized, lots of investment lots of money involved in getting into the business and so not everybody has that opportunity but I believe and I see both around our board table and in the industry there are young people in the business and interested in getting into the business so I think it has a healthy future,” said Douglas.
Further to that, the industry is still fighting the mandatory country of origin labelling laws in the US.
Even with recent amendments it’s costing cattle producers more, between $90 and $100 per head of cattle.
“We’re pretty much in waiting mode, we’re hoping that right decisions are made to open up the North American market again and not be a detriment to Canadian producers because right now Canadian producers are paying the price because of that program and it’s hurting our producers,” said Douglas.
Although the industry is looking up, margins are still thin.
“There was some money to be made last year, netting out a margin of about $46.50 a cow, about 9 cents a pound so just under $50 a calf they made, so still a tight year when you think about it,” said Western Beef Development Centre Economist, Kathy Larson.
But as they look ahead industry leaders want to put the beef production back on the map, making sure people know where their meat comes from as well as promoting the ethical treatment of animals and the environmental benefits.
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