Province Takes Over Alberta's Cattle Industry

[per]

Lead or get out of the way. Minister Groeneveld doesn't seem to want to get out of the way. The ABP has had plenty of time to have their say but didn't seem that interested at least with the B5 group. You would think that those who spend time trying to influence the government on beef issues wouldn't use such raw emotional rhetoric. There are many parts to this initiative I am quite pleased about and others that I can see the necessity. As far as the age verification goes I am happy to give up my small premium to help create a thriving and viable industry. If all of this doesnt work then we can at least say we didn't roll over and go down without a fight. Our present path wasn't working exactly stellar. It is fairly obvious that we need to be more than a low cost commodity supplier if we can even achieve that goal anyway. We can all agree that we're capable of producing the quality beef that Europe needs. Lets start showing the world that we can do more than follow our next door neighbor.

[farmers_son]

I agree that we are capable of producing beef for Europe and the world. But the challenge for especially the cow calf producer was how to get paid for doing that. One way, and yes it was a new emerging market that was still in its fledgling stages, was to be paid for age verification. Producers now had a new product, information. That information was valuable and could bring in much needed extra money. And that information could have included other potentially valuable information products such as guarantees of hormone free and a host of other characteristics that would have value to an end consumer. Basically though it was information and we wanted to be paid for it and some were, especially us cow calf guys who fed out our calves but that would have expanded as the new market developed.

The province has said no, you cannot, you will not be paid for information. The packers are going to get that money, not producers. The government has said we will provide that information to the packers for free or we will not get any subsidy money this next January and if we do not give the packers that information for free going forward we will be fined and punished.

That information, age verification and other information that was just as potentially valuable, stood to be a genuine new revenue source for cow calf producers. Minister Groeneveld has taken that from us and gave it to the packers. You will be a bigger optimist than me if you think they are going to pass any of the resulting profits back to us.

The Province never wanted us to have that money for age verification and made darn sure the packers got it all. The information was worth tens of millions of dollars.

[rkaiser]

Come on farmers_son --- enough already. Should this new plan take 10 or 15% of our beef offshore, our price increase due to supply and demand will far offset the 25 or 30 bucks you were getting from the packers who were getting a lot more than that for your age verified cattle.

I said I was not going to get into it, but you are getting pretty pathetic with you whining farmers_son.

Have a great day everyone --- the future looks bright, and you don't need a pair of rose colored glasses to see it.

Could have tossed your 30 buck premium into our program --- still could --- or Bern Kotelko's and seen even more benefit by now batman....

[smcgrath76]

I don't see the US as the only market, or even the preferred one. I just don't see how making averyone do something is going to help open those markets. Producers can pursue a lot of these intiatives now (age verifying, retained ownership, premises registration, VBP). GG's announcement basically forces change on those who don't want to change. Not sure how selling age verified calves in a presort is any different than what happens now. As well, what do we do with cattle coming in from other provinces, or with producers who farm across provincial lines, or with people who really don't give a rat's A@#$ about value added production. I think if the government wants to support market development, then that's what they should do, not force the general marketplace to meet standards that don't provide the general marketplace with an enhanced return.
We are not a special operation by any means. We are often financially strapped, we are not neccesarily leading edge, and we have not done anything that "joe average" producer can't easily do. The fact the "joe" doesn't want to do this stuff is probably a sign. George had a comment about those not willing to do all the things required in the program need to figure out how to exit the industry. This really frosts me. Now they may have to do it, for a mere pittance. If you were in a least cost model selling commodity cattle (not beef) then not doing these things probalby made you more money. I am not saying that is right for the industry, but I am also not going to say it is wrong. These operations provide room around the edges for guys like me to operate.
I have asked a few questions to various economist contacts that I have and I will keep you posted as I recieve their commentary back.
We still have 3 local buyers. Cargill, Tyson, XL. If they wanted to really move things along they would have worked with other provinces to harmonize provincial meat inspection.

[smcgrath76]

Forgot to mention, just before you brand me as a heretic. I equally resent paying ABP, brand inspection and gas prices, just as I will resent paying for the continuing operation of the new $56 million oversight branch being set up.
You can bet ongoing funding won't be coming from the AB gov, but us.

[grassfarmer]

Sean, many of the comments here are based largely on the effect of this program on each individual's own operation, thats fair enough you have to consider that but the minister has a responsibility to advance the whole industry and to ensure that taxpayer money is invested wisely. I would suggest that the comment somebody made about him dragging the industry into the 21st century is apt. For too long we have been fed the BS about our age verification program being world leading whilst in reality it is a joke. Writing down the day your first calf was born and claiming that all 120 calves are thus "age verified" is a nonsense.
Proper age verification, and more importantly movement tracking are a basic requirement of beef production and exporting in many countries. If we want to be considered a world leader we must adopt these things even if it does mean dragging along some producers whose practices belong in the last century.
So instead of stealing the (crap and low value)information from producers and giving it to the packers for free as f_s suggests I think this can be looked on as raising the standard of all Canadian beef to new levels in terms of it's exportability and from that angle yes, it can be expected to open new markets.

[per]

That's it in a nutshell Grassfarmer. In the long run it is more desirable to find a niche in a strong industry and in a weak one. Rising to the top in a deep pool will be infinitely better than being at the top of a puddle that is fast evaporating.

[smcgrath76]

GF - I appreciate and tend to agree with some of what you are saying. I think mandatory age verification is a huge challenge as it effectively removes any premium for doing so, and costs every other province in Canada that sends cattle to AB to feed or slaughter. I disagree with your premise about age verification starting from first calving date. For example, we are a smaller operation than many but tagging and recording each calf at birth represents a huge cost to our operation. 100 calves at 15 minutes a calf, plus the associated danger is not worth it at all.
Did anyone also read the comments about reporting breeding, etc. This is a pretty broad based statement with potentially huge implications. Is it strictly breed composition of sires, or is it actual breeding of cows? I am not too worried about this as we are well down the DNA path in our own operation and can prove with certainty every calf born if we have to, but again, this could represent a potential huge cost to producers.
Time will tell what happens, but I think certain aspects of the program are anti personal responsibility and pursuit of markets. For example, I think the program that Randy is working on (Canada Gold) has merit, but does it require industry to have mandatory tracking, etc. or does it require the individual to get of their duff and pursue it?
I don't see much of this announcement affecting our operational aspects (unless they change age verification as you suggest). I do see it affecting my neighbours to a large degree. I also see it hugely affecting producers in other provinces. I can only guess what this will do to the interprovincial basis. My only quarrel is that I can't see where the extra money is going to come back to me or my neighbour.
I do agree wholeheartedly with GF and Randy that we need to pull our finger out and pursue some other markets and that the minister has to approach the whole of industry rather than the individual producer, but without investment in processors with a new mentality I can't see how the change can occur. Ask Rancher's beef how supportive the AB gov was of a new approach to processing.

[grassfarmer]

I'm not following you Sean, you have DNA'd your cow herd but at the moment don't know which cow produces which calf? Doesn't that make it hard to track progess?
One option for more extensive operations would be to use management tags and a note book - tag all your cows and then when you see a cow calved write down her number and the date. When you brand or process put on the ccia tags and a calf management tag numbered 1-100 for example. Let your calves back out with the cows and over the course of the summer you could match each calf to it's mother by observation and you could thus accurately age verify the calves plus you would be able to identify which cow reared which calf as a bonus.
For the majority of operations that calve in and around corrals it is a lot simpler. We calve out on the pasture and I tag, ring and weigh calves on a daily basis. Because we are running a proportion of purebreds we choose to do this but it works well for the commercials too. A simple old piece of junk metal that acts as a cage that lifts with the loader works for me. Keeps you safe and gets the job done on day one. Just don't leave it to day two or you can't catch the little @$%Y^#^s, LOL

[smcgrath76]

GF - i do know which calf is from which cow, but often do not know which day that cow calved, or can't read her tag I am not the norm. Can the guy with 1200 cows do the same thing?
Basically I am looking at an added cost of nearly $12.50 per calf to tag at birth, when calving start date accomplishes the same thing for all intents and purposes. I would prefer to spend that $12.50 on parentage verification and BVD PI testing among other things.
Further, I don't see where the extra money is going to come from in the marketplace. Can someone please explain this to me? I am open to ideas here?
Another challenge we face at home is that we have cattle out in other provinces. What does our lessee have to provide for me to meet the AB criteria when I bring the cattle home, and what do I have to pay them to achieve this? No one has yet answered the questions abour interprovincial trade.
I appreciate that tagging calves at birth is easier in a system where cows are corraled, but I don't see that as a reasonable option for many.
I think the issue is not related to logicstics of any individual operation, it is strictly this...
What will following all of these requirements cost?
Where is the return to primary producers going to come from and is it greater than the cost?
Personally, I think the comments about getting rid of the CWB are misleading. What the AB Gov really wants to do is role beef cattle into the CWB as a board crop.