Although the beef sector in Manitoba is currently enjoying high prices for cattle and calves, producers are still experiencing challenges after drought conditions this season that affected, in particular, the Interlake, a continuing decline in herd numbers across Canada and the overall uncertainty of future trading relationships with the United States.
Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) general manager Carson Callum said Canadian beef is covered under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA), but the sector took a “multi-million-dollar hit” in April when confusion over U.S. president Donald Trump’s “tariffs on everything” resulted in a day and a half or so of tariffs on Canadian beef.
“Our Canadian beef industry is extremely integrated with the U.S.. There is a lot of live cattle and products that go back and forth across the border. So any sort of trade barriers that are put on — whether that’s tariffs or non-tariff trade barriers — will be detrimental to our sector,” said Callum. “We export about 50 per cent of what we produce in the cattle industry, and about 79 per cent of that goes to the U.S.. That’s huge and it’s really important for both sides of the border. The U.S. also relies on Canadian cattle. It’s really important that we maintain an open and free trade market with the U.S.”
Callum said MBP’s message to parliamentarians and others involved in trade negotiations with the U.S. administration is to preserve that open market system between the two countries.
And with regard to trade negotiations with the United Kingdom and Europe, Callum said Canadian beef producers have seen some non-tariff trade barriers that have “made it more difficult for us to access that market.”
MBP is encouraging the federal government and its European trade negotiators “to see if they can make [European] markets more accessible to Canadian beef,” said Callum. “We’re not quite there yet. It’s more the non-tariff trade barriers that are a challenge.”
Non-trade barriers as far as Europe is concerned can include quotas, licensing requirements and technical standards, according to Export Development Canada, a federal Crown corporation that helps Canadian companies do business. The European Union is Canada’s second-largest trading partner. Europe has about 511 million people and is a stable trading partner for Canada. Canada has four free trade agreements with Europe: one with the European Union (CETA), the United Kingdom (TCA), the European Free Trade Association (CEFTA) and with Ukraine (CUFTA). There are opportunities in Europe for sectors such as agriculture, energy, finance and technology.
On the Manitoba drought front, Callum said MBP appreciates the provincial government having frozen the rent on Crown land leases as that will help many producers who’ve experienced shortages of feed as the drought continued over much of this season.
“This is the third or fourth consecutive year that the province has [frozen rent]. As to the drought, we’ve seen conditions improve a bit as we got through August and September. But leading up to that, the conditions were quite dire, in particular in the Interlake and sporadically throughout the province. We were happy to see the rain come,” said Callum. “That being said, guys are still short of feed and are looking for alternatives. They’re also looking at water resource development. The province announced a few weeks ago that it will offer a cost-share program for new wells or dugouts. That’s a positive step. The province also encouraged grain farmers to convert written-off crops [due to drought] into feed for livestock.”
Although the drought has stressed many producers, Callum said the cattle industry is buoyed by the high prices for their cattle.
“Prices are quite phenomenal. And that’s been a long time coming because we’ve seen years and years of producers really struggling to be profitable. It’s great to see,” he said. “That being said, the other side of the coin is that when you have favourable prices, producers who are close to retirement see it as a good time to sell high and get out of the industry. Unfortunately, we are seeing that in the industry.”
On the other hand, Callum said high prices lead to optimism in the industry, especially among younger farmers looking to buy and grow their herds. That is good overall for the industry as both Canada and the U.S.’s cattle herds have been declining for a number of years while demand for beef by North American consumers remains strong.
Part of the MBP’s mandate is education. To that end it undertook a pilot project (2020-2023) to look at ways producers can prevent or mitigate predator attacks on cattle. Those measures included having donkeys (female donkeys preferably as they don’t tend to fight bulls) or guardian dogs integrated within a herd or hiring a trapper to catch predators.
“There’s no real silver bullet, for lack of a better word, when you’re dealing with predators. There is non-lethal mitigation that does work well. But sometimes when you’ve got a wolf pack that’s moved into an area, it can be a challenge. What we learned from the pilot project is that producers can and should be using mitigation measures for these losses. When you get a problem predator, the main answer is lethal removal,” said Callum. “We’re happy to see that the agriculture department has put more focus on funding for trapping and is working with the Manitoba Trappers Association to provide that expertise and support when needed.”
MBP held a meeting for District 10 producers in Arborg on Oct. 14, enabling producers to get an update on what’s going on in the industry, discuss topics of relevance to their operations, what MBP is working on in terms of advocacy and to mix and mingle with their peers. The event included guest speaker Cindy Jack, livestock and forage extension specialist from the Manitoba agriculture department and a free meal of beef on a bun.
MBP will be holding upcoming district meetings (even-numbered districts) in Grunthal, Crystal City, Neepawa, Swan River and other locations. And in November MBP is inviting producers across all districts to attend a virtual meeting on Nov. 4 starting at 7 p.m.
For more information, call the MBP office at 1-800-772-0458.
