ST. PAUL – The Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) made a stop in St. Paul on Jan. 13 to discuss the organization’s future and spur discussions about the cattle industry. St. Paul was ABP’s second stop of its 2023 Producer Meetings, with the first taking place in Bruce, Alta., the day prior.
ABP represents over 14,000 cattle producers across the province. Every year, the organization travels around the province to meet local producers and discuss updates about the organization, according to ABP Chair Melanie Wowk, who hails from Beauvallon, Alta.
Included in the meetings are various discussions related to the cattle industry, and the opportunity to talk about the future of ABP.
“We’re definitely looking at some changes at our commission, how it works, how it looks, and so we’re looking for producer input,” said Wowk. “It’s also a social event where producers get together, chat, and have a coffee and a doughnut.”
Brad Dubeau, general manager of Alberta Beef Producers, added that, “One of the main things that we engage in here is to give producers an update on what we’ve been working on the past year.” This includes ABP’s successes, current challenges in the industry, and "we tell them about things that we continue to work on.”
According to Dubeau, transparency is key for ABP to set up and accomplish its strategic objectives, which are based on input from producers.
“We do our best work when we know that producers have told us what we’re doing, so that we’re not guessing,” he said. “We need to know what producers are looking for out of the commission.”
Among the projects ABP is working on is one called ‘Living Labs’, which is a federally funded project that is part of Ottawa’s $54-million-dollar Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) - Living Labs program.
According to Dubeau, Living Labs is focused on the development of the best management practices within the province on farms and ranches.
Challenges
When asked about ABP’s biggest concerns, Wowk said young producers are facing challenges in business risk management, “because they carry the most risk.” Other concerns also include a shortage of livestock truckers, and cattle are not always able to get to where they need to be.
Wowk said the drought two years ago in the province is also still affecting many producers. Meanwhile, some parts of the province also experienced “very” dry conditions again last year.
Dubeau also added that “there seems to be a bit of a reduction in the mother cow herd as producers are struggling with several different factors affecting our industry in a negative way."
"So, all of this revolves around a healthy industry,” he said. “That healthy industry is made up of a strong cow-calf herd, giving us ample calves for backgrounding, feeding, and processing.”
Dubeau added, “Ultimately, we want our consumers to feel like they have a healthy, safe, edible, yummy product that is also environmentally sustainable.” He explained many issues in the industry intermingle and connect with each other, thus the importance of working together in searching for solutions.
Successes
When asked about ABP’s successes over the last year, Wowk mentioned the federal government’s plan to add saturated fat warning labels to ground meat.
Labeling ground beef in such a way vilifies an affordable, nutritious and versatile product, and burdens producers with another market barrier, said Wowk during a media conference held in the summer of 2022.
Wowk told Lakeland This Week during the recent producer’s meeting that “We managed to get [the government] to reconsider doing that.”
“One thing Health Canada and the Prime Minister’s office told our national organization was that obviously, ‘Canadians love their beef’,” said Wowk, while also thanking consumers for their support to stand behind ABP.
Wowk said there are many ongoing issues in the industry, like the increased cost of raising cattle, but ABP continues to work with producers to address issues, aiming to help young producers especially continue to grow in the industry.
"We have worked very, very hard to strengthen the tools from [ABP], helping our producers to understand better what we’re doing as an organization on their behalf,” said Dubeau.
This work includes improving traditional and modern tools to help the beef industry stay connected, like offering both digital and traditional paper formats when relaying information.
When speaking about the producer meetings being held across the province, Dubeau said, “We are really pleased to see that producers are coming out to the meetings." He explained that the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge for many producers, “because our producers do their best when we get together.”
The ABP will continue to visit communities and meet with local producers in January and February. For producers unable to attend the meetings, they are encouraged by ABP to attend a virtual meeting scheduled for Feb. 16.
After the St. Paul meeting ABP was scheduled to visit La Crete, Fairview, Ponoka County, Westlock, Brooks, Fort Macleod, and Olds.
