Originally published on June 7, 2024 on Canadian Cattlemen
By Nathan Phinney
Spring 2024 has brought new hope and started off with better weather-related conditions than last year.
We are still working with the federal government on the Livestock Tax Deferral Program for producers. Our first step was to have them acknowledge the importance of the program and its effectiveness in providing relief for producers in the April budget. Now, it’s time to expedite and roll out the program, which is a crucial tool for producers in times of natural disasters such as drought or floods.
This is one risk management tool we can have as producers to help ease our minds in the coming months. We will keep everyone informed of our progress on this front. Also on the advocacy front, CCA has requested a change to the Income Tax Act to include all classes of cattle and to allow producers to self-elect when they need to use the deferral. As I explain below, the opportunity for Canadian beef is great. Our herd is limited to what weather allows for feed production. The improvements to the tax deferral program are about an improved time of turnaround in herd size as weather and other conditions allow.
Prices have been strong this spring and demand for our quality Canadian beef continues to grow at home and abroad. In April, CCA and Canada Beef representatives participated in a trade mission to South Korea where we learned that the demand for our beef is at an all-time high. We are working with our federal government to reduce Canadian tariff rates — which are currently 16 per cent — to match the U.S. tariff rates at eight per cent. This will level the playing field with our neighbours and open markets.
I was in Mexico in May to attend the Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas’ (CNOG) annual meeting, as well as trilateral meetings. Keeping the flow of healthy herds was the primary focus at these meetings and producers from all countries involved are on the same page when it comes to working together. It’s sometimes the regulators that impede progress, but we are committed to working with them to ensure our producers keep all market options open.
On behalf of CCA and producers, I signed a united statement with the National Cattlemen’s (NCBA) president Mark Eisele and CNOG president Sr. Homero García de la Llata. The signed statement is available on CCA’s website (opens as PDF). It outlines how we encourage our respective governments to continue working together to combat devastating foreign animal diseases, to promote sustainable global trade that encourages efficient production practices, and to ensure science-based food safety and marketing regulations of emerging food technologies such as lab-grown proteins.
We have a busy summer coming up with the Calgary Stampede, federal-provincial meetings in the Yukon and NCBA meetings in the U.S. Protecting our herds, expanding our markets and improving your bottom line are our goals in all CCA’s activities.
We have been working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to provide updates on the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in the U.S. and the border testing requirements they implemented at the end of April for lactating dairy cattle. At the time of writing this, there have been no beef cattle affected in the U.S. or Canada — but we all know how important biosecurity and safety measures are and our message to producers is to continue to be vigilant and to watch for signs and symptoms of the virus and practice preventative measures. CCA has biosecurity advice for producers on its website at cattle.ca.
On the environmental front, we want to congratulate our provincial participants in the Environmental Stewardship Awards. As we all know, beef cattle producers play a huge role in protecting and enhancing our environment.
Special congratulations to the Hyatt family at Circle H Farms from Devlin, Ontario, the Association of Manitoba Community Pastures, and John Duynisveld and his daughter Maria at Holdanca Farms in Nova Scotia.
We commend you and all other nominees for the work and effort you put into continuously striving to improve your existing stewardship practices, setting our industry up for a sustainable future. Other provincial winners will be announced soon with our national winner announced in August at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference.
On behalf of our CCA board and staff, we wish you a healthy, successful and smooth summer.