Calves grazing -- LNN

By Dori Modney

Beef Industry

Study finds Alberta beef industry remains competitive

Jan 23, 2020 | 8:07 AM

CALGARY — An industry competitiveness study has found that Alberta beef producers continue to successfully compete with their American counterparts. However, there are some issues clouding the horizon

Rich Smith, Executive Director of Alberta Beef Producers (ABP), says the study was initiated by ABP and the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association.

“The two groups engaged Serecon Inc. with Kevin Grier Consulting, to look at the competitiveness of our industries, specifically compared to Nebraska, Kansas and Texas, our three main competitors.”

Key highlights from the report include:

• Beef cattle sales in Alberta amount to approximately $5.7 billion at the packing level and $5 billion at the farm level;
• Based on sales and Statistics Canada industry multipliers, the Alberta beef industry generates approximately $18 billion in total economic activity;
• The industry creates more than 57,000 jobs indirectly on farms and suppliers across Canada; and,
• Production and trade data shows Alberta’s industry was generally competitive over the past decade.

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

Local History

Oliver's Funeral Home - 109 years of Service

Sep 04, 2024

According to Smith, “We didn’t find any real surprises. Our industry is competitive and is capable of maintaining competitiveness – that is the good news, but there were some factors and trends they identified that could decrease our competitiveness.”

Going forward, Smith says there are factors and trends that have the potential to decrease competitiveness if they continue.

“Obviously, producers have to deal with the cost difference between grain, wheat and barley and corn in the United States, and then weather factors. But there are some regulatory burdens that we face in Canada. None of these regulatory factors are big in themselves but, put together, they can have an impact in a tight market and in business.”

“Some of the regulatory policies we’re seeing in municipalities, with respect to taxes and development plans,” says Smith, “and we’re seeing increased labour costs in Alberta, as a result of some of the labour legislation and wages.”

“Then there are the carbon levies we pay here in Canada and our competitors in the United States don’t – there’s higher costs at the packers as a result of our different BSE status and some of the transportation regulations could impact our producers as well.”

Smith concludes Alberta Producers are quite competitive. However, he says Canadian Cattle organizations will certainly be talking with their colleagues and their partners in the governments, to they keep tabs on regulatory burdens and ensure that regulations don’t affect their ability to remain competitive.

Smith expresses the concern that the number of cow/calf producers in the province is not increasing:

“Obviously our feeding and packing sectors require cattle and require calves and we haven’t seen growth in that area. I think there’s a number of factors — difficulty in getting access to land for grazing, so we need to ensure that producers have good access to private and public land in Alberta, in terms of being able to get adequate grazing – because that is concern.”

(With files from Alberta Beef Producers)