Cattle auction -- Tiffany Goodwein

By Tiffany Goodwein

cattle

High prices and cattle producers calling it quits; ranchers reflect on tough year

Dec 20, 2021 | 10:30 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Rancher Darby Delorme prepares his cows for the annual Beef Pen Show at the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede grounds

This year has been a tough one for the rancher from Robsart, Saskatchewan, and others in the industry. Many were met with crippling drought and rising feed prices.

It’s become so bad that some cattle producers like Delorme have been questioning just how long they can keep going.

” This is our livelihood and my family has been in Canada, my kids are 16 generations in Canada, and for the most part, we have always been in agriculture whether farming or ranching, and I’ve had lots of neighbors that have called it quits,” he said.

”There are a lot of families that, they are done. They know they can’t pencil it out for another year,” he added

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Despite the price of beef skyrocketing at the grocery store, Delorme said that’s not trickling down to the producer. Instead, he said the margin of profit for producers is slim, with many just hoping to break even.

Delorme said cattle producers sell their cows at auction, and unlike other industries, they often don’t know how much money they are going to get until their cattle sells. Rising costs, from feed to fuel have made it tougher for producers to make a living.

“So, this year with the price of feed, most years $100 to $140 dollars for a ton of feed. This year we are paying up to $400 if you can find it. So when you put that into the equation, the price of fuel, it’s gone up. The price of machinery has quadrupled in the last 20 years. the price of beef in the last 40 years is almost identical as 40 years ago. That’s what we are getting paid.”

As a cattle producer himself, Delorme said he goes into sticker shock when he goes to the grocery store and looks at the prices.

” It’s a funny thing, we raise the beef and we can’t even afford the beef that is in the store…it’s ridiculous.”

“It’s an eye-opener, it’s like, where does all this money go? It’s not the cow-calf producer I can tell you that.”

The financial uncertainty, coupled with farmers at the mercy of Mother Nature has taken a toll on Farmers’ mental health, and Delorme said that includes his own.

” I deal with it every day, like stress. I try to cope with it the best that I can but I know of people who have actually sought help because they dealt with the stress of life.”

Delorme encourages anyone in the industry to seek help if they are struggling. This year there have been calls from both the opposition NDP and Rural Municipalities of Alberta to establish a mental health line for farmers. Unlike neighboring Saskatchewan, there is no agriculture-specific help-line that exists in the province.

But as cattle producers wrap up another year. There are some, like Blake Morton, past president of the Alberta Angus Association who is optimistic the industry will be out of the slump soon.

” We are hoping for good moisture this coming year and hopefully get some good feed crop for our cattle. Beef consumption I believe is up even though the prices are high. Our domestic sales are going up and places like China are buying a lot of beef,” he said.

As for Delorme, he hopes that by sharing his story, more people will understand the important role that farmers play when it comes to feeding the world.