As an association, Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) utilizes valuable check-off dollars, provided by our membership, to advocate in the areas of sustainability, animal health and care, environment, food safety, and domestic and export market development to help beef farmers, and provide solutions to issues facing the beef sector in Ontario.
The check-off system has a long history in the province dating back to its first introduction in 1968. Provincial check-off has been collected since that time at various rates, and the mandatory national check-off of one dollar was first implemented in Ontario in 2008. Prior to that, Ontario voluntarily directed funds to the national organizations to support marketing and research.
Ontario beef farmers and the entire beef sector have withstood both change and challenge in recent years. We’ve been through a global pandemic and experienced firsthand the impact of supply chain disruptions and our ability to access things like fertilizer, pharmaceuticals, equipment parts and processing space. We endured the temporary closure of Cargill in Guelph due to the pandemic and then later by labour negotiations. As a result of a number of factors, including drought and its impact on cattle inventories in North America, as well as an increase in global beef demand, we’ve been fortunate to experience strong cattle prices – both for calves and finished cattle. While prices have been strong, inflation continues to put pressure on input costs and farmers’ cost of production.
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