Manitoba Beef Producers Able To Move Animals, But At Lower Price

Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) General Manager Carson Callum says members have been dealing with a downturn in prices a result of plant closures in western Canada.

 

"The animals were still able to move and some will have made the decision to hold on to them until later and perhaps feed them through the summer," he said. "For the most part, folks that were trying to move their animals in Manitoba here, for the most part from what we've heard, is they've been able to move them, however this market volatility and financial impact that some of these producers took, of the ones that did move their animals, is very unfortunate as a result of this pandemic."

 

Callum says it will be a slow road to recovery, as Cargill is set to re-open its High River, AB plant this week.

 

In recent weeks MBP has been engaging with government officials about strategies needed to address the short and longer term implications of COVID-19.

 

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) has put forward a series of recommendations to the federal government to provide immediate support for producers to keep their operations financially sustainable.

 

This includes having the pandemic deemed a natural disaster under AgriRecovery to help flow immediate aid to producers. Meaningful enhancements to business risk management (BRM) programs used by cattle producers are being pursued, including to AgriStability and the Advance Payment Program. As well, CCA says modifications are needed to the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program in light of the steep spike in premium costs.

 

Another key recommendation is to establish a set-aside program, similar to what was used during BSE. It would help address processing challenges by managing inventories throughout the beef production system and better match the number of cattle ready to market with the available processing capacity.

 

MBP has shared these recommendations with Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen and provincial government staff.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.