CCA Policy Manager Jennifer Babcock speaks to ranchers at the Sask. Cattlemen's district meeting in Melfort. (Alice McFarlane/farmnewsNOW Staff)

By Alice McFarlane

Beef Industry

Cattle industry set priorities for next government

Oct 25, 2019 | 5:01 PM

Farmers and ranchers met in Melfort this week for the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s District eight meeting.

It was an opportunity to tackle a number of topics including business structure, tax management as well as hear provincial and national updates.

Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) Policy Manager Jennifer Babcock talked about what the recent federal election will mean for the beef industry.

She said, for the most part, it will be business as usual.

“It’s not a lot different from the last parliament we had. We’re heading into a minority government. Our stance is we don’t align with any party and we’re ready and willing to work with anyone who forms government, ” Babcock said.

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“In this case with a minority government we’ll be working with multiple parties just as we would with a majority or minority. We’re really looking forward to them getting back to Ottawa so we can get down to business and look toward the beef sectors priorities. It’s been a while since they’ve been in Ottawa so we’re ready to have them back and get to work.”

Babcock said CCA has a long list of issues they will bring forward.

“There’s a few that we will be looking to work with them on right away. Trade is one of our primary focuses but there’s a few others, environment, within domestic ag and animal health. They aren’t necessarily issues but goals of the beef sector that we want to work with government to move forward.”

Babcock’s focus is on food policy. She said the issues of plant based proteins has gotten a lot of attention recently. She said their stance is aligned with Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

“We’re happy with competition within proteins in the market. We’re not saying that we’re the only ones. Canada’s agriculture is vast and large and there are plenty of proteins to go around,” Babcock said. “We just want to follow CFIA regulations and ensure that consumers are not mislead. We just want regulations, labelling and marketing to be very clear.”

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF