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By Alice McFarlane

COVID-19

Alberta beef processing plant closes

Apr 22, 2020 | 9:43 AM

The Cargill beef processing plant at High River, Alta. will be closed while the company deals with a COVID-19 outbreak.

One Cargill worker has died from the virus and there are 484 other cases directly tied to the facility.

The Cargill plant can slaughter up to 4,500 head of cattle per day which is about 35 to 40 per cent of Canada’s beef processing capacity.

Canadian Cattlemen’s Association executive director Dennis Laycraft said they will continue to pressure the federal government to establish a set aside program to ration processing capacity.

Laycraft said there will be severe repercussions without federal intervention.

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“Prices were trading prior to the closure around $1.45. Our estimates say they could decline towards $1.00. That’s half a billion dollars between now and towards the end of June,” Laycraft told a virtual townhall meeting.

Laycraft said livestock price insurance needs to be more affordable.

“We’ve presented proposals to bring those premiums down to pre-COVID levels.That means someone has to backstop the potential risk,” he said.

Laycraft hopes the Cargill facility can resume production soon. He said the faster the company is able to satisfy employee safety concerns the sooner it will be up and running.

“I’m confident they’ve got the measures in place to assure employees safety. That’s something they’re addressing right now.”

Cargill has made a number of COVID-19 safety improvements including 450 dividers and masks.

“It’s really about the workforce and getting an adequate number of them to come in on a regular basis. It means they’re not going to be harvesting any cattle until they get that done,” Laycraft said.

Speaking at this morning’s news conference Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government isn’t anticipating shortages of beef but prices might go up. He said the situation is being monitored.

“We know it is extremely important to do everything we can to keep Canadians safe, to keep workers, in all industries across the country, essential or not, as safe as we possibly can. I’m pleased to see measures being taken to reflect on how to keep people safe,” Trudeau said.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

on Twitter: @AliceMcF