(Alice McFarlane/farmnewsNOW Staff)

By Alice McFarlane

COVID-19

Beef industry makes recommendations to government during pandemic

Apr 9, 2020 | 5:14 PM

Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) has a list of recommendations for the federal government to help the beef industry through the effects of COVID-19.

At a town hall today, CCA Executive Director Dennis Laycraft said the industry continues to focus on keeping the agriculture community healthy, while supporting business continuity and maintaining a secure and affordable supply for Canadians.

“We’ve been working very closely with the provincial health authorities and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure that we’re able to keep our plants operating and we’re able to keep trade flowing,” Laycraft said. “We were pleased the Government of Canada released guidance concerning essential services and functions in Canada during the pandemic and very pleased to see the food supply chain being referenced in the guidance.”

Laycraft said frontline workers are vitally important whether it’s retail stores, delivering food or processing plants. He said there is unprecedented volatility in markets.

“It seems each week markets are moving all the way up and all the way down. Different forecasts are occurring and clearly having tools in place for farmers and ranchers has never been more important as they try and manage risk,” Laycraft said.

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CCA Director of Government and International Relations Fawn Jackson said consumers, farmers and ranchers need stability in the agri-food system.

“The industry has felt the impacts of COVID-19 with market volatility, reductions in processing capacity, as they adapt to new protocols within packing plants. Some of the risk management tools we have historically used such as price insurance have become too expensive,” Jackson said. “In these times access to well designed and sufficiently funded business management tools has become even more critical for cattle producers and for the Canadian Food System.”

Jackson said CCA has a number of recommendations for the federal government to consider.

“We do appreciate these are unprecedented times and the government has had to move very quickly to unveil measures to support impacted Canadians and industries. However, the tools that have been announced are not sufficient for Canadian cattle producers and we really need to see more attention turn to Canadian agriculture. In the beef industry, we do have tools available to us. What we need to ensure is that they are able to function in these challenging times,” Jackson said.

One area of concern is the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program. Jackson said it’s one of the main programs the beef industry uses to manage risk. But extreme market volatility has caused high premiums.

“I would like to give a tangible example. Premiums that were historically in the range of $15 to $20 per head are now in the $70 per head range. It speaks to just how much more expensive this is becoming and essentially deems it ineffective for producers to use,” Jackson said. “Our recommendation is a cost shared premium that’s similar to how crop insurance works. We think that’s an example of how it can be adapted to the COVID-19 times.”

Jackson said addressing unaffordable premiums would increase the risk management uptake in the sector and provide some confidence to the market especially at a time when large numbers of background cattle are coming to market.

Jackson said other areas to discuss include the lack of a livestock price insurance program in eastern Canada and the to address the packing capacity shortage in eastern Canada.

“We’re not only recommending a certified program for eastern Canada, but also one established if a major disruption comes in western Canada. If there was a major disruption such as plant closures, we would already have that framework set and we would be able to react very quickly,” Jackson said.

Jackson said additional recommendations are having the COVID-19 pandemic declared a natural disaster under the AgriRecovery program.

“We really see that program can be used as a vehicle to provide timely financial support to producers. Under the AgriStability program, we are asking for the removal of the three million payment cap, as well as removing the reference margin limits,” Jackson said. “These enhancements would help producers across Canada manage the impacts of COVID-19 by improving coverage of price and production risk and providing more equitable treatment of funds under the program. This would increase participation in AgriStability which is a shared objective of both industry and government.”

Jackson said a strategic investment by the federal government would support stability and the beef industry would be able to emerge from COVID-19 as one of the main engines of growth and recovery for the Canadian economy.

A summary of the recommendations can be found on the CCA COVID-19 website.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF