The Manitoba Cattle Producers Association is now the Manitoba Beef Producers.
The new identity is part of a larger campaign to re-brand the cattle industry in the province.
MCPA directors and staff announced the new name at the association’s annual general meeting in Brandon Nov. 5. The campaign’s tag line, We All Benefit, will push the messages that producing beef boosts Manitoba’s economy through a sustainable industry that is good for the environment.
Sheila Mowat, Manitoba Beef Producers general manager, said the name change was partly based on urban residents not understanding the term producer.
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“Time and time again when we’re talking to urban audiences and the general public, they don’t know who we are. They don’t know what a cattle producer is and what we do,” she said. “(But) as soon as you say beef producers, it resonates with them. They know who you are…. Everybody knows what beef is.”
The association’s staff and directors have been working on a public relations strategy since the beginning of 2010.
The association’s new name is about positive word association, said Don Winnicky, a Manitoba Beef Producers director from Piney, Man.
“The city people think cattle and it’s associated with manure and dirtying the water. When they think of beef – it’s barbecue, it’s steak and food.”
Joe Bouchard, a cattle producer from Fisher Branch, Man., said the new communications approach is part of the solution.
“Just doing something new brings more attention,” he said. “I think there’s excellent ideas in it, especially for targeting the urban areas… and what we do for the economy and the environment.”
A key element of the communications strategy will be a new website called beefinformed.ca.
“Everything is going to take a bit of time but as of now, the process is on,” Mowat said. “Over this next year, everything we do with our branding and re-marketing is going to be as the Manitoba Beef Producers.”
