A new council that wants to tackle Alberta beef issues with a unified
front will have to do so without one of the province’s largest cattle
organizations.
The Alberta Beef Council is a steering committee of industry
organizations and individual cattle producers examining ways to change
the structure of the beef industry in the province. However, this new
group is going forward without the Alberta Cattle Commission at the
table.
“The council process started before we were even invited to the table,”
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said commission chair Greg Conn of Innisfail, Alta.
The commission is the umbrella organization for the province’s beef
producers with elected delegates from nine zones, as well as other
industry representatives appointed by their respective organizations.
“The challenge of an umbrella organization with political power is that
you have to please everybody within the industry,” said Conn. “Some
people feel change has to go through faster.”
Conn said commission members are willing to talk with the council and,
if restructuring is necessary, they will take heed.
“We’re willing to discuss any ideas on how we can do things better,” he
said.
A need for change is one of the mandates of the new council consisting
of the Western Stock Growers Association, Alberta Cattle Feeders
Association, Alberta Auction Markets Association, Alberta Livestock
Dealers and Order Buyers Association and Cargill Foods.
“There is no room for personal agendas. The goal is to build a
stronger, better Alberta beef industry,” said council chair Jeff
Warrack of Cheadle, Alta.
Warrack said a new industry blueprint is needed to deal more
effectively with animal welfare challenges, environmental issues,
access to markets, changing consumer demands and safe food production.
The council wants to examine the structures of other major beef
producing areas.
It eventually wants to stage three workshops across the province asking
producers and processors where they want the industry to be in the
future.
Warrack said the group told Alberta agriculture minister Shirley
McClellan of their intentions and she is to receive a copy of their
findings.
The council is not looking to replace the ACC or its checkoff
collection ability.
“It’s not about money. It’s about making sure the right things get done
for the cattle industry,” said Warrack, who is past-president of the
Alberta Cattle Feeders Association.
The cattle commission is 30 years old and has the authority to collect
a $2 per head marketing charge to fund research, product and market
development as well as some lobbying. All producers who market beef in
the province are automatically members of the organization and have the
right to run as delegates to the commission.
“The ACC represents the industry well in some areas, but it hasn’t
changed much in 30 years but the industry has changed vastly,” said
Warrack.
