The Alberta government denies suggestions that it is grabbing the cattle finishing industry away from Manitoba.
Rick Wright, a Manitoba consultant for cattle finishers, said recently that the feedlot industry in his province is near collapse, largely because of an Alberta program that gives producers in that province an advantage over cattle finishers elsewhere.
Wright was referring to the price basis and price protection Alberta included as part of a set-aside program for finished cattle. He said the program enables Alberta to grab opportunities for cattle finishing away from Manitoba.
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But Alberta agriculture minister Doug Horner said there is no intent to harm cattle feeders in other provinces. The intent was to help those in Alberta withstand the BSE crisis.
“I wouldn’t say that we’re stealing the industry,” Horner said. “That wasn’t the intent of the program by any stretch of the imagination.”
Wright said he wanted government supports made equal across the country, possibly by having other provinces match Alberta’s support.
However, Manitoba agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk said her province does not have the money to match what Alberta has done. Instead, she suggested that Alberta offer programs similar to those in other provinces.
Horner rejected that idea, noting the set-aside program with its basis component has worked well in Alberta. He would rather see other provinces adopt that kind of support.
“What we’ve done is a partnership with industry to come up with what industry and government believe is a good approach to addressing the problem. I think there’s ample opportunity there for the provinces and certainly the national government to come on board and say this should be a national program and it should be something we all work together on.”
