Two Saskatchewan cattle organizations have revived an industry committee to research policy issues and lobby government.
The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association and Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association have hired beef economist Tim Highmoor as a consultant for the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Committee.
Brian Ross, SSGA president, said the decision to re-establish the committee was made last summer after a motion at a membership meeting.
“It’s taken a while to get it done,” he said in an interview. “But we’ve hired and we’re really excited about that.”
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Highmoor, well known for his work at the Western Beef Development Centre, will start his new job in April.
The first order of business will be to analyze the five pillars of the agricultural policy framework to see how they impact cattle producers.
“We know how complicated (the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program) has been,” Ross said. “Maybe if we’d have had this committee in place to look at it, producers would understand it better.”
Ross said the committee intends to make the results of its research public in a variety of ways, including numerous town hall meetings, fact sheets and the farm press.
The previous version of this committee, in place from 1998 to 2000, developed a comprehensive beef strategy for the province. Its membership included Heartland Livestock Services.
Ross said other members may be added to the new committee as work progresses. For example, packer membership might be important in the future.
