Urban consumers call the dance. Cattle producers must form the square.
The treatment of livestock is a serious concern for many urbanites. As customers, they will turn against farmers if they feel agricultural practices don’t meet with their
approval.
This was part of a message given to Saskatchewan ranchers and feedlot operators at a seminar held in Saskatoon.
Tim O’Byrne, a cattle handling specialist from Picture Butte, Alta., spoke to 39 cattle producers. The attendees consisted of small and large-scale cattle producers and feedlot managers from across the province.
Read Also
Powerful solar storm lights up night time sky
Prairie skywatchers have been on high alert the last few nights as spectacular aurora displays have made the night time…
“Producers need to realize that the consumer and the packers are changing the industry. They are demanding that animals be treated with more care and attention to animal welfare. … The upside of this is that what is good for your cattle is good for your bottom line. But it does mean change for many cattlemen,” said O’Byrne.
He spoke of the need for producers to accept inspectors and learn not to fear strangers poking around their operations.
O’Byrne said most of their cattle are raised for export and are eaten in large urban centres where the population contains a lot of meat consumers who are on the fence between animal welfare and animal rights.
“We don’t want to give them reason to end up on the animal rights side of the fence line,” he said.
Adele Buettner, executive director of the Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan, who organized the handling seminar, said the business is changing.
From injection site placement, residues from antibiotics and the use of hormones, to bruising of animals in transport or in feedlot finishing, consumers and packers are looking for improvements in quality from farmers and ranchers.
Brian Weedon, president of the Saskatchewan Stockgrowers Association, said cattle producers need to remember the customer is the boss.
