KITSCOTY, Alta. — Frank McAllister doesn’t think the elk business will ever return to its halcyon days of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
However, he insists it is still a good industry, despite the rough patches.
Elk Valley Ranches sells trophy elk to farms in the United States and Sask-atchewan, harvests antler velvet, raises elk cows and calves and sells animals for meat.
Donna and Frank McAllister, some of the original elk farmers in Alberta, fenced a quarter section in 1985 for their first animals. It was heady times, with elk antler fetching $120 a pound and each elk producing about 30 lb. of antler.
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The couple diversified into bison to create a safety net in case of a market crash, but the good times ended for both bison and elk in 2002.
The lucrative South Korean elk velvet antler market closed to Canada after animals infected with chronic wasting disease were accidentally shipped to that country.
The price for elk velvet dropped to $10 a lb., and the elk industry has struggled to regain its footing ever since.
Also in 2002, Western Canada was hit by one of the worst droughts on record and livestock producers were forced to sell their herds or buy hay.
The drought cost McAllister an extra $800,000 in feed costs.
In 2003, the discovery of BSE prompted many foreign countries to ban imports of Canadian bison products and prices dropped.
“It took me six long years to crawl out of that hole,” he said.
“I don’t suspect the elk industry will ever come back to its glory days.… Unless the meat goes to $4 a lb. and velvet at $50 a lb., it will be tough to see the industry grow.”
However, antler prices are slowly increasing and the market for trophy elk is small but lucrative.
The bison industry has worked hard to create a meat market, but it has been tougher to find sales for elk meat.
“I can’t make a living selling to elk farmers. The public has to consume elk.”
The Korean market for elk velvet never reopened, but Chinese demand has helped push prices higher. He received about $27 a lb. last year, but prices are now about $40 a lb.
McAllister’s elk cows are artificially inseminated with trophy winning semen from across North America in an effort to reach top dollar for his trophy elk.
“Now, I seldom have a bull that does not make a trophy,” he said.
A trophy elk can fetch $4,000 and higher, depending on the size of the animal.
