Atlantic Canada’s livestock sector is in danger of collapse without extraordinary government help, industry leaders from the region have warned.
Brian Morrison, a director of the Prince Edward Island Cattle Producers (PEICP), told MPs on the House of Commons agriculture committee March 26 that governments and industry from the three Maritime provinces are working to develop a long-term plan to stabilize the industry.
In the meantime, however, the sector is bleeding money, assets and producers.
In P.E.I., the number of producers has fallen to 350 from 650 in 2007.
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In Nova Scotia, the herd has declined to 23,000 from more than 30,000 in the late 1990s.
The decline in the industry is jeopardizing operations at the Atlantic Beef Products plant, the only federally inspected beef plant in the region.
The company is “currently experiencing difficulties sourcing enough cattle to meet their requirements,” said PEICP past-chair Cameron Macdonald.
Morrison said beef and hog producers are asking for transitional funding from governments, including a payment equal to 40 percent of eligible net sales over five years with additional cash to buy breeding stock and to compensate them for their ecological goods and services production.
Morrison said farmers also need help to manage growing debt.
“Debt restructuring is another challenge facing our producers,” he said.
“There is an urgent need for a guaranteed low interest loan program to help producers manage their debt.”
Morrison said producers have complained that Farm Credit Canada “is often more difficult to deal with than the regular banking system.”
David Oulton, chair of the Nova Scotia Cattle Producers Association, said his sector appears to be heading down the same path as the hog industry.
“Clearly, the beef industry is in crisis,” he told MPs via video hook up.
“The pork industry may simply be the first red meat to collapse and beef is not that far behind. All of the economic multipliers and economic advantages are being lost to our local economy.”
The producers were at pains to point out to MPs that problems and solutions for the Maritime beef sector are not the same as in other regions. They do not export so the government’s export push is not the boost for them that it might be on the Prairies.
As well, costs are higher.
“Because of these factors, we cannot overstress the importance of recognizing regional differences,” Macdonald said.
Maritime leaders also complained that details of the federal government’s $500 million five-year agricultural flexibility fund are not yet known, although it was announced in the late January budget more than two months ago.
