British Columbia cattle producers say they are beginning to feel like the poor cousin. Their provincial government is the only one in the West that hasn’t offered additional financial assistance to cattle producers affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
“Our government hasn’t been able to come forward with any additional funding assistance and other governments certainly have,” said Dave Borth, manager of the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association.
“They said they don’t have any money. They are financially constrained, but so are we,” said Borth.
Only a handful of B.C. cattle producers were able to take advantage of the federal government’s $460 million BSE slaughter program announced this summer. The money was paid to producers who were able to get their cattle slaughtered.
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Borth estimates B.C. producers had 15,000-20,000 head of cattle on slaughter, mainly in Alberta feedlots, when the BSE was discovered in a single cow in a northern Alberta herd. He estimates only about one-quarter of the animals were slaughtered under the compensation program.
Many were in Alberta on retained ownership. About one-quarter were sold under the federal program. In Alberta, 69 percent of the 650,000 cattle on feed in the province as of May 20 were covered under the BSE program.
Harvey Sasaki, an assistant deputy minister of agriculture with the B.C. government, said from the beginning the province took the position BSE is a national problem and any response should be on a national scale.
“It’s not that we love our cattle industry less than Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba,” said Sasaki, but the province is sticking with the principle that assistance must be national and not province-by-province.
British Columbia has signed the agricultural policy framework and the implementation agreement as ways to protect farmers from dramatic price drops.
During the summer, the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association travelled the province with members of the provincial government to let producers know what assistance programs were available such as B.C.’s Whole Farm Insurance Program and the Net Income Stabilization Account program.
Not only do B.C. cattle producers have to deal with depressed markets, but this summer, forest fires raged through the province with more than 700 fires burning at one time.
No rain this summer has created a feed shortage and ponds and streams have dried up.
Borth estimates producers have about 50 percent less feed than they need to see the province’s 270,000 animals through the winter.
“It’s pretty tough out here,” said Borth. “We are looking for additional ad hoc support. Other provinces have done it, so British Columbia can come forward as well.”
Borth said the cattle producers association has hired a consultant to explore the possibility of building a slaughter plant for the province’s annual cull of 60,000 cows.
Sasaki said the province is also looking at a slaughter plant, but doesn’t want to switch the problem from excess live cattle to excess frozen beef.
