Canada’s organic beef sector is starting to show signs of growth.
One of the largest marketers of Canadian product says sales are up
substantially from previous years. Even more encouraging is talk of a
new federally inspected slaughter and processing plant being built on
the Prairies.
An elk, bison and organic beef processor from Maidstone, Sask., is
considering building a second plant somewhere in the midwestern region
of the province.
Diamond 7 Meats now operates a provincially inspected plant that
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handles organic beef. But the Maidstone operation is not organically
certified.
The proposed facility will be a fully certified, federally inspected
plant specializing in organic beef slaughter andprocessing.
“The new facility would have the capabilities for export,” said Robert
Lundquist, one of the principals of Diamond 7 Meats.
He said the company is negotiating a deal on a site where the plant
will be constructed, but wouldn’t divulge where.
Lundquist said Diamond 7 Meats has “major partners” involved in the
project. They intend to start construction on what would be a sizable
plant this spring. He expects to announce the venture within a few
weeks.
A new federally inspected plant would be welcomed by members of the
Canadian Organic Livestock Association.
The 50 members of the non-profit group now have to use two plants in
Alberta if they want to sell product into export markets. A new
facility in Saskatchewan would provide more options and could reduce
transportation costs for beef originating in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The association has members in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. They
would all benefit from any cost savings because the members pool their
prices and transportation expenses.
Last year, 29 members of the association sold almost $1 million worth
of product, up from $144,000 in sales in 2000.
“There is a growing demand, there definitely is – especially in the
States,” said Pat Godhe, a director of the association.
Almost all of the product exported by the association goes to the
United States. The group hasn’t been able to crack the growing European
market for organic beef, but buyers in Japan and the Middle East are
starting to show some interest in Canadian product.
Some of the producers in the non-profit association are certified
organic farmers, while others are in the transition process. The group
is not “actively chasing” new members, but plans to grow along with
sales, said Godhe.
The number of cattle the organic producers own is minor when compared
to the Canadian cattle inventory of 14.6 million animals. And the $1
million in organic sales pales next to the $6.6 billion in
cattle-related farm cash receipts that were earned in 2000.
But members of the Canadian Organic Livestock Association are confident
their herds and sales will continue to grow. Godhe expects members will
be running 2,000 head of cattle this year and she forecasts a doubling
of sales in 2002.
She said that sales might have been higher in 2001 if members hadn’t
had such a difficult time locating organic feed.
“With conventional prices being quite high, and people being short of
feed, there was a lot of them that considered selling into the
conventional market because they couldn’t fatten (their animals).”
