Prime rib or sirloin tip? That was the toughest choice in the beef industry in headier times.
Now the choice is whether the future of beef production lies in export trade
or supplying only domestic needs – a tough choice indeed.
Such was the sober discussion of those at the recent Canadian Cattlemen’s Association meeting. Canada’s beef industry, a powerhouse of the agricultural economy, is struggling to retain profitability and regain export markets lost in the meltdown surrounding BSE.
In the prime of Canada’s beef exporting life, tonnage rose every year and peaked in 2002 at 521,467 tonnes. Export trade value peaked in 2001 at $2.23 billion, according to Canada Beef Export Federation figures.
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Five years after BSE devastated the industry, the federation projects export tonnage of 418,000 at a value of $1.49 billion.
There’s progress, but it is an uphill battle to not only regain but expand lost markets in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China.
The U.S. beef industry faced similar problems post-2003, but its battles to regain export market share seem to take a higher profile among the country’s politicians than do similar efforts in Canada.
American beef organization officials are part of some trade negotiations and in the case of South Korea, the U.S. has served notice that it will sign no new trade deal with that country unless beef is included.
By contrast, Canadian foreign affairs minister Maxine Bernier was also in South Korea recently but no Canadian beef industry representatives were part of any delegation or talks.
We are told that Canadian government officials are working quietly behind the scenes to reopen beef trade and there’s no reason to disbelieve those assertions, although results seem slow in coming.
Cattle industry officials are industrious in their efforts as well, but without some co-ordinated government plan, their options are limited. Other countries, particularly the U.S., seem able to negotiate better deals.
Given that Canada is a part of the North American beef market, more U.S. beef trade should also favour this country to some degree.
But as U.S. beef export trade increases, Canada simply ships more beef into the United States.
The perils of overdependence on one export market have been amply demonstrated, and with the imminent implementation of U.S. country of origin labelling, it is even more important that Canada expand its trade horizons.
Canadian beef industry officials have proposed that the federal government form a trade negotiation directorate to negotiate better international access for Canadian beef. The idea deserves serious consideration.
A $2.2 billion beef export industry that has potential for major expansion, as the developing world eats more beef, is surely worth it.
