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June 5, 2008
Alberta unveils long-term strategy for livestock industry
Government acts as catalyst to major change
Edmonton... The provincial government unveiled a long-term strategy and investment of $356 million to stabilize and strengthen Alberta’s livestock industry.
“Alberta’s livestock industry is facing significant challenges and needs a major and fundamental change,” said George Groeneveld, Minister of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “Albertans want a competitive and sustainable livestock industry, but this will not happen until we start doing things radically different. The industry needs to regain its competitive advantage and although these changes will not be easy, they are necessary.”
Mandatory traceability and the development of a new Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, are key to implementing this new strategy. The government will invest $56 million this year to create the agency, which will report directly to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Included in that amount is $40 million that will be redirected from the ministry’s existing budget. The Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency will support the livestock industry with a focus on directing funds, resources and programs towards strategic priorities.
The Alberta Livestock and Meat Strategy outlines eight priority initiatives developed to achieve significant change in the industry. These changes will redirect resources to key priorities, revitalize the livestock industry, enhance the value chain and refocus efforts to achieve a sustainable and competitive livestock industry.
To assist in stabilizing the industry during the first phase of this transformation, producers will receive $150 million in immediate funding. An additional $150 million will be available in January 2009 once certain conditions have been met. This second payment will be issued only after age verification and premise identification practices have been adopted and verified for each individual producer.
“Government will work closely with the livestock industry throughout this transformation process,” said Groeneveld. “Producers who are unable or unwilling to transform their business by meeting these new verification and identification conditions may need to consider ways to exit the industry. It is vital that producers believe in the sustainable future of this industry.”
The challenges facing the livestock industry include persistent labour shortages, restricted access to foreign markets, packing plants operating significantly under-capacity, lack of a shared strategic vision, lack of product differentiation, overdependence on the U.S. market, lack of an integrated federal-provincial government policy framework, and increasing environmental impacts.
Backgrounder attached.
Producer inquiries directed to:
AFSC |
Alberta Ag Media Line |
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Alberta Livestock and Meat Strategy: key priorities and funding
Edmonton...The Alberta Livestock and Meat Strategy outlines eight priority initiatives to achieve significant change in the livestock sector. The provincial government is investing more than $356 million to help strengthen the industry.
Priority 1: Shared Vision- Establish common goals for the livestock industry and create the Alberta Livestock Information System and the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.
- The Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency will:
- Report directly to the Minister and will be governed by an independent board of directors.
- Act as a catalyst for industry to ensure transition to a sustainable and competitive industry.
- Coordinate various government funds and resources to ensure they are aligned with the strategic direction.
- Measure industry and government performance to ensure the strategy is being achieved.
- Expand animal health surveillance and diagnostic capabilities.
- Increase prion research to eradicate BSE, CWD and Scrapie.
- Set better standards for testing food pathogens, adopt preventative food safety systems and pro-active detection of food safety hazards.
Priority 3: Alberta Livestock Information System (ALIS)
- Build a mandatory traceability system for disease management.
- Provide value-added information sharing to all members of the value chain.
- Record all pertinent information including age verification, premise identification, vaccination, animal welfare practices, and process of rearing and breeding information.
- Facilitate the development of unique products that are consumer driven by using the data captured in ALIS.
- Develop the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Livestock Genomics Technology.
- Create a system to have Alberta-branded livestock products.
- Provide certification for hormone-free, range-fed, grass-fed and naturally raised products.
- Introduce voluntary certification programs for humane animal care and environmentally sustainable practices.
- Develop a new trade strategy that helps open key export opportunities and increase overall world-wide market access.
- Attract foreign investment that helps secure the long-term commitment of international customers.
- Review all current government marketing grants and funds to ensure complete accountability and alignment of goals.
- Develop an environmentally sustainable livestock industry that supports the production of ecological goods and services through the Institute for Agriculture, Forestry and the Environment.
- Support existing carbon offset programs to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Develop policy recommendations for the Bio-Energy Strategy that supports biogas technology adoption.
- Establish an industry cost-shared automation program to buy new meat processing equipment.
- Review and harmonize provincial and federal regulations.
- Establish an Alberta Feed Grain Centre of Excellence.
- Evaluate the feasibility of establishing an unsubsidized Cattle Price Insurance Program.
- Align all government funded livestock research and development programs with the Livestock and Meat Strategy to focus resources on commercialization opportunities.
- Evaluate the establishment of an agriculture research and development endowment fund model for Alberta to invest in research infrastructure, capacity, and funding agriculture and food research projects.
- Establish the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.
- Stabilize industry with $300 million in recovery funding made in two installments.
- Producers will receive the first payment ($150 million) immediately and the second payment in January 2009 once they comply with new mandatory age verification and premise identification requirements.
- Payments are based on the producer’s 2006 livestock information and a proxy used to calculate the cost of feed.
- Livestock and meat producers who were in business in 2006 and 2007 are eligible.
Producer inquiries directed to:
AFSC |
Alberta Ag Media Line |
Alberta livestock and meat statistics
2007 Economic Contributions
- Alberta farm cash receipts from cattle sales - more than $3 billion
- Cash receipts from hog sales - $500 million
- Value of manufactured red meat shipments - $4.2 billion
- Alberta exports of beef and live cattle - $1.6 billion
- Alberta exports of pork and live hogs - $400 million
- Value of velvet antler, carcasses, and export in the elk industry - $11.6 million
- Value of bison (processed in Alberta and live exports) - $27.8 million
Herd Size
- 5.56 million cattle
- 1.68 million hogs
- 90,000 sheep and lambs
- 25,570 elk
- 97,000 bison
- 5,700 deer (includes white-tailed and mule deer and reindeer)
Other Facts and Figures
- The livestock industry in Alberta directly employs more than 30,000 people
- More than 20,000 Alberta farms produce primarily beef
- 550 Alberta farms produce primarily pork
- 67 per cent of Canadian-fed cattle production is in Alberta
- About two-thirds of Canadian beef processing is in Alberta
- About 15 per cent of Canadian hog slaughter is in Alberta
Producer inquiries directed to:
AFSC |
Alberta Ag Media Line |
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