Stock Grower's Association Offering Directory For Consumers
By Robert Thomas
It is a growing concern for cattle ranchers and farmers and that is putting beef on the plates of consumers.
Beef prices have been increasing in the grocery store due to “shortages” while cattle in feedlots are losing money because of the COVID - 19 pandemic.
With a drop in processing at meat packing plants due to outbreaks of COVID - 19 the Saskatchewan Stock Grower's Association (SSGA) is helping to bridge the bottleneck in the beef industry by assembling a directory of its members offering direct beef sales to consumers.
“On the cow-calf side of the industry we haven’t had as great of an impact as we have seen on the feedlot side of the industry,” Chad MacPherson general manager with the SSGA said. “They are losing about $500 to $700 per head. There are about 10,000 cattle per week not being processed it is working out to be about $400,000 per day loss to the industry. They are predicting losses of $500 million by the end of June.”
When cattle reach a certain optimum weight they are taken to packing plants for processing. Feeding what are called “fat cattle” past this optimum processing day is seen as an added expense and takes away from the final profit margin, if any, from the animal.
The $400,000 per day cost is from feeding cattle which should have been processed. With each new 10,000 animals not processed the costs go up.
The size of the Canadian cattle herd remains stable compared to other years with the supply chain bottleneck being at the meat processing facilities. Typically 50 percent of the Canadian cattle herd is exported as Canada is self sufficient in beef.
MacPherson said with media reports and actual limits on how much beef consumers can buy in some United States stores has caused many consumers to worry they will not be able to buy beef.
This has lead to consumers calling the SSGA to ask about buying direct from producers, MacPherson said. In response a directory of producers offering direct to consumer sales is being produced and being made available to consumers.
“There is a growing interest in buying direct and guaranteeing supply. I have been getting calls from consumers,” he said.
“We know there’s absolutely no shortage of beef cattle,” says Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association President Bill Huber said in a statement. “But there is a downturn in processing capacity which could have an effect on retail prices and availability.”
Many producers sell beef directly from their farms, but consumers might not know how to find them. The SSGA directory will make it easy to connect buyers to sellers - it’s a win for everybody, Huber said in a statement.
“The loss of packing capacity creates uncertainty for producers with cattle to sell. When consumers buy their beef from the farm gate, they’re getting great value while helping out their local farmers and ranchers.”
MacPherson said direct marketing has been around for awhile but there is growing interest from consumers at the present time which could be good news for local producers if the interest translates into higher farmgate sales.
“More of the food dollar goes into the producer's pocket. It is just a way for producers of adding value to animals,” MacPherson said. “Rather than losing money on fat cattle this is a way to capture that money from the marketplace.”
“People like to know where their food comes from,” Huber said, and this is a great opportunity for consumers to meet the people who produce the top-quality beef Saskatchewan is famous for.P
Producers can register online through the SSGA. There is no cost for SSGA members.
Consumers can find the directory at skstockgrowers.com and SSGA's social media channels.