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8/17/2023 0 Comments

CcA Semi-Annual 2023: Domestic Ag Committee Report

Submitted by Scott Gerbandt, Youth Council President and Domestic Ag Committee Rep

I attended the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) Domestic Ag Policy and Regulations Committee meeting at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Calgary, AB in August 2023. Some of the topics discussed at this committee are:

Discussion on Advanced Payments Program (APP) and the outcome was that CCA staff will thoroughly investigate this program and how it is being rolled out for beef producers. For the second year in a row, Budget 2023 permitted a one-year increase to $350,000 from the original $100,000. A motion was proposed that, if passed, would require CCA to advocate for a permanent increase to the interest-free portion of the loans. Other discussion included is Livestock Price Insurance recognized as collateral or not, and at what percentage of the policy? This program could have a major positive effect for young beef producers but isn’t rolled out the same by all administrators.
Presentation from Monica Hadarits with the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) on the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) reporting. ESG reporting is required by publicly traded companies and involves companies specifying their carbon footprint, including the footprint of their supply chain. Does this mean every beef producer would have to report their carbon footprint for publicly traded companies to use? My take away was that since CRSB has been incredibly proactive, they have a number for the emissions in beef production to recommend public corporations use that number, therefore eliminating the need for primary producer reporting CCA staff have committed to working with the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB), federally regulated financial institutions, and securities regulators to distribute the necessary data and make sure those institutions are aware of industry’s numbers. It is important that only one Canadian number is developed and that regions of the country are not pitted against one another. CCA will also work with CRSB and CSSB to present webinars and communications materials around Scope 3 emissions under ESG reporting.
Discussion on Canada vs USA policy and where they diverge. Electronic Logging Devices and Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) restrictions RE: Lambda-cycy were the top subjects. There are restrictions in Canada that do not exist in the USA therefore it puts our producers at an economically competitive disadvantage. North America is a highly integrated and world-renowned food system. The aim is to keep regulatory and legislative decisions from harming Canadian competitiveness and access to markets and products.
CCA is going to support AFSC as they pilot a 2024 project which includes several changes to AgriStability in an attempt to make it more useful for beef producers. Some changes could make it more relevant, such as including the costs of own grown feed and pastures.
There was a motion to create a grasslands day in Canada.
Discussion on tax deferral and how to make that work better for producers in a drought. Some suggestions included changing from one year to multi-year before having to buy back in; including more than just breeding animals; somehow indexing the selling price in the drought vs the buy back when everyone else is also buying back to correct for the market fluctuation due to mass selling/buying.

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8/15/2023 0 Comments

CCA Semi-Annual 2023: Environment Committee Report

Submitted by Laura Plett, Youth Council Member at Large (MB) and Environment Committee Rep

On August 15, 2023, Kimberley Lansdall and I attended the Environment Committee meeting of the Canadian Cattle Association at their Semi-Annual Meeting in Calgary, AB. Mike Duguid chaired the meeting, as we discussed several prominent issues since the AGM in March 2023.
The SARPAL Term Conservation Easement was one of the updates we received. Reports and reviews have been ongoing with the Federal Chief Appraisers Office and Environment and Climate Change Canada. We now have an MOU in place to support our work on the development of a Term Conservation Easement. We are in the process of exploring different value & income approaches, working with other Commonwealth countries for reference.

Canada’s National Index on Agri-Food Performance has also been an ongoing project, with the goal of measuring the breadth of sustainability. Founder and National Coordinator David McInnes updated us on recent activities. The intention for this initiative is to leverage competitiveness for the sector by backing sustainability claims with better performance data, both here and abroad. This index is supported by 135 different organizations, which are working to use it as a tool to help deliver on the vision “Canada is recognized as a world leader in sustainable agriculture and agri-food production”. The CRSB is a member of the Steering Committee and has been participating in working groups to develop metrics for this index.

We discussed the ongoing drought in some parts of Western Canada, and identified other environmental challenges in the rest of the country as well. We look forward to seeing how these and other issues and opportunities develop over the coming months until we meet again at the Canadian Cattle Association AGM this winter in March 2024.

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