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2. Canadian beef is coming off a good year.
Just under half of all Canadian beef production is used domestically. Per capita consumption domestically was up about 2.9% in 2022.
Canadian-produced beef held nearly an 81% domestic market share, meaning imports amounted to about 19% of Canadian consumption.
Canada’s exports last year were up 5% in value to $4.68 billion CAN ($3.54 billion US) — the highest on record. Volume increased 1% to 511,000 metric tons — the second-highest on record.
While Canada has strong markets in countries such as Japan ($378 million US), more than 70% of the country’s beef exports went to the U.S., valued at about $2.5 billion.
By comparison, U.S. beef exports in 2022 topped $11.68 billion, up about 10% from 2021. U.S. beef exports to Canada were nearly $835 million, up 8% from 2021, or 105,220 metric tons in volume, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
3. EU hormone certification, once a big market, has waned.
Finn markets his cattle for the EU market, which certifies the cattle were not raised with hormone implants. But Mick Taylor, research and cattle manager for Cattleland Feedyards near Strathmore, Alberta, said he has fewer EU-certified cattle in his feedyard than in past years. The feedyard at one time might have had 50% of its cattle headed for the EU market but right now he said about 90% of the cattle are headed for domestic markets.
“The price of our fat cattle is at an all-time high here in Canada so we can make a buck here now with implants that help to improve gain efficiency,” Taylor said. “So right now we have a very small number of EU cattle.”
Producers right now are getting $4.10CAN ($3.10 U.S.) a pound for carcass weights. That has been one factor that has reduced the number of producers willing to take the time and deal with the documentation to not use hormone implants.
4. Canadian cattle producers pay higher checkoff fees than U.S. counterparts
While U.S. producers pay $1 for their checkoff, producers in Alberta pay $4.50CAN ($3.40US) for each head sold. Under Canadian law, $2.50CAN ($1.89) of the checkoff is federal and nonrefundable.
Alberta adds another $2CAN ($1.51) per head of a checkoff for its 18,000 producers. That part of the checkoff is refundable, and producers will request refunds on about one-third of the amount collected. Schmid said typically the largest cattle feeders are the ones most likely to request refunds on the checkoff.
5. Traceability has been big in Canada for two decades.
In May 2003, Canada had its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). That sparked a major drive in Canada for traceability measures. Radio-frequency identification devices (RFID) are mandatory in Canada. While the tags are mandatory, the government doesn’t pay for producers to buy the tags.
The traceability requirements have been a driver for the country’s exports, however.
“That really opened up the world for us to show that we have traceability and are able to track outbreaks,” Finn said.
6. Canadians are watching the USDA “Product of USA” rule.
Public comments closed in mid-June for USDA’s proposal to rewrite the voluntary “Product of USA” label. The rule would tighten the “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim to be used on meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States.
Ryder Lee, general manager of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), said the organization worked with the Canadian federal government as well as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) on public comments about the rule. Now that the public comment period is closed, Lee said CCA will be watching how USDA moves ahead on a potential final rule.
“We don’t think it adds value, it takes value from the marketplace,” Lee said, adding that there are better ways to promote beef to consumers. “The other concern here is at some point it will discount Canadian live cattle exports.”
Watch a tour of Cattleland Feedyards near Strathmore, Alberta, here: https://www.dtnpf.com/…
Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com
Follow him on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN
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