All for the Beef — An update from ABP’s General Manager

With calving, processing, and planting underway and even complete in some areas, it won’t be long before producers will be moving the herds to summer pastures.

It’s been a ‘relocation’ time for us here at the ABP office as well. At the end of April, we packed up the headquarters and headed just down the road to a new home base in Calgary. We’ve managed to reduce our footprint by 3,000 square feet, and still have enough room for our staff, along with Cows and Fish, an organization we helped launch more than thirty years ago.

Our main reason for the move was to reduce office expenses, by some $180,000 annually. That’s money we can redirect to important producer programming. It’s a much more efficient space and fit for ABP, and we’re excited to be here. If you’re coming through Calgary, be sure to drop in for a look.

Our new address is 120-7777 10 ST NE, Calgary, AB T2E 8X2. Please remember to update your files for any mailing correspondence to the new address.

It was encouraging to see a significant increase in attendance for our producer meetings this winter, right across the province. We appreciated producers’ acceptance of the minimal meal cover charge we implemented, which greatly helped in planning for accurate numbers, so we’re not overestimating and wasting food or expenses. It’s also an important aspect of our meetings – to be able to discuss beef industry issues and ABP’s work while connecting as a community over a meal together.

There was also a lot of connection as our AGM was held for the first time in conjunction with the Alberta Beef Industry Conference in February. It was great to be with the other associations, who also held their AGMs with the conference. While it was a successful combination, we also recognize the need to make some scheduling adjustments next year so the timing logistics flow more smoothly. We are encouraging producers from the cow-calf, backgrounding and feeding sectors to consider attending ABIC, as it’s an excellent conference you can come away from with learnings that could apply to your operations both now and in the future. From market and weather forecasts to future trends, there’s a lot of good content on the program.

The combination of meeting agendas is another example of our commission and fellow industry partners communicating and cooperating, to make sure we understand the issues each is facing. We continue on a path to create a stronger, more unified beef voice as we determine where we can work together, using check-off dollars most effectively when advocating for common goals.

I would also like to personally thank Sheila Hillmer, former Vice-Chair, and Fred Lozeman, former Finance Chair, for all the efforts they gave our organization over the course of the past year on the executive. I would also like to welcome Doug Roxburgh as the new Vice-Chair, while Kent Holowath comes on as the Finance Chair. Brodie Haugan continues his leadership role as overall Chair into this year. We’re really looking forward to the participation of the new directors elected at the AGM as well.

If you’re wanting to see the full board of directors, or who represents your region on ABP, head to ABPDaily.com and click on contacts, or go to the website albertabeef.org

The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) AGM was held in Ottawa, and your ABP representatives were active in discussions there. It’s always good to connect with other provinces and share ideas around topics where we might view things differently, but still try to find solutions in the best interests of Canadian producers.

One of our major spring activities here at the office has been reviewing the March 31 2023-24 year-end financial reports, plus setting the new budget for 2024-25. A highlight has been additional interest income from investments. Along with some unspent dollars from the previous budget because of a prudent fiscal approach by leadership, and the CCA levy now being applied to retained marketings, there are some significant dollars we can finally build into the new budget for programs to benefit Alberta producers – advocating to government, marketing and communication, research and keeping beef top of mind for consumers – to keep the industry moving forward in a sustainable way.

Last year’s drought and wildfires are still very much on everyone’s minds as challenges we could face gain this year. All through winter and spring, ABP has been engaged with the Government of Alberta as it acted proactively to prepare for the year ahead. We’re so grateful to see some widespread relief across Alberta with varying amounts of total precipitation. This has provided renewed hope for feed and pasture recovery, but it doesn’t mean all moisture shortage concerns have been washed away.

ABP will continue to monitor the drought situation as we come into summer. We applaud Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Sigurdson’s desire to maintain the water source which ensures Alberta can retain a stable food supply and remain a leader in food production in Canada and the world.

We also appreciated the fact additional municipalities impacted by the drought were added to last year’s Canada Alberta Drought Livestock Assistance Initiative. We’re certainly hoping that won’t be needed in 2024. We’re also optimistic the Agri-Stability pilot project that AFSC has underway will lead to positive impacts for the cow-calf sector, so the tool performs the way it’s supposed to and reacts effectively in times of need.

May the rains come in abundance to bring relief and green grass this summer.

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This article was first published in Volume 4 Issue 1 of ABP Magazine (June 2024). Watch for more digital content from the magazine on ABP Daily.