#AllForTheBeef: A busy summer with ABP

This past summer has been a very busy one for your Alberta Beef Producers on a number of fronts.

Utilizing ABP directors and delegates, our organization gave feedback on the Beef Code of Conduct, participated in the Interprovincial Trade and Unmet Slaughter Capacity consultations, and proposed updates to the Enhanced Feed Ban.

Through the recent traceability conversation, producers told us to do a better job to make them aware of these types of consultations. So we used both our own tools and external outlets to try to reach as many producers as possible with information on how to give their input. ABP invested $20,000 in other print and digital publications to make individual producers aware consultations were taking place and ensure they had the opportunity to have their say on them.

The Beef Code of Practice builds consumer confidence in our product by reinforcing the industry’s commitment to treating animals right. While the Code is voluntary, it contains guidelines for producers to follow. Producers are generally already following these guidelines, and the latest version didn’t have big changes, but there were some areas we felt needed attention.

The Interprovincial Trade consultations are a good first step in addressing unrealized processor capacity interprovincially from the federal and provincial governments, along with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. ABP chair Doug Roxburgh believes it’s important to identify underutilized capacity in order to develop an approach for meeting access demand without impacting exports.

The updates to Canada’s Enhanced Feed Ban include changes to the management of specified risk material (SRM) that reflect Canada’s negligible BSE risk status and current scientific understanding. The goal is to harmonize our regulations with those in the U.S., something we’ve been seeking for years.

ABP has also been extremely active with several working groups. There’s the Eastern Slopes Coal Development Working Group, the provincial groups working on the CCA situation, plus the Traceability Working Group. It’s not typical to have so many groups active all at once, and it’s been a huge strain on our resources. We’ve invested significantly in these efforts in the last two fiscal years.

You can read more about these working groups elsewhere in this issue, but we’ll give a brief overview of what each group has been doing here.

The ABP Coal Group has worked with other organizations on policy or industrial development which could be applied to other areas of the province as well. You can see the policy on page 61.

After several meetings with all of the provinces and then the CCA, the Provincial Working Group brought forward new bylaws, which were approved in principle at the March CCA Annual General Meeting, considered by the CCA and the Provincial Member Council, and further revised. The CCA board approved the bylaw changes at the Semi-Annual Meeting in Manitoba last month. See page 60 for a summary of the new bylaws, which will be reviewed with producers at the ABP meetings this fall. The process has gone very well, with the provinces all having an opportunity to find what works for everyone. It’s not perfect, but the changes represent a huge step forward in all the areas of concern ABP had when we announced our withdrawal from CCA.

For the Traceability Working Group, we brought together beef producers and elected ABP delegates with differing opinions about the traceability conversation over the course of the summer. Also on the group are representatives of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Chief Provincial Veterinarian, along with the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association, Western Stock Growers’ Association, Alberta Auction Markets Association, and Livestock Identification Services. We identified issues in the current system, as well as with the proposed changes, working to identify solutions that would make traceability an acceptable, valuable tool producers can embrace. Check page 60 for an update on the group’s progress.

All of this work was in addition to the regular activities ABP is involved in: marketing, beef production and extension, government relations, wildlife issues, and stakeholder relations. We continue to use ABP print and digital tools to keep producers informed, with so much going on, I encourage you to check them regularly to stay up to date.

One summer highlight was a very successful Stampede Summit. Premier Danielle Smith attended, along with provincial Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Tara Sawyer, as well as Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald, plus federal and provincial politicians of all parties, in addition to a great turnout from industry. It is becoming a very valuable opportunity for government and cattle people to come together to discuss how to make this industry more successful in the long term.

At the Summit, ABP also hosted and toured representatives from seven U.S. states for some amazing conversations on challenges faced by both countries. Attendees recognized the ongoing importance of working together, and the Americans encouraged ABP to continue these important discussions. These cross-border relationships have been developed by attending the NCBA annual meeting, and the seven states in Calgary pledged to help us as we expand the reach of our Summit talks both across the U.S. and Canada for grassroots policy development.

I’m excited to welcome our new Government Relations and Policy lead to the ABP Team, Mikayla Janssen.

Looking ahead, just a reminder that we listened to extensive producer feedback and have moved our ABP Producer Meetings back to the fall. They’ll be taking place this October and November, with the AGM at the beginning of December, at the Red Deer Resort and Casino. Watch your mailboxes for more information, or go to ABPDaily.com or albertabeef.org. The AGM will be available online again.

It’s been an extremely interesting year as we navigate these conversations, especially with our southern neighbours. ABP has been very active in an ever-increasing number of issues. We are encouraged to see a significant decrease in refund requests and are hoping that’s in direct correlation to the value producers are seeing from the organization. We’ve put a lot of investment into increasing our skills and programming at ABP over the last two years to meet the challenges ahead of us.

This was first published in Volume 6 Issue 2 of ABP Magazine (September 2026). Watch for more digital content from the magazine on ABP Daily