Highlights from the Chair

As we come to the end of 2025, I’m sure you’re wondering what the new year holds for Alberta Beef Producers and its relationship with the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA).

I am pleased to report that significant progress has been made since our August announcement of the intention of ABP to withdraw from the national organization in 2026.

We met with all nine member provinces in Quebec during the CCA semi-annual meeting in September. From there, we formed a working group. (The joint letter of the Position from the Provincial Members on CCA representation was on page 17 of the fall issue of the ABP magazine.) Recently, this group conducted an extensive process to hire a facilitator. All parties agreed on the selection of a Saskatchewan-based firm, which has been busy doing interviews with each province separately. They are compiling details on individual member provinces’ thoughts about possible changes to the CCA and how they see the CCA going forward. From that work, the chairs and general managers of each of the member provinces will form a list of top priorities at a Toronto meeting on December 8 and 9. We’ll be presenting recommendations for changes we want to see ahead of the March CCA annual meeting in Ottawa.

We’re looking forward to a lot of great dialogue and open discussion from all provinces through this process. We believe it will transform the talks from a situation in which ABP might withdraw from the CCA, to an overall review, which hasn’t been done in many years. Several other provinces voiced concerns within their own organizations regarding CCA, so when we came together, it quickly turned into a discussion about how to help improve the way CCA operates going forward.

I recognize there has been criticism of our timing with this review, in light of the fact that the CCA is undergoing a search for a new CEO with Dennis Laycraft’s retirement. I’ve heard fears that it’s a complication which may hinder some applicants’ interest. But I would counter that the right person for the role is someone who sees there are challenges, and desires to bring about solutions or ideas on how best to meet them, to build a stronger national organization.

Rounding the corner and heading into 2026, tariffs are likely to remain a key issue in our cattle business. We have a key meeting in February at the NCBA meeting in Nashville with representatives from states that are important partners with Canada to discuss our interconnected patterns of trading. There will be more to come on that as we draw closer to NCBA.

Our ABP Producer Meetings are coming up in the next two months. These are vital to our organization, and a way for you to provide vital feedback on policy and issues you’re facing. I encourage you to come to these meetings with an open mind. Learn about what has transpired. A lot has gone on over the last year. We’ve worked extremely hard to build better collaborations with other Alberta beef industry associations.

It is also important to note we have added a few more locations and meetings to make them more accessible for producers who felt they had to drive farther last time. It’s still not going to cover everybody. This province is huge, and we understand there may still be some less-covered zones. But we spent a lot of time as a board and executive mapping out where the cow numbers are and where meetings would be the best fit. With everything going on in our industry, now more than ever is an important time to get involved and come out to participate in our Producer Meetings.

A highlight this fall came through our partnership with Farmfair International in Edmonton. We had a good turnout of politicians and government officials, including Conservative Agriculture Critic and Foothills MP John Barlow, who even helped congratulate the Champion Simmental female in the showring. Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation Minister RJ Sigurdson also attended the Farmfair International reception, along with Deputy Minister Jason Hale. I had the opportunity to speak at the reception as well.

Within ABP, our traditional focus has been on the commercial cow-calf and feeding sectors, and it’s been a bit of a struggle to understand how we can best serve the purebred industry. ABP has identified that as an area for improvement, and we’ve started to put strategic plans together to help grow and develop some of the purebred sector work. Part of that was inviting government officials to visit events like Farmfair, and witness how much international trade is happening today. It was an opportunity for them to meet with international partners, from places including Mexico, New Zealand and Australia. We are working with federal and provincial governments to start to figure out how we could do a better job of improving trade, not just with boxed beef, but also with genetics—embryos, breeding females, and semen.

This fall in Alberta, we ran a long stretch without significant moisture, which can certainly create concern. But it also gave producers a chance to spend time on their own infrastructure, while also getting calves weaned and taken to town to take advantage of these incredibly strong fall markets. We’ve again seen record-high sale prices on calves, so hopefully producers were able to put a few dollars in their pockets, as well as make some improvements around home during the open fall season to strengthen their operations heading into next year and the years to come.

On behalf of the ABP board and staff, I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2026. We look forward to seeing you at the Producer Meetings starting in January.

This was first published in Volume 5 Issue 4 of ABP Magazine (Winter 2025). Watch for more digital content from the magazine on ABP Daily.