Looking Ahead to 2026: Key Conversations for Alberta Producers

As we move into 2026, it’s clear there will be interesting conversations ahead for Alberta beef producers.

At the beginning of December, we saw the start of an influx of feedback surrounding traceability regulations and the now paused proposed changes. Our initial response was to host a meeting with the Alberta Beef Producers board of directors, Saskatchewan’s board of directors, and representations from numerous other provinces and associations from Western Canada.

At that presentation, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) shared a high-level overview of what to expect in the proposed new traceability regulations. That was followed by the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) doing a presentation on tools being developed to help accommodate the new rules.

Both of those presentations were recorded and are available on albertabeef.org and ABP Daily.

Producers across the province are sharing diverse opinions on how those traceability regulations are going to affect them, and our annual Producer Meetings have provided an opportunity to engage with producers on the issue. While there is official ABP business we still need to conduct at these meetings required by the Commission under our bylaws, we have been starting off every Producer Meeting with a traceability conversation, where producers can share their thoughts on the issue.

Once all the meetings wrap up, we’ll compile the information gathered to have a discussion at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 3.

We’ve had strong attendance at the meetings so far, and we look forward to sharing producer views with our national organizations. The discussions will help us formulate how ABP develops its consultation going forward on the new regulations.

Trade is another key topic for the year ahead with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) Agreement up for review. Over the last several years, ABP delegates attending the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s annual meeting have been developing relationships with various states. At this year’s meeting in Nashville, we were excited to have conversations regarding our integrated cattle industry.

This included a meeting hosted by Alberta Beef Producers, with representatives from state cattle organizations, along with major processors, and some of our provincial counterparts. We discussed how trade affects the processing sector, which impacts the feeding sector, which impacts the cow-calf sector.

Our goal throughout these trade meetings is to identify common ground in beef trade regarding CUSMA/USMCA. This will help us develop a grassroots narrative that we can share with our national groups as they advocate to our federal governments.

We’re getting a strong feeling from most of these states that they are very interested in seeing a renewed trade agreement. There’s a recognition that our beef industry is very integrated, which is a good example of a trade deal that is effective in encouraging commerce. Our Canadian industry works with the United States and Mexico, and together, we provide a strong North American market for the beef industry.

We look forward to giving you an update on the meeting in the spring magazine, and at the AGM. We are optimistic that this could be the first of potentially many discussions to come where state and provincial cattle organizations can come together and help our federal governments pave a successful path forward.

On another trade note, we are pleased to see China finally removing its ban on Canadian beef exports, and we look forward to seeing the details on how that market can be accessed again.

In our last issue of the ABP magazine, Chair Doug Roxburgh talked about the provincial working groups’ efforts to propose changes to the national organization. I’m pleased to report we had very good conversations in Toronto, where the member provinces of the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) discussed some updates that we feel could be very beneficial. We look forward to continuing to meet with our provincial counterparts over the next several months.

Once the provinces have a document for the CCA modernization plan, that document will be put forward to the ABP board of directors. If they feel comfortable taking that back to the delegate body, we will have, as a group, a discussion about the suggestions. Those talks will determine if there is a re-entry path for ABP into the CCA.

Just a reminder that as of July 1, we are out of the CCA, so the delegates and the board of directors will need to go through the process of a vote if there’s a decision to renew membership in the national organization at some date in the future. But that won’t happen until there is a feeling of comfort that the concerns of ABP have been addressed.

We would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Andrea Brocklebank, who will become the Canadian Cattle Association’s Chief Executive Officer in early March. We also want to acknowledge and thank retiring Executive Vice-President Dennis Laycraft for his many years of service to the Canadian beef industry.

The interesting conversations of 2026 have begun, and it’s been good seeing and talking with many of you already at our ABP Producer Meetings across the province. We’ll be eager to see where the communications take us as we head toward our AGM in March.

We look forward to 2026 hopefully bringing some more moisture and continued strong beef prices for Alberta producers.

This was first published in Volume 6 Issue 1 of ABP Magazine (February 2026). Watch for more digital content from the magazine on ABP Daily.