After the BSE crisis devastated the Canadian cattle industry in 2003, producers say eight years later, they are finally starting to see a turnaround.
“This fall will be the first profitable time that some producers have seen for a long time,” Jack Hextall, Chairperson of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association said.
Hextall farms near Grenfell, Sask. and says the years after the crisis were very difficult.
“It was unprofitable,” he said. “There was a lot of equity being lost and it was just tough to make a living in it.”
Hextall says many people chose to get out of the industry shortly after the crisis began. For those who decided to stay, it has been an uphill battle.
“It was very, very lean,” Ryan Sommerfeld from Medstead, Sask. said. “You lived as minimally as you could in every area.”
As a kid Sommerfeld helped on the family farm and in 2001 he began making a career out of it, however, he only got in one good year before BSE hit.
The border was closed to beef exports and stricter controls on the industry were put in place, but Sommerfeld decided to stay on the farm.
“I guess it was the enjoyment and the love of the industry,” he explained. “We always hoped it would get better.”
And it has. Sommerfeld is happy he stayed with cattle producing.
“Now it's looking like our efforts are going to pay off,” he explained.
Feed lots also lost a lot of money during the crisis because there was a lot of fear about buying beef. Now that things are starting to turn around, Brad Welter from Pound-Maker Agventures says he can see a silver lining from BSE; including improvements to the way cattle is traced.
“It has brought the industry together; it has moved ahead our traceability,” Welter said.
This year there are fewer cattle in North America, which has increased livestock prices. A lower number of cattle is due in part to a drought in Texas as well as fewer producers.
Producers say while that means beef prices could be on the rise for consumers, it is also providing much needed optimism for those who stuck with the industry through thick and thin.
“Producers, especially this year while the prices are good, are seeing this as an opportunity to get out, and that's good,” Hextall explained. “They can get out with some money in their pocket.”
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