MESSAGE FROM
THE GENERAL MANAGER BRIAN LEMON, GM MBP
MBP’s annual report is a chance to look back at the past year, to think about the successes and challenges, and also to think about priorities for the upcoming year. The story of 2018 will be a story dominated by the effects of weather, particularly drought. As producers you manage all sorts of risks on your operations and hedge your bets, plan and use your experiences to minimize risk and ensure the best possible outcomes. You are incredibly resilient and resourceful and always seem to find ways to make the best of situations. Weather is the one unpredictable risks that no amount of planning can completely avoid. The drought conditions in 2018 certainly required many difficult decisions and forced producers to consider all sorts of solutions to provide feed for their herds. That said, I continue to be amazed by the resourcefulness and resilience of our producers to make the best of the difficult drought conditions and to manage their affairs professionally and with a passion for their animal care, the environment and their families. MBP is a grassroots membership-based organization whose job is to represent and advocate for the interests of our beef producers. We rely on our members’ support and on members choosing to support our efforts through their check-off dollars. It is certainly an easy thing to say, but it is also very true that the staff and directors do not take the support for granted and we work hard to ensure we continue to have the support of producers in everything we do. Now that isn’t to say that we expect to make everyone happy all the time. We recognize there may be some producers who will take exception to something MBP did (or didn’t do), but we do hope that we are given the chance to explain our reasoning and that the greater good is being served. Equally, we hope that those producers who choose to give up their membership by requesting a refund of their check-off also give us the chance to understand why they don’t believe we are providing value to their industry. Key files this past year included our ongoing efforts to develop workable strategies related to predation, as well as resolution to the requirements for herd testing for bovine tuberculosis in the Riding Mountain Eradication Area (RMEA). These files have long been persistent irritants to our producers and progress has been very slow. It hasn’t been for a lack of effort on the part of MBP’s board and staff, but these are complicated files that involve multiple departments, and in the case of bovine TB, multiple levels of government. We did have a significant win on the bovine TB file this past year when the US Department of Agriculture announced that ― through discussions with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, they were lifting the last of the federal import restrictions on Manitoba cattle. With this announcement, Manitoba cattle are now free to enter the US without TB testing. There may still be individual state-level testing requirements, but this was a huge win for producers in the RMEA who had been testing cattle for over 20 years. MBP has sought Agriculture Canada funding going forward to ensure that we can continue to support producers in the area to make sure the disease never returns to the cattle herd. MBP also worked on many other important issues and government changes affecting our sector. These ranged from transportation rules (hours of transport, use of electronic log books), to traceability regulations, Canada’s proposed new Food Guide, provincial/municipal planning procedures, drainage regulations and agricultural Crown land allocation changes. All these are important and can directly impact our efforts to grow the sector and make producers profitable. Looking ahead to 2019, these and other issues will continue to make the role of MBP, working as your advocate, very important. The beef sector’s Verified Beef Production Plus Program (VBP+) continues to evolve. The program, initially developed as the sector’s ability to recognize sound on-farm food safety practices, has added new pillars related to animal care, the environment and biosecurity. VBP+ is the way the beef industry recognizes that our producers are “doing the right things for the right reasons.” It is the way we demonstrate to our consumers and the public that our producers deserve the
Brian Lemon
General Manager 4
2 018 R E P O R T TO M E M B E R S
Maureen Cousins Policy Analyst
public’s trust. In late 2017 Cargill launched its pilot to pay premiums back to cow/ calf producers whose cattle went all the way through the supply chain in VBP+ certified operations. In 2018 the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable (CRSB) launched its retail certification logo. The CRSB has said that VBP+ production meets their protocol requirements for application of the CRSB logo. Companies such as McDonalds jumped on side, recognizing our production methods as a marketing tool to be promoted on their products. All these changes will no doubt force some further changes to the VBP+ program and the way its delivered, as VBP+ changes from a program that producers use to document their onfarm practices to a program that Canadian (and global) retailers use as a way to promote their products. I believe there is nothing more important to the long-term growth of our sector than our ability to maintain and grow our public trust. I tend to think that our politicians, who make the regulations and rules that impede or promote our sector, are representatives of the public and respond to their concerns. Thus there is a direct linkage between the level of public trust we enjoy and the level of regulation that politicians believe they need to impose on our industry to protect the public’s interests. We need to have the public trust if we hope to reduce the regulatory burden on our industry. Public trust is gained in many direct and indirect ways. Increasingly the conservation community in Canada is recognizing the value of working with cattle producers. There was a time not long ago where some conservation groups looked to displace agriculture to try to achieve their objectives. Many are now seeing that the best way to achieve their objectives is to work with cattle producers. These same groups are increasingly becoming some of the best advocates for the sustainability of our production practices. These relationships will assist the beef industry with our public trust and pay dividends to our sector. A sign of this is the Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference being held February 19-21 in Winnipeg. The organizers asked MBP to co-chair the conference, highlighting the growing importance of the relationship between cattle producers and conservation. These types of relationships will also hopefully bring benefits to discussions about the predation issue, as well as to the concerns regarding regularized access to important wildlife lands. Important gains were made in 2018 on trade. Our sector exports approximately 45% of our production, and approximately 75% of that goes to the US. Trade is critical to our industry and efforts to grow the sector. The federal government managed to get agreement on a NAFTA renewal which brought more security to our relationship with our most important trading partner. Canada was also an initial signatory to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (the CPTTP). This brought significant and immediate tariff reductions into key markets such as Japan. These markets will be critical to our sector’s growth in that region. Finally, Canada is putting in place the program compliance at home to access the European market under CETA. Late in 2018, MBP worked with the Manitoba Veterinary Medicine Association to encourage local veterinarians to get accredited to assist producers in getting certified under the EU program to ensure their production is free of growth promotants. This is another high-value market that will offer significant opportunities to Manitoba’s producers. In closing, 2018 certainly had its share of ups and downs, but through them all the one thing that persists is our producers’ commitment to their animals, their industry and to the future. It seems the harder things sometimes get, the higher our producers rise to meet the challenges. I very much enjoy working on your behalf and trying to advance and grow the sector. On behalf of our staff (Maureen Cousins, Keith Borkowsky, Kate Cummings, Tanya Michalsky and Deb Walger), I can say we all take it very seriously and are privileged every day to work on behalf of Manitoba’s producers. I look forward to working with you and on your behalf in the coming year. Thank you.
Keith Borkowsky
Communications Coordinator
Tanya Michalsky Admin Assistant
Kate Cummings Beef Specialist
Deb Walger Finance
