Message from the President

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Rob Lipsett BFO PRESIDENT

I was elected President of the Beef Farmers of Ontario in February last year. As I reflect back on the year that was, I recognize that my role as president was not to steer the ship in a new direction from that of my predecessors, nor to park it in a safe harbour. I saw my role as one to ensure Ontario’s beef industry remained viable and sustainable, and that was a challenge I embraced and looked forward to. However, the global pandemic added a new dimension to my role: leading through uncertainty.

The impact of the global pandemic was far reaching in 2020 and presented many disruptions and challenges for so many sectors, from tourism and hospitality to education and manufacturing. Canada’s beef industry and the agri-food sector weren’t spared from impact. For Ontario’s beef farmers, trouble began in the fall of 2019 with the closure of Ryding-Regency and the resulting loss of federal processing capacity in the province. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March compounded that pressure for farmers. Fortunately, processing facilities in Ontario were not affected by any COVID-19 outbreaks in the spring, but we finished 2020 with the temporary closure of Cargill Meat Solutions in Guelph, eastern Canada’s largest federal processing facility, as a result of a number of positive cases among their workforce. Other plants were also victim to the spread of COVID-19, which affected production, compounding the problem.

Addressing the lack of processing capacity in eastern Canada has been one of our top priorities since the Wynne and Harper governments. In March last year, we raised the alarm regarding the economic crisis facing our industry and brought an urgent request to Ottawa for federal assistance. A perfect storm of market and trade disruptions caused average weekly losses of $2 million over the past year in the Ontario beef industry, putting Ontario’s beef farms at a tipping point. Cattle processing capacity and bottlenecks in the value chain have been a growing problem, with processing plant utilization up from 85 per cent in 2016 to 95 per cent in 2018 to over 100 per cent during peak periods throughout 2019 and into 2020. As a result, access to processing space was limited, and prices for finished cattle remained below breakeven prices for the vast majority of the year.

Facing these losses without access to sufficient government-supported insurance backstops typically provided to other sectors by well-funded business risk management programs, Ontario’s beef farmers needed relief. BFO’s request for federal assistance last winter/spring included business risk management funding to address the shortfall in current programming and a cattle “set-aside program” to help spread out cattle sales, which would serve as temporary measures to help restore some of the competitive balance in the marketplace until more permanent, long-term solutions can be implemented. In June, BFO welcomed an announcement by federal and provincial ministers of the creation of a cattle setaside program for Ontario to allocate $5 million to the beef sector to help manage potential backlogs in processing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, the province shared some good news by announcing they would contribute an additional $50 million across the Risk Management Program sectors for the 2020 program year, fulfilling in part a campaign commitment by the Conservative Party.

Coming out of the fall federal-provincialterritorial ministers of agriculture meeting in late November, Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau committed to improving AgriStability by removing the reference margin limit and increasing compensation rates to 80 per cent from 70 per cent. While we were

disappointed that a firm commitment could not be made on all our asks regarding AgriStability, we remain hopeful that progress will be made to ensure producers are soon provided with additional risk management protection.

Also in late November, the governments of Canada and Ontario made a financial commitment of $4 million through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership for a new “Meat Processors Capacity Improvement Initiative”, providing up to $150,000 per project for improvements to product handling and processing equipment at Ontario’s meat processors and abattoirs.

While we rally to keep our farm businesses and respective sectors sustainable, consumers appear to be taking more interest in farming and recognizing the importance of everyone along the food value chain. On that note, we were pleased to finally see Cargill Guelph certified to deliver the Certified Sustainable Beef Framework under the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB). The expansion to Cargill’s Guelph facility triggered the start of financial credits being applied to qualifying cattle, rewarding producers who have fulfilled CRSB sustainability requirements. BFO was pleased to be involved in the delivery of the Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program, a delivery agent for the CRSB program, and to support Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association’s (OCFA) efforts to seek approval for the Ontario Corn Fed Beef Quality Assurance Program as a certification body under the framework. With OCFA’s certification now complete, a significant volume of Ontario cattle will be positioned to take advantage of the sustainable beef program.

The focus of our consumer engagement program in 2020 was getting our content in-market, building relationships with influencers and partners, and continuing to build the Ontario Beef brand story with the public. Fortunately, the vast majority of our new strategy was designed to be carried out digitally, so when the pandemic hit, we were able to execute the majority of our strategy as planned, and have done so with excellent results.

More than ever, we understand the critical importance of maintaining a steady and reliable food supply and protecting the safety of those who feed us. We closed the year with an announcement by the Ontario government of the proclamation of the Security from Trespass and Protecting Food Safety Act, 2020. The Act will protect Ontario’s food supply chain without infringing on the right to peacefully protest and, in conjunction with the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act (PAWS), 2019, ensure animals are protected and cared for properly. Ontario’s farm and commodity groups applaud the efforts of Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Ernie Hardeman and the provincial government for working diligently with us to support the needs of Ontario’s food producers.

We recognize our sector is not always a diverse industry, particularly at the farmer and association level. Throughout our supply chain, however, there is a great amount of diversity among the people dedicated to ensuring our product makes it to the tables of consumers. Likewise, our consumers are another incredibly diverse group from all walks of life who are integral to the success of our sector. I am proud to say that the BFO Board of Directors has endorsed the creation and adoption of a statement of values on diversity, equity and inclusion that can be found on the BFO website.

Our statement includes a number of ways in which we are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, including but not limited to listening and learning, speaking up against prejudice and discriminatory language, behaviour and actions, better understanding how policies and programs related to agriculture affect Indigenous communities, working collaboratively with others more knowledgeable than us on fighting discrimination, and evolving as we learn. Publicly sharing our commitments through a statement of values is just the first step in the direction of progress. Diversity, equity and inclusion and how it plays into our activities will be part of conversations and decisions at the board and staff levels moving forward. We know we must action our words.

The BFO Board of Directors and staff are actively looking at our own organization and current activities to see where we can do better and how we can weave education and advocacy around diversity, equity and inclusion into existing activities and programing. We are also looking at other ideas, initiatives, organizations or activities to support or partner on to put our commitment into action. We will continue to strongly support community organizations like Feed Ontario, AgScape and 4-H that we know provide important service, support, education and programing to diverse communities all across the province. As we listen and learn, our commitments and actions will continue to develop over time as we work to evolve the culture within the beef industry and broader agri-food sector to be more welcoming to and supportive of all members of our communities.

BFO’s annual general meeting is an event I look forward to each year because it’s an opportunity for us to connect with beef producers from across the province, industry sponsors and stakeholders, and key allies to exchange ideas on how to strengthen Ontario’s beef industry. BFO staff have done a great job planning a virtual event for BFO’s 59th AGM on February 17 and 18, 2021. While we will miss the face-to-face experience due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this virtual gathering of our industry members provides a forum for reflecting on the hardships of 2020, the achievements of the past year despite the limitations due to COVID-19, and the opportunities that lie ahead in the face of these challenging times. Leading through uncertainty is daunting, difficult and demanding, but as Winston Churchill once said, “difficulties mastered are opportunities won.”