Region entrepreneurs making headway in agri-food sector
kgousseau@medicinehatnews.com
Local entrepreneurs are seizing some of the many opportunities in southeast Alberta’s growing agri- food sector.
Deerview Meats is preparing to open a state-of- the-art processing plant in the Irvine, Alta. area. The facility will be the only one of its kind in southeast Alberta.
Once constructed, the 9,300-square foot provincially inspected facility will process beef, pork, lamb, bison and domestic deer from across southeast Alberta.
“With the type of facility that I'm creating, I'm capable of working with any market,” said Perry Deering, owner of Deerview Meats.
“Anyone who wants to start their own market, I'm the window that will allow them to move forward.”
While Lakeside Packers in Brooks is focused on commercial beef processing, the Deerview Meats facility will cater to smaller livestock operations, such as organic farms and gate-to-plate businesses.
At full capacity, the abattoir will be able to process 50 animals a week.
Deerview Meats aims to start production at the plant in April.
Another success story in southeast Alberta’s agri- food sector is that of TLC Farms in Whitla, Alta.
Over the past decade, owners Lynn and Alastair Olsen have transformed the operation from an underperforming hog, grain and cow/calf farm to a value-added agri-food business.
TLC Farms produces and sells a variety of beef, buffalo, poultry, pork, lamb, fruits and vegetables.
The company’s all-natural products include custom cuts of meat, ready-made meals, sausage, jerky and pet treats.
“People want to know where their product is being grown and how it is being grown,” says Lynn Olsen. “We do it the old way, before they brought
the chemicals and the growth hormones into the industry.”
She says today’s producers need to take advantage of value-added opportunities to maximize profits in the tough agricultural industry.
“I would like to hope that a lot of the farmers will go in this direction,” Olsen says. “But it’s going to take a long time.”
Education is a key aspect of developing agri-food opportunities in the region, says Caroline Grover, executive director of the Economic Development Alliance of Southeast Alberta.
“It’s an educational process,” she says. “For people to make the investment in (agri-food opportunities), they need to appreciate that there is a business case there.”
Through recent research, the Palliser Economic Partnership has identified several agri-food opportunities in southeast Alberta.
One area of potential is in the processing of pulse crops, such as peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas and faba beans.
Grover says there is currently growing demand for pulse products in China, India and South America.
“The pulses can actually be dried out and then easily shipped to countries like South America,” Grover says. “These countries just need to add water and they have a high-protein paste.”
She says Southeast Alberta could take advantage of the opportunities in the pulse sector by developing facilities to grind, bag, store and ship the products.
Another agri-food opportunity in southeast Alberta is agricultural tourism. According to the Palliser Economic Partnership, agricultural tourism has been gaining in popularity as more tourists seek out western-themed vacations.
Provincial statistics show that on average, Albertans participate in about three agricultural tourism activities each year.
kgousseau@medicinehatnews.com
After getting trampled by the strong loonie and rising feed costs in 2009, southeast Alberta’s cattle industry is anticipating higher margins in 2010.
By all accounts, 2009 was lean year. Several reasons were to blame. The high Canadian dollar eroded profits. Feed costs soared as drought swept across the Prairies, and country of origin labelling (COOL) requirements in the U.S. made margins even thinner.
“We’re pretty happy to see 2009 off the calendar,” said James MacLean of Porter and MacLean Livestock Management Inc. in Medicine Hat.
In 2009, the first full year COOL had been in effect, Canadian exports of live cattle and calves dropped more than 30 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
Meanwhile, cattle and calf slaughter levels in Canada were down 3.7 per cent from the previous year.
“The guys taking them to the plants are getting their butts handed to them right now,” says MacLean, who notes that the high flying loonie is largely to blame.
Farm inventories of cattle reached the lowest level in 15 years in 2009, StatsCan says. Canadian cattle producers reported 13 million head in January 2010, down 1.3 per cent from a year earlier.
MacLean says he witnessed a similar trend in the Medicine Hat area in 2009. “There’s been a lot of guys who just sell the cows, they’ve had enough,” he says.
“The average age of someone in agriculture is in their 60s. They’ve definitely paid their dues, and when they’re still not able to sustain a small amount of profit for the effort, then they’re prepared to step aside.”
The situation is much the same in the Brooks area, according to the Bow Slope Shipping Association, the largest producer-owned livestock market in Alberta.
“There is a lot of frustration out there at the producer level and that’s why we’re losing these cattle,” says Rod MacLean, an orderer and buyer at Bow Slope.
He says much of that frustration stems from the COOL regulations and provincial and federal red tape.
“There’s too much government involvement,” says Rod MacLean. “Common sense has evaded us in this industry. We have to get back to that and quit wasting money.”
Deerview Meats
Despite the cattle industry’s extended woes, calf prices edged up in 2009 compared to the previous year. And Rod MacLean predicts more good fortunes for the sector in 2010.
“I do see some optimism out there,” he says. “It is going to get better.”
REPORT ON SOUTHEAST ALBERTA 2010 ■ Celebrating our Community — 85
Cattle industry looking forward to better times
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