PEI Cattle Producers

2018 a challenge for Island producers

Brian Morrison remembered

by Rinnie Bradley

Mother Nature has thrown a lot at us in terms of weather extremes in 2018! Producers had to face almost every conceivable weather challenge this year. There was a late frost in spring that killed off the blossoms in the fruit crops, followed by an extremely dry summer, and one of the worst autumn seasons on record in terms of an early frost, rainfall, freezing temperatures, and snow. The swift onset of winter caught many people unprepared and left approximately 10 percent of the P.E.I. potato crop unharvested, and acres and acres of soybeans and corn standing in foot-deep snow. Only favourable conditions will allow the harvest of the corn crop but it’s doubtful any soybeans still standing are salvageable.

Sarah Flack

In November, livestock producers were treated to a presentation by Sarah Flack who was speaking at the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN) Conference in Charlottetown. Flack’s presentation was on forage management with a focus on grazing management, different forage species for pasture and silage production, and using forages to aid in parasite control. As always, her talk was very informative. She spent a good part of her presentation focusing on the frequency and duration of grazing using a rotational system. She wrapped up her presentation by illustrating the financial benefit of extended grazing through the reduction of feed costs. Producers were invited to attend the session where she provided more detail on these and other topics. Flack is a frequent and well-respected presenter on the Island and it was interesting to hear her make several comments about the changes she has noticed in the climate since she began coming to P.E.I. a number of years ago. There is little doubt climate change is impacting our region, something producers should take into consideration. A well-managed pasture is more likely to withstand the effects of drought and cool winter temperatures than one that isn’t.

Flack invited producers to check out her website, www.sarahflackconsulting.com, for educational videos and information on her new book titled The Art and Science of Grazing.

District meetings

The Fall District Meetings were held across the Island in November. In conjunction with an industry update, producers were provided with a Verified Beef Production (VBP+) Workshop. The workshop is the first step in the process to get registered under the VBP+ program. Verified Beef Production is a program that enables industry to demonstrate to consumers that they are producing beef safely and responsibly and have the records to prove it. As I mentioned in my previous article, Atlantic Beef Products is offering a two-cent premium for cattle from VBP+ Registered farms that grade AAA and have a carcass weight between 750-950 lbs.

If you are interested in becoming registered under the VBP+ program, there are three easy steps to get you there. First, let us know you are interested by calling the office. Amanda Miller will send out a VBP+ Enrollment form as well as VBP On-Farm Food Safety Self Assessment form. The information they provide will help us prepare you for your audit. Second, get a Third Party VBP+ Audit. This independent audit is required to ensure you are eligible to be part of the VBP+ program, and third, once you have your audit and have met all requirements, you must maintain registered status by submitting either a sampling of your records or completing a self declaration annually. Keep in mind that records are an important part of the VBP+ program. We require six months of records for a cow-calf producer and three months for a feedlot operator before the audit can be done.

We are seeing more and more producer levies being paid. Thank you! We covered the topic of levies at our Fall District Meetings. However, if you missed them and you still have questions, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 902-368-2229. Information on the levy as well as the forms to remit the levy are available on the Levies tab on our website, www.peicattleproducers.com.

Brian Morrison

The P.E.I. Cattle Producers board and staff were deeply saddened by the loss of their dear friend and former colleague, Brian Morrison. Brian, with his wife Krista, their children Kaitlyn and Ben and other family members, operated the third-generation farm, Morrison Farms Inc. in Linkletter, P.E.I.

Brian was chair of the P.E.I. Cattle Producers for four years and served on the board for six. He also served on the board of the Maritime Beef Council. Brian was instrumental in the development and launch of the Certified Island Beef brand, a premium brand produced in the Maritimes.

Brian’s optimism, patience, and determination were leadership qualities he embodied throughout his time working on behalf of the Island’s beef industry. His influence will be felt by his fellow producers, PEICP directors, and staff for many years to come.

(Rinnie Bradley is the executive director of the P.E.I. Cattle Producers. She can be reached at 902-368-2229 or by email at cattlemen@eastlink.ca.)

Sheep Producers Association of Nova Scotia

Workshops, All Canada Classics contribute to busy year for SPANS

by Fred Hamilton

This year has been very busy for the Sheep Producers’ Association of Nova Scotia (SPANS) as we have taken on a number of workshops such as parasite identification with Gwyneth Jones, and lamb survival and ewe nutrition workshops with Jonathan Wort from Perennia.

We’d like to thank the Sheep Producers of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Co-operative Woolgrowers Ltd. for their generous support and sponsorship of the wool events associated with the recent All Canada Sheep Classic in Truro. The Fleece Competition and Sale during the Classic and the Wool Handling and Evaluation course were both deemed to be quite successful. We were happy to have 26 fleeces entered by 15 flock owners, and we accommodated ram fleece entries for the first time by opening a new class.

We congratulate Rhonda and Ian McCarron of Brook Ridge Farm in Brierly Brook, N.S., for being the first Canadian Verified Sheep Program (CVSP) certified farm in the country! We are very proud of them and wish to thank them for making the effort and putting in all the work to reach this milestone.

We are making some changes to our board and we’d like to thank our retiring board member Jerry Graham. He has dedicated his time to the SPANS board during the last few years. We warmly welcome Marie Ouimet and Andy Hebda to the board for their three-year terms.

As a friendly reminder to producers, as of Dec. 1, 2018, antibiotics will no longer be available for use on farms unless they are prescribed by a veterinarian. As a farmer in Canada you must have a working relationship with a veterinarian in order to get a prescription for an antibiotic, to purchase it, and to administer it to your livestock. You will no longer be able to purchase antibiotics and products containing antibiotics over the counter in feed and farm supply stores.

In closing, we would like to invite all producers to our upcoming workshops. Jonathan Wort, a ruminant specialist with Perennia, will discuss some tips and guidelines to help improve lamb survival rates. These include treating lambs suffering from hypothermia. The workshops will be held on Jan. 21 in Antigonish and in Bridgewater on Jan. 22 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. They will focus on colostrum quality, warming boxes, stomach tubing, intraperitoneal injections, and benchmarking your lambing. Please RSVP to Jena by Jan. 17, 2019 at 902-897-6742.

(Fred Hamilton is the president of SPANS. For any questions, comments or concerns, please contact the SPANS office at 902-893-7455 or email novascotiasheep@gmail.com.)

NS Cattle Producers

Beef promoted at international curling championship

by Larry Weatherby

In October, the Nova Scotia Cattle Producers partnered with Canada Beef, the Maritime Beef Council, and Atlantic Beef Products to promote beef at the Pinty’s Master Championship in Truro. Canada Beef was a title sponsor for two of the best curling teams in the world – Team Kevin Koe from Edmonton and Team Rachel Homan from Ottawa. As a title sponsor of major sporting events, Canada Beef worked with the Maritime Beef Council (N.S., N.B., and P.E.I. Cattle Producers) to promote beef to the thousands of consumers who attend the events. Other event highlights were a beef information booth and a community beef picnic held on Oct. 25 at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre. The picnic included talks from sponsored curlers on why they choose beef as their preferred protein.

In November, we held a workshop on bob calves, covering what to do with them and how to maximize price. The workshop was presented in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health. Guest speakers were Dr. Dave Kelton, DVM, and Dr. Frank Schenkels, DVM, from Fundy Veterinarians Ltd. The workshop was well received and was used to update veterinarians, producers, and livestock dealers on the importance of calf health and potential market gains.

The NSCP would like to congratulate Pat and Larry Ward from Willow Pond Farm in Middle Musquodoboit for being a finalist for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association’s national environmental stewardship award that was presented at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in London, Ontario.

We want to remind producers that as of Dec. 1 this year, antibiotics will no longer be available for use on farms unless they are prescribed by a veterinarian. Health Canada is implementing changes to the regulations that control access to and the use of antibiotics in livestock. Beginning Dec. 1, 2018 all livestock producers will need a prescription from a licensed veterinarian in order to buy medically important antibiotics for treating their animals. Over the counter sales of antibiotics will no longer be allowed at places like feed stores. This means that as a producer, if you don’t already have a veterinary-client-patient relationship (VCPR) you need to establish one. Jonathan Wort of Perennia has provided a good overview of this in our newsletter, and we will be working with vets to host workshops to ensure producers are aware of the new requirements. For more information, including a fact sheet the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) has created, visit www.beefresearch.ca and search VCPR from the homepage.

In closing, we would like to invite all producers to our upcoming zone meetings. These meetings will provide producers with the opportunity to give feedback directly to the NSCP board on policy and programming for the coming year. We are pleased to announce that Dr. Claire Windeyer will be back in Nova Scotia in January to participate in all zone meetings. Dr. Windeyer will follow-up on her early calf health presentation from last year in an interactive workshop designed to help producers solve real-life calf health challenges.

NB Cattle Producers

VBP+, ABP price premium, insurance, and beef schools highlight meetings

by Allison Finnamore

The New Brunswick Cattle Producers (NBCP) wrapped up its annual regional meetings earlier this fall. Eight regions gathered for a combined five meetings throughout the province, which drew approximately 80 producers.

Working towards VBP+

Forage management and Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) workshops were held in conjunction with the regional meetings. Jane Morrigan of Integrity Livestock was a keynote speaker at the workshops. An expert in humane livestock handling and trained by Dr. Temple Grandin, Morrigan is an instructor in animal welfare at Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture and a red meat plant animal auditor. She shared her insight with the NBCP members on making the move to VBP+ and on steps to obtaining Certified Island Beef (CIB) certification with Atlantic Beef Products.

Atlantic Beef Products price premium

The timing of the presentation fits well with a recent announcement by Atlantic Beef Products (ABP) of their two-cent-per-pound premium to feedlots for VBP+ products. ABP president Russ Mallard told the NBCP earlier this fall that larger restaurants and grocery stores now want VBP+ beef and are willing to pay a higher price in order to tell customers the good news stories of Canadian farmers. While ABP doesn’t have any customers requesting VBP+ beef yet, Mallard wants to be ready and have product available when the requests come in. In the meantime, he says, the premium price is coming out of ABP coffers.

“We just decided to offer this out to our producers – feedlots only – to finished cattle,” Mallard said. “It will promote more producers to document, for a large part, what they are doing already. It’s an incentive to them.”

He said the premium is available on 750-pounds and up, AAA animals.

Antibiotic Changes

NBCP staff met recently with the province’s head veterinarian and president of the New Brunswick Veterinary Medical Association to discuss the regulatory changes around access to livestock antibiotics coming into effect Dec. 1. A committee has been formed and will continue to work together with industry to educate producers and support the development of veterinarian-client-patient relationships that will be necessary in order to obtain livestock antibiotic prescriptions after Dec. 1, 2018.

Health Canada implemented the changes to the regulations that control access to the use and access of antibiotics in livestock. Beginning Dec. 1, all livestock producers will need a prescription from a licensed veterinarian before purchasing medically important antibiotics for treating livestock. Over-the-counter sales of antibiotics will no longer be available at traditional outlets, such as feed stores and if a veterinary-client-patient relationship (VCPR) is not already set up, one will need to be established in order for a prescription to be provided. Producers are encouraged to book an appointment with their veterinarian in order to solidify the needed VCPR.

Price Insurance

Through the Maritime Beef Council, the NBCP will continue to work with partners at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA), CanFax, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to explore options for a price risk mitigation program applicable to Maritime producers. The group explored a number of opportunities, but due to the varied nature of current price risk models that operate in the Prairies, in Ontario, and in Quebec, there are challenges to creating a Maritime model. The fact that the Maritimes are relatively small in livestock numbers throughout the entire industry plays a role in the model development. The NBCP will continue to work with the Maritime Beef Council to explore how to best develop a price risk mitigation program, and will continue participating in the working group comprised of producers, academia, CCA, and CanFax to continue to move the issue forward to resolution.

Beef School

Maritime Beef School sessions are scheduled to begin in the spring. The modules, all focused on the Maritime Beef Growth Strategy, will help producers enhance their skillset and set them up to participate in the growth plan. Topics for the first sessions are Herd Procurement and Replenishment and Feeding and Nutrition Management. Other upcoming sessions are: Pasture Feeding Systems; Breeding Strategies, Breeding for the Target Market, Calving Seasons, Bull Management; Herd Health Management; Marketing Strategies, Value Chain Management, Dairy Beef, and Farm Business Management.

Leadership Development

The NBCP board of directors recognizes the need to cultivate leadership within the organization, especially as the Maritime Beef Sector Growth Strategy continues. In an effort to encourage youth leadership and to increase engagement with youth, a two-day board governance and leadership development course with all three Maritime beef organization boards and the regional Young Farmer membership will be held in Debert, N.S., Dec. 18 and 19. The NBCP board of directors says it recognizes future leadership will be fundamental to the success of the growth strategy, and it takes youth engagement and development seriously.

The local youth leadership and engagement session is in addition to the NBCP’s continued support of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association’s Young Leaders’ Program, which allows young leaders from across the country, including the Maritimes, to participate in national leadership development.