The 2024 federal budget came down on April 16 and it’s clear our advocacy efforts are making a difference.
In late March, the government announced the advanced payment program will have a $250,000 interest-free limit for the 2024 program year. We are also glad to see that the government will continue to review the advanced payment program to improve program delivery and reduce the administrative burden for producers. We have farms and ranches to tend to and the less paperwork, the better. Without this push, the amount would have reverted to $100,000. We will keep pursuing multi-year interest-free commitments rather than year-to-year changes.
We are also cautiously optimistic that the government recognized the livestock tax deferral’s effectiveness in providing relief for producers in the budget and recognized it as a crucial tool for producers in times of natural disasters such as drought or floods. The CCA has also requested a change to the Income Tax Act to include all classes of cattle and to allow producers to self-elect when they need to use the deferral.
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After years of advocacy, we are cautiously optimistic that the government will work quickly in partnership with the beef sector to design a framework that addresses the weather-related challenges beef producers are facing. This can’t happen quickly enough.
Changes to capital gains in the budget have the potential to be negative for producers and time will tell how exactly the proposed changes will have an impact on us. The fuel tax credit proposed for 2019 to 2024 also could be promising for ranchers and farmers, but the amount of red tape required to qualify has not yet been laid out. Our staff will be further assessing these potential opportunities and will continue to advocate for relief and positive supports as they are brought forward for official government approval.
More positive news is the government’s supporting efforts to amend the Copyright Act to help achieve interoperability between devices and equipment. We look forward to taking part in consultations in June and to seeing more details announced shortly.
South of the border, we’re keeping the communication lines wide open with our U.S. counterparts on all fronts, including anything that is affecting beef herds down south. The Voluntary Product of USA labelling announcement happened in April but doesn’t go into effect until 2026 so we won’t be able to assess any effects it may have on Canadian beef until at least some time after that. We are also working with CFIA and keeping a very close eye on what’s happening in the dairy industry with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. It hasn’t been reported in any cattle (dairy or beef) in Canada, but rest assured that our CCA team is on top of the latest scientific developments on this issue.
In April we travelled to South Korea and in May we’ll spend some time in the Indo-Pacific to cultivate trade relationships and pave the way for increased trade opportunities.
It’s shaping up to be a better spring than last year and strong market signals indicate growth potential for producers.
We hope you’ve had a successful calving season and encourage herd growth so we can try to keep up with demand for our quality Canadian beef at home and abroad. We’ll pave the way for more markets, and we hope conditions support increased production to meet these opportunities.
Lastly, on behalf of the entire CCA board, I would like to thank our outgoing representatives and welcome our new board representatives for 2024-25. Your contributions are valued and appreciated, and we are thankful for your time served. Along with myself as president, the executive includes Tyler Fulton (Manitoba) as vice-president, Bob Lowe (Alberta) as past president, as well as Jack Chaffe (Ontario)and Kirk Jackson (Quebec) as officers. Rounding out the board are Renee Ardill and Larry Rast (B.C.); Jim Bowhay, Jake Bueckert, Sheila Hillmer, Graham Overguard, Doug Roxburgh, Curtis Vander Heyden and Miles Wowk (Alberta); Karla Hicks, Philip Lynn, Lynn Grant and Ryan Beierbach (Saskatchewan); Matthew Atkinson, Mike Duguid and Arvid Nottveit (Manitoba); Craig McLaughlin, Matt Bowman and Jason Leblond (Ontario); Philippe Alain (Quebec), Victor Oulton (Nova Scotia) and Kevin Simmons (P.E.I.).
