My journey in the cattle industry began in southern Alberta’s Porcupine Hills where I grew up in a great family on one of the most beautiful ranches in the world.

In 1981 I started working for the Alberta Cattle Commission as their market information and field services officer. Under the skilled leadership and mentorship of Chris Mills, I developed a passion for representing the cattle industry. I succeeded Chris as general manager in 1984. Chris continued his work to get rid of the Crowsnest Freight Rate, which was repealed in 1995. We advocated and participated in the successful negotiations of the Canada-United States Trade Agreement (CUSTA), which came into effect in 1988.

In 1988, Japan agreed to phase out its quota restrictions. With new and secure market access, we saw a great opportunity and formed the Canada Beef Export Federation in 1989 to market Canadian beef in Japan and soon thereafter throughout Asia. I served as its first executive director.

In 1990 I saw the biggest issues and opportunities were going to be national and international. I followed that belief and succeeded the legendary Charlie Gracey as the new general manager and executive vice-president of the CCA.

Trade expansion

The 1990s was the decade of trade liberalization with agriculture finally brought under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade when the World Trade Organization was created. New disciplines on subsidies and trade dispute provisions were created. CCA used these provisions to win a number of landmark cases including the defense against the European Union (Hormone Ban case) and the U.S. Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling rules. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) replaced CUSTA in 1994. A new era of trade liberalization began, and we positioned our industry to succeed.

We believed our industry would become a world leader in high-quality beef production and set out to have Canadian products recognized as the best by customers at home and abroad. We changed our grading system, modernized our food safety systems and set out on a vision for quality beef.

Today, we export more than $7 billion to 59 countries and have some of the highest customer satisfaction scores we’ve ever seen.

I have always believed we can do anything as well or better than anyone else in the world if we have the right environment to succeed and if we invest in our future.

Market resilience

I have seen the best of times and the worst. If you were in the cattle business, you would remember where you were on the morning of May 20, 2003. Every export market closed that day, and we saw our entire market system become paralyzed. Thanks to our proactive work in the ’90s we had effective measures in place to prevent the spread of BSE and to demonstrate to Canadians and our world customers that our beef was safe. Canadians rallied in support of our industry and our NAFTA partners reopened their market to our beef in August 2003. The beginning of the road to recovery became possible, and the world changed how it responded to BSE.

2010 began the decade of real recovery and reopening of all remaining markets. We fought and won the U.S. Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling case and initiated trade actions against countries that had not yet reopened. In 2018 the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership was signed, and we gained preferential access to the Asia-Pacific region. We strongly advocated for the agreement and attended all of the negotiations. This region will be the most important growth opportunity for high-quality beef.

The ink was barely dry on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement when the renegotiation of NAFTA was demanded by the U.S. CCA and our allies in the U.S. and Mexico met immediately and communicated our strong support for continued tariff-free trade. We attended every round of negotiations. In 2020, the new Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) was signed. Our tariff-free access was preserved.

Now we face a new threat to the agreement and freedom from tariffs.

A review of CUSMA is mandated for July, and all three members have commenced preparations for a full review and likely renegotiation.

The current U.S. administration views tariffs as both an effective negotiating tool and source of revenue. The threat of tariffs is very real.

We have stepped up our U.S. advocacy work to fully engage at both the state and federal levels.

We have increased our Washington advocacy with regular Congressional meetings and participation in Canada-U.S. advocacy groups.

We are meeting regularly with our many allies in the United States who strongly support maintaining the CUSMA. On Oct. 30, 124 U.S. agriculture organizations submitted a letter of support for a full 16-year renewal of the agreement.

We can expect a number of twists and turns in this review/negotiation including the threat of withdrawal. We are ready and will be fully engaged.

In spite of these dark clouds to the south, I have never been more excited about the future of our beef cattle industry and Canadian agriculture. We have persevered through worse, and I truly believe the world needs more Canada.

I also truly believe there has never been a greater need for a strong and unified national and international voice for our great industry. CCA is that respected voice.

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There has been a lot of opposition to the bill from grain and livestock exporters who say entire deals are at risk if the supply managed sectors are kept off the table. The bill is currently in second reading in the Senate.

Speaking at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture annual meeting today, Verheul said each side always has its “red lines” when talks start, so they aren’t really a surprise.

“I really see this more as a political signal of support to the dairy sector and to supply management more broadly,” he said.

“We’ve already negotiated with most of the major dairy exporters to Canada.

“I don’t think there’s actually an imminent threat. This is about politics, about support. I don’t expect this to have a huge impact on negotiations going forward.”

Verheul said Canada would prefer that politics be kept out of trade and let markets operate. He said while the World Trade Organization at the moment is fundamentally broken, bilateral agreements are working well and where most efforts need to take place.

He was Canada’s chief negotiator from 2017-21, working on the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the free trade deal with Europe. Between 2003 and 2009 he was Canada’s chief agricultural negotiator.

—Karen Briere writes for the Western Producer from Saskatchewan.

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Last year, it was a privilege to represent Canadian cattle producers on two trade missions to Japan and Southeast Asia. These were eye-opening experiences that gave me an appreciation and understanding of the attributes that our current and potential buyers are looking for in a beef product.

All I can say is our product is sought after — and Canada is a trusted producer and supplier of beef for many countries in Southeast Asia.

The demand is there for our product.

The challenge now is growing our cow herd to capture these opportunities and removing the barriers that can affect the entry of our product into export markets. My goal for this year is to look at how we can expand our herd — which has contracted due to the effects of adverse weather conditions. Of course, the easiest solution is for Mother Nature to co-operate, but that’s one factor we don’t have any control over. But, by coming together as an industry and working together, we can explore ways to overcome the challenges and support the rebuilding of our cow herd.

Advancing our advocacy work to improve the business risk management (BRM) program offerings for the cattle sector and making investments in building a strong next generation is a good place to start. We need to foster enthusiasm and harness the ideas of young producers around the decision-making table. This is a key element to make sure there is a vibrant industry that is sustainable in the long term.

With the return of Parliament for the winter session, it won’t be long until the 2024 federal budget will be tabled in the House of Commons. The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) submitted our key recommendations during the pre-budget consultation process. Since then, we have shared our recommendations with parliamentarians. These recommendations include enhancements to BRM programs, including seeking an amendment to the livestock tax deferral provision in the Income Tax Act to give producers the ability to self-elect rather than rely on a geographic determination. We also recommend expanding the provision to include all classes of cattle, not just the breeding herd, and maintaining the interest-free portion of the advanced payments program at the current $350,000 level.

Another key factor that affects the ability of cattle producers to capture export opportunities is technical trade barriers. This is no surprise to many of us, as for years we have been unable to take full advantage of the market access promised with the ratification of the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement with the European Union. This is a frustrating reality that is threatening to repeat itself as Canada works to negotiate a new trade agreement with the U.K.

Our message is simple. Canada needs to continue to push the importance of open trade principles and science-based policy. Decisions need to be based on science and not the politics of the day. The CCA board and staff invested a significant amount of time on this file in 2023 — especially after the U.K. accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was announced. We will continue to share this message in 2024.

CCA has always been pro-trade. But, in this case, we couldn’t stand by as the strong and progressive trade rules accomplished in the CPTPP would be weakened by allowing the U.K. to join without addressing the barriers that are keeping Canadian beef out of the U.K. market. We would never say no to trade, but we have to say no to a bad deal that puts Canadian cattle producers at an unfair disadvantage. We are urging the Canadian government to delay ratifying the U.K. accession until these barriers are lifted.

If you have not done so already, I encourage you to share your concerns with your member of parliament by sending an email through the “Say No to a Bad Deal” campaign at saynotoabaddeal.ca. We need cattle producers from across Canada to keep amplifying this important message. Thank you to everyone who has already sent in their email. We can’t overcome this hurdle without you.

If that isn’t enough, we are also seeing a push domestically through a private members’ bill, Bill C-282: An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (supply management), that would take supply-managed sectors off the table during trade negotiations. This could severely damage our trade relationships and highly constrain Canada’s ability to launch, negotiate and renegotiate the best deals. At the bill’s core, it is not an agriculture bill, it is a trade bill that if passed, could affect all export-focused businesses, 65 per cent of Canada’s economy.

Our advocacy efforts will continue in 2024, to raise the volume on this issue, including sending letters, meeting with Senators, and co-operating with other relevant stakeholders to communicate the harmful effects of this bill. We encourage producers across the country to help get the word out on why trade is so important to our sector and what it means to you, your family and your local community. Please contact CCA at advocacy@cattle.ca if you’d like to help with our outreach efforts through social media or have any questions. Advocacy efforts are most effective when parliamentarians hear from producers directly.

There’s important work ahead of us in 2024 and we are committed to making things happen for our industry.

– Nathan Phinney is president of the Canadian Cattle Association.

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