Livestock producers discuss challenges

These certainly are interesting times in the Canadian livestock industry.
That was the focus of one of three presentations at the Farming for. . . Profit? conference on Sunday.
Jill Hobbs, an ag-economist from the University of Saskatchewan, discussed the strange and unique forces acting on the Canadian beef and pork industries recently, touching on everything from diseases like BSE and H1N1 to the turbulent Canadian dollar.
"They're really difficult to predict because they're not part of normal market forces that you learn to adapt to," said Hobbs. "The common element is that they're all market-access issues that require government intervention."
Pork products have been ruled out as causes of the recent human cases of H1N1 - also known as swine flu - but Canadian hogs and pork still face trade restrictions.
"H1N1 is a particularly tragic case because there's no reason at all to close borders over H1N1, but it's happened anyway," said Hobbs.
The conference, in its 16th year, saw an increased turnout Sunday afternoon, with more people expected for the evening presentations.
"I think the major benefit of this conference is that, hopefully at least, it brings different farm groups together . . . so they have a bigger impact on the policy in Ottawa," said organizer Andy Schmitz. "If they leave with one idea, that's a big step in the right direction. (The topics) are a mix of public policy and the business side of things."
Schmitz, who has a doctorate in economics in addition to his farming background, tries to select speakers who have relevant, current or even controversial topics to discuss.
"It's tough to get people who are interesting and know what they're talking about, but we manage to find them," he quipped.
Hobbs' speech was well-received by the afternoon crowd, many of whom are well-versed in the recent challenges to the industry. The overlapping crises in such a short span are unusual, she said.
"I've heard it described as the perfect storm for livestock producers," said Hobbs. "I don't think it's normal in that sense."
The international market is crucial for Canadian producers, given the small size of the domestic market.
"We're mostly export-based as a country," said Hobbs. "If Canada is going to continue with a livestock industry of the size we have, we have to have access to export markets . . . there's only so much beef and pork that Canadians can eat."

Taylor Lambert can be reached at 691-1260.