Beef risk fund benefits expected soon

Monday, April 1, 2013

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Some Ontario cattle producers should start feeling the benefits of an industry-led risk management fund beginning in June or July. The Ontario government, announcing $10 million to fund the program last month, said the money “will help stabilize pricing for participating producers, encouraging further growth in the sector.”

Jim Clark, executive director of the Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association, says the money will be managed by Ontario Corn Fed Beef Inc. and will benefit corn fed producers who are not part of a provincial government risk management program (RMP) that covers several different sectors of the agricultural industry.

“Our goal,” Clark said, “is to start doing work with producers in June or July to start taking cattle and be able to offer a pricing mechanism for them.”  

The Cattle Feeders first proposed the idea of a fund five years ago, before the provincial RMP was introduced. The fund would be used to compensate producers when their cost of production rose higher than what they received for animals acquired for the Ontario Corn Fed Beef brand. When they got more than the cost of production, some money would be returned to keep the fund topped up.

From the beginning, the goal was to have the program administered by the private, producer-owned corporation controlling the Ontario Corn Fed Beef brand. That structure and working with producers not involved in government RMP programs would also eliminate trade concerns.

“This fund has to be outside of RMP,” Clark said, “so if producers are involved in a RMP then they can’t be involved in both programs so we’re going to try to work with producers that are not using any risk management strategies at this point in time.” He said he did not know how many producers operate outside of risk management.

To raise cattle for the Ontario Corn Fed Beef brand, producers do not have to be part of the Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association. “We’ll take any producer for Ontario Corn Fed Beef once they meet quality assurance standards,” Clark said.

The Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association launched the farmer-owned Ontario Corn Fed Beef in 2001. According to an Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food news release, all Ontario corn fed beef cattle are fed and processed in Ontario. The brand is featured in “241 Loblaw Co. and affiliate stores and 120 other retail outlets across Ontario.” BF