Alberta livestock producers have joined the chorus of opposition to proposed new Canadian traceability regulations.
Critics argue the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulations will impose an unnecessary and expensive burden, especially for small beef operations, and were drawn up without adequate input from producers.
About 600 people gathered at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion in Central Alberta last week to talk about the regulations and rally livestock producers to join efforts to stop them.
Stettler County beef producer Lance Neilson was among those who spoke to the crowd at the meeting, which was posted on YouTube and has more than 5,100 views.
As a large-scale producer who tries to stay on the cutting edge of technology, new regulations that will require farms to get premise identification (PID) numbers and report the movement of animals within seven days. PIDs will be necessary to purchase identification tags
When cattle arrive at a new farms, the producer must report their PID, the PID for the farm the livestock came from, the, date and time they left the departure site, date and time they arrived at the new farm, Canadian Cattle Identification Agency tag numbers and the licence plate number of the transport truck.
A whole list of other information must be provided if animals are coming from a farm that has no PID.
In response to producer concerns, the CFIA announced on Jan. 10 it was pausing the regulation amendments, which have not been finalized, “until the proposed changes are more widely understood and concerns are heard and taken into consideration.
“Traceability is the ability to confidentially track livestock through their life cycle, enabling rapid response during disease outbreaks or natural disasters, and support market access,” said the CFIA ion a statement. CCA (Canadian Cattlemen’s Association) recognizes the system cannot be onerous for producers; traceability requires adoption and participation to be effective.
“Our goal is to ensure all regulations and proposed changes are feasible and offer clear industry value.”
County of Stettler beef producer Lance Neilson said at the meeting he runs a large operation using the latest cutting-edge technology and could incorporate the new regulations without too many problems.
But many smaller operations, such as lifestyle farms with a handful or couple of dozen head, are not in the same position. The added regulatory hassles could drive them out of the business and communities already losing population and risk school closures.
Neilson also believes the new regulations are unnecessary.
“We already have a traceability that has never failed,” he said, adding at best the new regulations will speed up the reporting system slightly.
“We’re just going to be doing a double traceability system here.”
Tim Hoven, whose Hoven Farms near Eckville specializes in grass-fed organic beef, was a presenter at the Innisfail meeting. He told the crowd when he first posted on Facebook about the new regulations a month ago he had no idea how quickly the issue would take off among producers.
“A lot can happen when people are united and wanting change,” said Hoven, who raises about 160 cattle.
In an interview Thursday, Hoven said momentum continues to build.
An Alberta Beef Producers meeting in Drayton Valley on Wednesday attracted 200 people to an event where about 30 would be a good turnout. A number of resolutions were passed including one call for a “hard stop” on the proposed regulations and for the ADP to consult with producers on a made-in-Alberta solution.
“The farmers …know how important this issue is and they’re taking action to win on it.”
Hoven said he has heard ABP has fielded hundreds of calls from concerned producers and producer organizations in Saskatchewan are also getting an earful.
“It’s more than just a provincial thing. It’s a national issue.”
A Saskatchewan rancher has started an online change.org petition that had nearly 16,000 signatures on Thursday.
Hoven questions what right the government has to all the information they want from producers.
“To me, that’s the key issue,” he said.
“With my farm, I do track my animals individually. I could back in my records and tell you within 200 metres where all of my animals have been in the past 10 years.
“The issue is does the government have a right to that data, my private data, without paying for it for one thing.
“What is the government going to do with that data?”
Producers have stories of the CFIA coming in and liquidating herds for fear of spreading disease with tests later showing animals were disease-free.
“The CFIA has burnt a lot of trust in the minds of producers over the last five years and they have to do a lot of work to rebuild that trust before producers are just going to let them have access to that data.”