Demand for Alberta beef remains strong, both domestically and internationally, says Jason Wood, provincial livestock market analyst with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AF), who breaks down the numbers from the recently released Agriculture Facts 2018.
Estimated Alberta beef production was 732,051 tonnes in 2017, up five per cent from 2016.
“Of that, Albertans consumed 16 per cent, or 117,128 tonnes. Canadians – outside of Alberta – consumed 51.3 per cent, or 375,542 tonnes. Alberta exported 24.3 per cent, or 177,888 tonnes to the U.S., while 8.4 per cent, or 61,492 tonnes, was exported to other countries," said Wood.
The domestic demand for beef is strong in Canada.
“Comparing changes in beef consumption and price shows that consumption decreased about 8.4 per cent between 2013 and 2017, while the indexed price of beef rose 19.5 per cent during that same period. As well, average per capita beef consumption was 25.9 kilograms in 2017, up marginally from the previous year," he said.
Wood adds that the average of various retail beef product prices, as reported to Statistics Canada, shows that prices have remained relatively flat, averaging $19.30 per kilogram in the first five months of 2018.
“Based on this average, retail beef prices are down five per cent from highs in 2016 but remain eight per cent higher than the five-year average," he said.
“By comparison, an average of various retail pork and chicken products shows that prices have shown more stability than beef. The average retail pork price for 2018 is $12.77 per kilogram, on par with 2017. That is down three per cent from the high in 2016 and five per cent higher than the five-year average.”
The average retail chicken price in 2018 is $7.40 per kilogram, up two per cent from 2017, but down 1.6 per cent from 2016 and 1.6 per cent above the five-year average. “While domestic prices have fluctuated, they have shown more stability compared to global price indices for red meats and poultry,” he said.
Meanwhile, a little preparation prior to harvesting can ensure worry-free winter crop storage, says Harry Brook, crop specialist at the Alberta Ag-Info Centre who looks at solutions to potential storage problems.
“Warm or wet conditions at harvest and multi-staged crops are potential ingredients for storage problems,” says Brook. “You’ve spent a lot of money and time getting the harvest in the bin. Take the time to monitor the stored grain’s condition and cool those bins down. Don’t get an unpleasant surprise when selling the grain with discounts or by being rejected for heated grain or insect problems.”
Producers should clean up spilled grain from around their bins to prevent them from becoming breeding sites for beetles, he said.
“Most empty grain bins will have some form of insect or mites feeding on the cereal crop residue. These bins need to be swept or vacuumed out with the debris being either burned or buried," he said.
“Malathion can be sprayed into a bin to control insects in the nooks and crannies feeding on crop debris, but only in those bins that will be used to store cereals. It is forbidden to use malathion in bins used to store oilseeds. Empty bins can also be treated with diatomaceous earth prior to storing all crops. Diatomaceous earth can also be added to the crop as the bin is filling as a preventative measure.”
- Alberta Agriculture
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