MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY — As a Bergen area rancher prepares for the upcoming farmers’ market season, he’s observed a substantial surge in demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Usually, it’s pretty quiet this time of year,” said Gerald Ingeveld, who owns Double N Ranch.
But current circumstances are far from usual.
“Our stocks are down to less than half of what we usually have. Right now, the small plant that we use is still operating. So we should be alright to keep our stocks up,” said Ingeveld.
However, the province has not yet reached the expected peak of the pandemic, which could still be another month away, and precisely predicting how the situation will unfold is all but impossible, he said.
“It’s hard to say what’s going to happen. There’s going to be limitations to imports. Farmers’ markets are probably going to be the place to go,” he said.
Ingeveld agreed that having a strong local supply chain that doesn’t depend on products being trucked out from more distant industrialized centres like the temporarily shuttered Cargill meat packing plant in High River is important.
"To me, that has always been important. It’s just starting to come under the magnifying glass now.”
No stranger to the local farmers’ markets — which the government of Alberta has deemed essential businesses — Ingeveld said there are a number of “people that have always shopped there who do value the importance of locally-raised food.”
“I think recognition of that is going to expand. I don’t know how far it’ll expand, and if it’ll be a permanent expansion. But certainly, I think we’re going to see a lot of people hitting farmers’ markets that never have before.”
However, the temporary closure of the plant in High River due to COVID-19 and the partial shut down of the facility in Brooks is, from a cattle producer’s standpoint, bad news, he said.
“It’s going to hurt because cattle prices were already dropping,” he said, adding the going rate in the fall was lower than the same time last year.
The price for cows destined to become burgers dropped by 20 cents, which he said equates to roughly 40 cents on real weight.
“That can be the difference between making a profit this year, or not.”
Further complicating matters for producers will be reduced intake at feedlots, he added.
“When an animal is finished and needs to go to slaughter, it needs to go right away. It’s going to be really hard to hold those animals at their finished weights and to keep them healthy,” he said.
“The feedlot guys will be hit the hardest initially, and when they suffer, so do the cattle producers that provide their stock. It’s going to be tough on all of us.”
Speaking as he fed his cattle, Ingeveld said he expects calving on his ranch to get started in May, which will help alleviate the boredom brought on by self-isolation.
“We’ll have lots to keep ourselves busy here for the next couple of months.”
Originally homesteaded in 1906 by his grandfather, Ingeveld has continued the family’s multi-generational operation, and he seemed to remain optimistic about the future despite the challenges.
“We have to be taking a look at the long-term of this,” he said, speculating that things will never again be the same.
“How we do agriculture — how we do everything — is going to be different. It’s going to be a different world.”
