“Atlantic Beef Products is seeking another 10,000 head per year and the Ontario corn-fed beef program is looking for 200,000 animals per year to meet the needs of their market growth,” says Nathan Phinney, chairman of the New Brunswick Cattle Producers.
The goal is to average 2,000 more a year in all three provinces – between 600 and 750 head per year in N.B., 800 and 900 in N.S. and the remainder in P.E.I
“Our Maritime goal is to grow and to keep all of our infrastructure going,” says Phinney.
One step taken towards reaching that goal in New Brunswick was to inventory the land available for pasture to see if the province had the capabilities to accommodate an increased herd.
“We obviously know that we should be able to, because we’re down 40 per cent on the number of cattle since 2003,” says Phinney. “And I think that’s safe to say it’s right straight across all three provinces.”
And, the land is there. When they examined the land base, the industry identified potentially 200,000 acres in N.B. alone suitable for grassland for cows. Six thousand acres of that is Crown land accessed by cooperatives to pasture cows and calves.
“Their capacity right now is only running between 15 and 20 per cent,” Phinney says. “So right there we said guys, for the 6,000 head that we want to put in here in 10 years, we can do on the government crown marshes, and community pastures, without even touching any of these private lands.”
Other pieces of the puzzle are working with the Nappan Research Station in Nova Scotia to support research on forage and grass production and working with new entrants who want to start farming.
Source: Meatbusiness