Beef business going bust
Alberta may lose up to 40 per cent of cow-calf operations by Christmas
David Finlayson, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Saturday, October 27
EDMONTON - Marcel Turgeon cried when he watched 50 years of his life get sold for $56,000.
That's what the 63-year-old Lac La Biche rancher got at auction for 123 of the best charolais cows in the province.
They were so good they didn't need to be fattened up at a feedlot before going to slaughter, but that didn't matter to the packing plant buyer.
"I told him he stole my cattle, but he said he had no bidding competition so what was he to do," said Turgeon, who was banking on the sale to help fund his retirement.
Under normal market conditions Turgeon could have expected to get $200,000 to $250,000 for the pregnant cows, but he only got $479 apiece.
"I knew prices were low but I didn't expect that bombshell," he said. "I'm pretty depressed. I've put my life into this."
Turgeon is among thousands of ranchers quitting Alberta's heritage industry or drastically cutting their herds because of rock-bottom cattle prices and higher feed, fuel and other costs. Industry insiders believe Alberta will have lost as many as 40 per cent of its 35,000-odd cow-calf operations by Christmas.
Lois and Brian Scarrow of Donalda, east of Ponoka, have been raising cattle for only seven years, but are sending almost all of their 180 cows to auction next month.
"They've treated us well but we're stretched too thin," Brian Scarrow said. "Everybody's still hurting from the BSE days, and grain has gone up three or four times while cow prices have fallen."
"We'll keep a few, just enough for the grass, and maybe rebuild again."
The Scarrows will keep this year's calves and sell them in the spring, then concentrate on the trucking business they started in 1999, at least for a while.
Lois Scarrow said she and Brian, in their mid to late fifties, can't afford to keep losing money on the ranching side.
"I feel sorry for people who have spent years building up their herds, and then spend their retirement fund feeding their animals," she added.
Fairview rancher JoAnne Loland is selling half her 200 cattle because she can't afford to keep them, and she's ready to give up ranching altogether after 30 frustrating years.
"We had three years of drought, then three or four years of BSE and now prices are so low we're losing money," said Loland.
"Sometimes I feel like crying. I wish I'd never started ranching."
Not only have feed costs increased, cattle prices are less than half what they were five years ago, Loland said.
"Yet that's not reflected in the supermarket prices, so somebody's making money. If it goes on we'll all be eating beef from Brazil and Australia."
Gary Jarvis, owner of Triple J Auctions in Westlock, said he's already had a number of herds come through, and there are more scheduled in the next few weeks.
"Based on what I am seeing, we will lose between 30 and 40 per cent of cow-calf operations before Christmas, and they are the grass roots of Alberta ranching," Jarvis said.
"We're getting the same today for fall calves as we did 30 year ago."
A good young cow that's been pregnancy tested is selling for between $500 and $600, he said. Before the arrival in Alberta of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease or BSE, such a cow would sell for as much as $1,500.
Alberta may lose up to 40 per cent of cow-calf operations by Christmas
David Finlayson, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Saturday, October 27
EDMONTON - Marcel Turgeon cried when he watched 50 years of his life get sold for $56,000.
That's what the 63-year-old Lac La Biche rancher got at auction for 123 of the best charolais cows in the province.
They were so good they didn't need to be fattened up at a feedlot before going to slaughter, but that didn't matter to the packing plant buyer.
"I told him he stole my cattle, but he said he had no bidding competition so what was he to do," said Turgeon, who was banking on the sale to help fund his retirement.
Under normal market conditions Turgeon could have expected to get $200,000 to $250,000 for the pregnant cows, but he only got $479 apiece.
"I knew prices were low but I didn't expect that bombshell," he said. "I'm pretty depressed. I've put my life into this."
Turgeon is among thousands of ranchers quitting Alberta's heritage industry or drastically cutting their herds because of rock-bottom cattle prices and higher feed, fuel and other costs. Industry insiders believe Alberta will have lost as many as 40 per cent of its 35,000-odd cow-calf operations by Christmas.
Lois and Brian Scarrow of Donalda, east of Ponoka, have been raising cattle for only seven years, but are sending almost all of their 180 cows to auction next month.
"They've treated us well but we're stretched too thin," Brian Scarrow said. "Everybody's still hurting from the BSE days, and grain has gone up three or four times while cow prices have fallen."
"We'll keep a few, just enough for the grass, and maybe rebuild again."
The Scarrows will keep this year's calves and sell them in the spring, then concentrate on the trucking business they started in 1999, at least for a while.
Lois Scarrow said she and Brian, in their mid to late fifties, can't afford to keep losing money on the ranching side.
"I feel sorry for people who have spent years building up their herds, and then spend their retirement fund feeding their animals," she added.
Fairview rancher JoAnne Loland is selling half her 200 cattle because she can't afford to keep them, and she's ready to give up ranching altogether after 30 frustrating years.
"We had three years of drought, then three or four years of BSE and now prices are so low we're losing money," said Loland.
"Sometimes I feel like crying. I wish I'd never started ranching."
Not only have feed costs increased, cattle prices are less than half what they were five years ago, Loland said.
"Yet that's not reflected in the supermarket prices, so somebody's making money. If it goes on we'll all be eating beef from Brazil and Australia."
Gary Jarvis, owner of Triple J Auctions in Westlock, said he's already had a number of herds come through, and there are more scheduled in the next few weeks.
"Based on what I am seeing, we will lose between 30 and 40 per cent of cow-calf operations before Christmas, and they are the grass roots of Alberta ranching," Jarvis said.
"We're getting the same today for fall calves as we did 30 year ago."
A good young cow that's been pregnancy tested is selling for between $500 and $600, he said. Before the arrival in Alberta of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease or BSE, such a cow would sell for as much as $1,500.