Beef prices to stay high for ‘next couple of years’: Cattle association

Beef will remain an expensive item on grocery store shelves for the next few years, according to a Saskatchewan rancher.

Joleen Shea, vice-chair of the Saskatchewan Cattle Association, joined the Greg Morgan Morning Show on 980 CJME on Tuesday morning to share her thoughts on beef prices and some of the challenges the industry is facing.

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Listen to Greg Morgan’s full interview with Shea:

She said prices for beef are “definitely” rising grocery stores.

“There’s a number of factors that have been affecting it, and the biggest one has just been the ongoing drought we’ve been seeing across western Canada and across the U.S.,” Shea explained.

“Producers have been liquidating their herds over the last few years, just due to the dry conditions. And that’s lowered supply, and now we’re seeing it affect the grocery price.”

She said she expects prices will stay high for some time, as ranchers need to replenish their herds before the supply will be able to meet the consumer demand, allowing prices to level off.

“It’s going to stay high for the next couple of years,” she told Morgan.

“In order to grow supply as a rancher, we have to start retaining heifers. And once we start retaining heifers to grow the herd again, it’s over two years before those heifers have a calf and that calf is big enough to enter the food chain. Unfortunately for the consumer, we are going to see high prices for some time.”

In addition to issues around drought, Shea said ranchers are getting older and it’s hard to attract younger people to the industry.

“It’s pretty difficult to get started,” she said. “And we’ve got record-high beef prices right now for the rancher on that side of things, so we are seeing some people take advantage of that and retire.”

She said the Saskatchewan Cattle Association has been trying to find new ways to attract younger ranchers and help them get started, but admitted that it’s a tough job.

But despite the many challenges the beef industry is facing, Shea noted that American tariffs are not currently a concern, as beef is covered under the CUSMA agreement. That means it remains shielded from the tariffs imposed on Canadian products by U.S. President Donald Trump, Shea noted.