Beef market development projects recommended by British Columbia’s recent Ranching Task Force will get up to $3 million in federal support on top of $2 million the province pledged earlier this year.
Kamloops MP Cathy McLeod on Tuesday announced the federal funding from the AgriFlexibility program for work on “new market opportunities and research projects” to help B.C. ranchers and processors boost production and sales.
Projects eligible for the funding, to be administered by the province, could include, for example:
- supporting trade missions to access emerging markets;
- producer education on meeting consumer demands;
- new product development and branding; and
- consumer education initiatives aimed at boosting domestic demand for beef.
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“We value our partnership with the federal government and the timing is ideal for this funding, as it complements the $2 million B.C. is also investing in ranching,” Kamloops MLA and veterinarian Terry Lake, the province’s parliamentary secretary to the Ranching Task Force, said in the federal release Tuesday.
B.C.’s beef industry, which includes over 4,000 ranch operations provincewide, is worth over $250 million to the provincial economy, Lake noted.
“New market opportunities are needed for our cattlemen to remain successful and today’s investments will go a long way to getting the premium prices that our hardworking producers deserve from customers around the world,” B.C. Cattlemen’s Association president Judy Guichon, a producer at Quilchena, about 70 km south of Kamloops, said in the same release.
“Here in B.C., the local community enjoys eating local, grass-raised and value-added beef products and these investments will help spread the word about our high-quality, safe food products here at home and around the world, such as in mainland China.”
The province pledged its $2 million share in late May as part of its response to the recommendations from the task force it set up a year earlier.
The province noted at the time that its funding would offer the B.C. cattle sector “the potential to lever up to $3 million” for market development work via AgriFlexibility.
