Alberta cattle industry hopes to cash in after Japan lifts last restrictions on Canadian beef

For the first time in almost two decades, processed beef from Canada is allowed in Japan.

Restrictions were put in place in 2003 after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in Alberta.

Canada Beef focuses on the development and promotion of the Canadian cattle and beef industry in both domestic and export markets.

"It is a great news story. It's just nice to get past that finally," said Michael Young, Canada Beef president.

"It's been two decades. It's been hanging on and hanging on and finally, they dropped that last regulation, so I think it's quite positive."

Young says many Alberta cattle producers have faced challenges in the past two decades recovering from the impact of BSE, but it's had a ripple effect across the country for producers and processors that were selling into the Japan market.

He says Canada exports over 45 per cent of production and if you're an exporting country with such an important commodity, it's very important to have places to go with that commodity.

"Back in 2019, we got the majority of our access back in the market and it's grown," he said.

"Last year, we had almost a record year for total exports. We missed the all-time record by 10,000 tonnes and that was set just the year before BSE."

Sylvain Charlebois, a professor and senior director of Dalhousie University's agri-food analytics lab, says Japan was the first country to establish an embargo against Canada in 2003 and many other countries followed suit.

He says Japan lifting the last of its restrictions on March 27, 2023, is a win for Canadian beef producers.

"The signal itself is actually going to be quite powerful," he said.

"Japan is known to be very much focused on food safety, so obviously a vote of confidence towards Canadian beef is a really strong signal not just for Japan, but for the entire world. I think it's good news because I see this as a very strong political endorsement that is quite needed for the industry."

Charlebois says more beef products moving into Japan won't impact prices for the product at grocery stores here. He says in the past two years, the price of beef sold by Canadian retailers has been stable while other products like chicken and produce have seen huge price increases.

"We're not going to see the impact of this right away. It takes a while before a country starts buying products again – supply chains don't just flip around and change overnight," he said.

"Some people may think it may actually impact retail prices but because of cattle futures right now, retail prices will be impacted regardless. I actually think that even though Japan wouldn't have actually opened its doors to Canadian beef, I actually believe that beef prices would have gone up."

Glen Gateman, a mixed farmer in Vulcan County southeast of Calgary who has about 300 head of cattle, is seeing higher prices for his animals at market now.

"Beef is high right now but it's because supply has dropped and demand has still luckily stayed up there," he said.

"So the price of cattle is going up, which is a good thing, and I think you're going to see that for the next couple years."

Gateman doesn't expect to see any immediate benefits on his farm from Japan lifting restrictions.

"It's a long ways away from what we're doing. There's a lot of people in between that cow/calf guy and the final product getting to Japan," he said.

"But anytime you can increase your demand for your product, it's a good thing, you know? You hope that it's going to eventually trickle down to our level."

Southern Alberta ranchers still take BSE seriously because they know what the impact can be to their livelihood.

"I think that we've got it under control and obviously, Japan thinks that as well or else they wouldn't have done this," Gateman said.

"We've still got markets that are closed. The U.K. is still closed for the most part, so there's still markets out there that even now aren't taking our beef or taking all of our beef products."

Canada Beef says there is still a high demand globally for high-quality grain fed beef.

Young wants to see countries turn to Canada.

"Just because the markets open, that doesn't mean we get that market share. You've got to earn it," he said.