The Canadian Cattle Association says the size of the country's cattle herd is at its lowest level since the mid-1980s.If you’re a fan of Canadian beef, you’ve probably noticed that juicy steak on your plate has forced you to dig deeper into your pocket to pay for these days.
“There’s a lack of cattle in the industry, so there’s a bit of a shortage which is going to cause that bump in price,” said Brandon Ball, butcher and owner of Brant Lake Wagu in Calgary.Describing his business as “a complete pasture to plate program — we own the animals, we feed them, we process them,” Ball’s butcher shop offers everything from a $10 to a $200 steak.
He says the average age of beef producers is getting older, too. “As a producer gets out, the family doesn’t want to take over and so there’s some some bleeding out of the industry that way.”Kerr is confident the supply will eventually increase to better meet demand, but that could take a couple years., which means that we may be at the bottom of the cattle inventory cycle and on our way back up,” added Kerr.