advantage of the opportunity, promoting the resources across social media platforms to parents who were at home and looking for projects for school-age children. They were happy to see huge consumer uptake of not only the new resources but also Beef in the Classroom which focuses on cooking beef.
Alberta Beef Producers Alberta Beef Producers www.albertabeef.org Phone: (403) 275-4400 Email: abpfeedback@ albertabeef.org 165, 6815 - 8th Street N.E. Calgary, Alberta T2E 7H7 Facebook: ABBeefProducers Twitter: @albertabeef Instagram: @alberta.beef By Tina Zakowsky Canadian Angus Association In 1969, five organizations, Western Stock Growers, Alberta Dairymen Association, Farmers Union of Alberta, Alberta Federation of Agriculture, and the Alberta Cattle Breeders Association came together to create the Alberta Cattle Commission. Their goal was to represent Alberta beef producers at the government level in marketing and communications through one voice rather than several different voices. The Alberta Cattle Commission underwent a name change and became Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) on November 27, 2002. ABP underwent a number of changes in 2020 including a senior leadership change. Brad Dubeau became the new general manager after more than three years as the marketing & education manager. ABP is run by producers for producers. Increasing domestic and international demand and market access for Alberta and Canadian beef are core strategies. Over the last few years, ABP has invested significant time in updating their educational resources. They launched new educational resources directed at children in kindergarten through grade 5 just as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools across the country in March 2020. ABP took 28
At the same time, ABP thoroughly examined how they have communicated with producers in the past and looked for different ways to engage with Alberta producers at a greater level. Brad says “ABP as an organization realizes that we need to do a better job engaging with Alberta cattlemen and one of our top priorities is to improve those relations across this province. We want to be more engaged with producers across the province and make sure that we are providing the tools that they like and will utilize to understand what’s going on at ABP.” One of the first steps in approaching this challenge was to get producers involved with ABP’s new quarterly publication. Launched in January 2021, it covers ABP business and information updates as well as pertinent information from provincial and national partner organizations through a combination of current news articles and feature stories. Brad says that despite excellent uptake in advanced technology, producers continue to want printed publications. The goal is to bring much better understanding through short stories and provide consistent messaging on ongoing programs that affect the beef industry. In addition to their quarterly publication, ABP reorganized staff and created a new communications and marketing structure including a full-time position dedicated to communicating and engaging with producers about ABP programs and services. Another new tool that fully embraces technology is a real-time platform featuring stories about the beef industry and affecting the beef industry within Alberta, Canada and internationally. The Platform is available as an app or by browser. Users will receive push notifications for potential emergency situations, town halls and pertinent information ABP needs producers to have quickly. Users will also be able to assign preferences for features such as reels and a ticker tape for futures and markets. “We hope to grow the Platform over time and become a true leader in beef-related information right here at ABP,” says Brad.
“I think this is a really fantastic way for producers to reengage with the Alberta Beef Producers organization at a much different level than they have over the last several years,” says Brad. “We are trying to become more relevant, recognizing that we need to be more engaged in producers’ day-to-day lives; we need to be in the daily conversations wherever they are.” The fall of 2020 also saw ABP introduce a new organizational structure for delegates. The ABP Board of Directors is elected from zones within Alberta. The restructuring reduced the number of zones from nine to five and also increased the number of delegates per zone to seven from six. As a result, the board of directors is now 12 representatives instead of 16. Brad notes that the restructuring process was undertaken to create more efficiency at ABP. The background work on restructuring began in 2019 and was passed at the June 2020 semi-annual meeting. Through the latter half of 2020, with other provincial and national beef industry organizations, ABP worked on the suite of business risk management tools that are available to beef producers. The project was a high priority as the industry groups want to ensure that the tools, such as AgriStability and the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP), are working for beef producers. Where needs for updates have been identified, ABP and other groups are engaging with government to make those necessary changes. ABP will continue to work with other provincial and national orgs to improve the business risk management suite of tools to allow beef producers to continue to be one of the leading industries in Canada. Looking ahead, ABP is carefully watching the growth of lab-based meat products. “Organizations like ABP need to continue to represent and defend the beef industry and we need to be prepared to defend our product,” says Brad. Thus far, ABP sees evidence that consumers are staying with the beef industry and that consumption of beef remains strong. “We want to make sure that consumers in Alberta and across the country continue to feel that beef is a safe choice for protein,” says Brad. “The beef industry needs to be prepared to be challenged by artificial products that are coming online.”