The Manitoba Beef Producers are lobbying for an RCMP officer dedicated to livestock theft and fraud, similar to units already set up in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“It’s seen a lot of benefit,” said general manager Carson Callum, speaking at an Oct. 18 district meeting in Rosa.
“If our government could provide some support for that sort of position in the province, we’d see a lot of benefit to trying to deter any of the fraudulent cases that we’re seeing.”
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Why it matters: Producers say lack of livestock knowledge among police often hinders them when there is a theft.
Saskatchewan added a dedicated RCMP livestock investigator in October of last year, the reported. The officer’s duties include investigating cases of missing or stolen livestock, as well as educating producers and other RCMP members.
MBP lobbied the former Progressive Conservative government on the issue, Callum said, and intends to continue those efforts with the new NDP government.
Dale Cazakoff, who ranches near Swan Lake, said he sees great value in having a dedicated livestock officer. About a year ago, he was short 15 calves during the fall roundup. Cazakoff, who is MBP director for District 14, said he contacted the CFIA and the RCMP after the disappearance.
The general police officer “doesn’t know the difference between a heifer or a steer,” he said. “It’s a real challenge.”
As well, RCMP are often busy with other matters.
“I’m very pro that we would have an individual, an RCMP individual that would deal with livestock crime,” Cazakoff said.
MBP is also considering some form of mandatory inspection, much like programs in the rest of the Prairies. That has been a polarizing topic over the years. In 2018, MBP members narrowly passed a resolution to lobby the government for a program. Previous efforts had been voted down.
Then-president Ben Fox spoke in favour of the resolution, suggesting that mandatory inspections would provide a solid paper trail and proof of possession for cattle. Detractors expressed concerns that inspection would bog down the sale process and raise costs.
Concerns over who would pay for inspection came up again at the Rosa meeting.
Not all Manitoba producers brand their cattle, Callum said, so a brand inspection agency wouldn’t benefit the whole province.
Livestock Services of Saskatchewan (LSS), which does brand inspection in that province, also has a unit in Manitoba, Callum said, but it doesn’t have jurisdiction. He suggested Manitoba could grant more jurisdictional powers to the LSS on sites where it already operates.
Callum is part of a national working group that is developing a traceability app for cattle. They’re looking at how they could use scanning technology, such as RFID tags, to track movement.
