Ontario Corn Fed Beef producers are hoping the new deal with Loblaw Companies will solidify their position in the marketplace and improve the prices they receive for their cattle.

“It’s a significant amount of shelf space for the consumer meat market in Ontario and we have the opportunity and privilege now so that we can supply that market to them,” said Dale Pallister, President of the Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association.

Pallister, who farms near Dundalk, was among the first group of farmers to be certified for the program ten years ago.

Loblaw is featuring Ontario Corn Fed Beef in more than 150 locations across Ontario in Zehrs, valu-mart, Your Independent Grocer and Bloor Street Market grocery stores.

Pallister hopes that Loblaw’s requirement of 3,000 to 4,000 head of cattle per week for the program will lead to a more positive cattle basis in Ontario, which would then lead to a more stable market for farmers.

The opportunity for better prices has attracted Tom Vanrabaeys of Thamesville to the program.  “I think it’s a great thing. We need to sell Ontario beef,” said Vanrabaeys, who operates the Thames Sales Yard with his family.

“It’s helping to get a better price for the cattle on the day that you sell them,” he said, noting that bids for the cattle have been improving.

Vanrabaeys has been producing for the Ontario Corn Fed Beef program for about two months. The transition to the program did not require a lot of changes on his part.

Noting that his feeding protocols already met the standards of the Corn Fed program, Vanrabaeys said the main change was to document the medical treatments for the cattle.

Dave Gardiner, an OCFA director from Kirkton, has been involved in the program for more than five years. Among other benefits, Gardiner said the program gives Ontario beef producers an opportunity to compete with a growing number of brands that are in the marketplace.

“It’s our own branded product of Ontario and I don’t think we have to take second place to any other branded product,” he said.

With consumers showing more interest in local food, Gardiner said the Loblaw’s deal for Ontario Corn Fed Beef should help meet that demand. “I think it’s fantastic,” said Gardiner, when asked about the recent deal with the retailer.

On the local food movement, Pallister said consumers also want a story to go along with the beef products. As people are becoming more selective about their beef purchases, Pallister said producers have to adapt to those needs.

“We have the story that we can give them (on) the quality assurance, the environmental farm plans, the health protocols and the traceability, right back to the day the cattle went on feed,” said Pallister of the main components of the Ontario Corn Fed Beef program.

Echoing Gardiner’s comments, Pallister said branded programs, as well as the need to document the various aspects of production, will be part of doing business in the future, especially if beef producers want to be key players in the Ontario market.

“If you don’t want to do those things there will be a market for that…but it will be a discounted market,” said Pallister.