Eastern Ontario cattle farmers feasting on beef between Canada and U.S.

As consumers are making more effort to buy Canadian, some eastern Ontario cattle farmers are seeing a boost in business. CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports.

Cattle farmers in eastern Ontario say the beef between Canada and the United States over tariffs is creating new demand for locally produced meat.

At Corad Farms in Pakenham, beef producers Sarah and Chad Hunt say they have seen demand for their locally sourced product increase 25 per cent since the trade war with the U.S. began.

“I have noticed another increase in inquiries and there’s a lot of families that are looking to go together to buy bulk orders and divide amongst themselves,” Sarah Hunt told CTV Ottawa Thursday.

“I would suspect that it’s primarily as a result of the tariffs, and meat prices in general have been skyrocketing in the last year plus.”

Between the Hunt’s cattle being raised in Pakenham and their meat being processed in Athens, Ont., their entire product and operation is entirely Canadian.

It allows the farm to keep its price lower than those seen at the grocery store, with fewer duties, tariffs, and transportation costs being paid.

“Beef tenderloin a week or so ago in the grocery store was $53-$54 a pound, and (now) $33,” said Hunt. “So, that’s a substantial drop.”

“For a pot roast, on average we’re $9.50 to $10 per pound, and the grocery store is somewhere in around the $11.50 to $13.50.”

The surge to buy Canadian is also trickling down to local butcher shops as well, according to the Beef Farmers of Ontario.

“People want to rally around the flag and they realize if you buy local, how it will help keep money in the local economy,” said Craig McLaughlin, president of the Beef Farmers of Ontario.

“So, it’s certainly building.”

McLaughlin says nationally, Canada exports 50 per cent of all its beef, with 75 per cent going to the United States.

In an effort to avoid climbing tariffs, he says local farmers have begun expanding their markets.

“There is Ontario Beef in Saudi Arabia. There’s quite a volume of beef, Ontario beef, now going into Japan,” he said. “We are in other Asian markets.”

While the increase in business for Corad Farms is good news, the Hunts say they only have so much beef they can produce at a time, with the timeframe to finish a ready to consume beef product taking between two and two-and-a-half years.

“Everything that we’re retailing or selling is grown on our farm,” said Chad Hunt. “So, if we run out of our own beef, which we never have, that would be a great problem.”