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Lowe said the beef industry has known for years that it has work to do when it comes to communicating with consumers around animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and other hot-button issues. And while Earls eventually reversed course on its Certified Humane decision — choosing instead to work with the Alberta industry to find local sources of the ethically raised, organic meat it was looking for — the beef sector knows there are other threats on the horizon.

For example, Lowe said, there are fears among ranchers that Canada could someday ban the use of growth hormones in beef production, like the European Union has already done. That would lead to greater water and land requirements for beef production and drive up the cost of food, he added.

“In order to have the ability to keep doing what we do . . . we need to be able to use the most efficient production practices and the leading edge technology to do it the best way possible,” Lowe said. “We think it’s critical to teach the public about that, so we don’t get regulated out of using those resources.”

Pine Lake rancher Doug Sawyer said people often come up to him at Stampede with questions about beef production, and he believes having face-to-face conversations makes all the difference.

“After we talk, and they meet a farmer or a processor or whoever, they leave with the confidence that, ‘That’s a good person, and they are doing the right thing,’ ” Sawyer said.

This year’s Stampede is taking place against a backdrop of falling beef prices that is making many in the industry nervous. According to Canfax, a division of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Alberta-fed cattle prices averaged a record $202.06/cwt. in May 2015. By May of 2016, the average price had fallen to $158.70/cwt. and last week had dropped to $142.70/cwt.

“Certainly, this round of cattle we’re losing money on — probably some of the biggest losses I’ve seen in my farming career. And we don’t know what to expect in the fall. We just have no idea,” Sawyer said.

astephenson@postmedia.com

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