With a ranching legacy dating back to the early 1900s, Kevin Boon has seen the highs and lows of the Canadian cattle industry. His family’s ranching history began in Alberta, where they raised Charolais cattle before transitioning to a commercial herd. After weathering challenges like the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak and the 2009 oil boom’s impact on land values, Kevin faced a crossroads that led him westward to British Columbia.
Kevin now serves as the general manager of the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association, representing nearly 80% of the province’s cattle industry, which totals about 600,000 head.
Ranching in British Columbia comes with its own set of challenges compared to the open prairies of other provinces. The province’s rugged, mountainous terrain limits agricultural use, with only 15% of the land suitable for farming—and just 5% of that tillable, Kevin explained.
“The only thing we can actually do on a lot of that land is grazing,” he told WLJ. “So, we are the agriculture that takes up most of the land base.”
The limited arable land means the British Columbia cattle herd, which accounts for about 5% of Canada’s total cattle inventory, relies on other provinces for feeding and finishing. With grain production limited in British Columbia, most cattle are shipped to Alberta to be fed and finished.
In Canada, much of the land falls under government control and is known as “Crown land,” with only 11% privately owned. In British Columbia, about 85% of the agriculture land is under Crown ownership.
Priorities
The challenges facing cattle producers in Canada are not all that different from those experienced by their counterparts in the U.S.
“Our No. 1 priority that we’re working on here—that is really the same I think for any cattleman anywhere in the world—is one that is becoming much more prevalent, and that’s water,” Kevin said. “People are finally clueing into the fact that what we’ve known as cattlemen all along is that without the water, we have nothing.”
The issue of water rights in the province is deeply intertwined with Indigenous land claims. British Columbia has formally adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law, which is a document that outlines the rights of Indigenous peoples. In the province there are very few historic active treaties in place, which has led to ongoing land claims and legal disputes over territorial rights.
“There’s a movement to give a lot of land back and it’s really challenging our private property rights,” Kevin said, “challenging whether or not they had the right to even sell it.”
The claims have created uncertainty for the ranching industry, particularly because the majority of summer pasture is on Crown land. In addition, many of British Columbia’s waterways are salmon bearing and fall under federal fisheries regulations, which has led to challenges with irrigation access and livestock watering.
Another top issue in the province is managing wildfires. In response to a 2017 megafire that burned more than 2.5 million acres of forests and grasslands and caused widespread evacuation havoc, the role of ranchers and cattle in wildfire mitigation through fine fuels grazing was highlighted.
“When fighting fires, they realized that agriculture actually benefited them in their firefighting efforts,” Kevin said.
This realization has led to greater coordination efforts in the province between ranchers and the government. Ranchers collaborated with the British Columbia Wildfire Service to create the Ranch Liaison Program, which keeps ranchers on the ground with a ranch liaison who is part of the Incident Management Team. The liaison works with the fire commander and ranchers to coordinate cattle movement and evacuations as firefighting goes on.
“It is a direct correlation between our ranching community and how they fight the fire,” Kevin said. “I think that is probably pretty unique to anywhere else in the world.”
He added, “But the key to that whole program is the liaison pretty much has to be a rancher himself because he’s got to know the guys and understand them. It’s really worked well.”
In addition to the Ranch Liaison Program, range riders in the form of contracted cowboys are hired to go in and help move the cattle when needed.
Since 2018, targeted grazing programs have also been implemented to reduce fine fuels in the interface between towns and grasslands. These programs proved effective in 2021 when a fire in Kelowna jumped a lake but was extinguished in a grazed zone.
“The unique part is we aren’t doing anything we don’t do on a normal basis,” Kevin said. “It’s just timing it and concentrating those cattle into an intensive grazing program.”
Public reaction to the grazing programs was initially mixed. In one case, residents petitioned to remove cattle. But over time, PR efforts turned skeptics into advocates.
“They’re out there now naming the cattle,” Kevin said with a laugh. “One lady was quite emphatic that one of the yearlings had fallen in love with her.”
Beyond fire prevention, Kevin said the program has provided a landscape-level plan for where water was needed, the best place to have trees and the best way to manage wildfire in the area.
Another key issue facing Canadian ranchers more recently is the potential for tariffs to be placed on the country by the U.S. administration.
“These tariffs are more about the politicians than they are about the cowboys in our industry,” he shared. He said that the two countries depend on each other not just for the cattle trade in the commercial market, but for genetics as well.
“It bothers me when politics get in the way of good industry management,” he added.
The impact of tariffs may push the country to explore alternative markets, and ultimately, Kevin believes the consumer will bear the brunt of cost increases.
Cattle market, beef demand
Canada is also seeing a red-hot cattle market following 2023 drought conditions that reduced the herd by 20-25%, which has kept prices stable and supported demand for cattle in Alberta feedlots.
“Right now, the prices are great—I hate to even say it out loud because having lived through BSE and everything else, you know when things are going good, a pin can drop and anything can happen,” he said.
Cattle prices in Canada and the U.S. are closely aligned, with significant cross-border movement of cattle between the two countries. While Canada imports more feeder cattle from the U.S., it exports more fed cattle for slaughter.
Despite fluctuations in currency values, prices remain strong, with top-quality calves reaching impressive figures this winter. Even with record-high prices, consumer demand for high-quality beef remains strong.
“We rely on supply and demand, and we play that market well, but when that demand is there and the price goes to what it is right now, it really attests to what the consumer thinks of our product,” he said.
Kevin highlighted several promotional efforts the association is involved in to connect with consumers. One notable program is Burger It Forward, where Canada Beef donates a dollar from every burger sold in participating restaurants through the month of February to food banks to help purchase beef.
Another is the Meet-A-Rancher program, which gives ranchers the opportunity to engage with consumers at grocery stores to help explain where their food comes from. This personal connection is especially valuable, as many consumers don’t realize how their food is produced, Kevin said.
The association also hosts a barbeque on the back lawn of the provincial legislature every year and uses it as their main lobby day. The event has grown from serving 100 people to more than 700, promoting beef and raising awareness among policymakers.
Beyond raising cattle and supplying beef, Kevin recognizes the rancher’s role in stewarding the land. “I want people out there to look past the cow and see that the cow is only grazing there because we looked after the land and the water, and grow the grass that keeps that cow healthy so that we’re able to feed the world.
“That’s what it really comes down to: the pride that we can take in knowing that our product is one that people need to survive,” he finished. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
