Meet Our NSCP Board

L to R :  Back Row :  William Cox, Mike Horsnell, Dave Oulton, Dave Lavers, John Tilley

Front Row:  Kurt Sherman, Marilyn Carter, George Smith

Unavailable:  Greg Sheffer, Jack Ferguson

ABOUT NSCP...

Mandate:  To promote and assist in the sustainable development of Nova Scotia’s beef production industry in the best interest of the members, and ultimately all Nova Scotians.

Objectives: 

• To promote the beef industry of Nova Scotia to the benefit of the members.
• To provide information on production and marketing or other related activities of beef.
• To affiliate with and appoint members to, any group beneficial to the association.

Supporting the Industry:  In addition to its own initiatives the NSCP works co-operatively through representation on the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association board and committees, the National Check-off Agency, The Beef Cattle Research Agency and the Beef Information Centre.  Regionally, NSCP participates in the Nappan Beef Research Committee, the Maritime Beef Council, The NS  Federation of Agriculture Council of Leaders and others.

Funding:  A compulsory check-off on all cattle sales is payable to the NSCP to fund its programs and activities. These check-off dollars, plus membership fees, provide the basis for funding of the organization as well as funding the NSCA commitments to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the Beef Information Centre.

For 30 years, until 2005, the Nova Scotia Cattlemen’s Association (NSCA) was the collective voice of Nova Scotia's beef producers. NSCA worked with entities including the Maritime Beef Committee, Nova Scotia Beef Commission, various county development associations and others. The industry and Nova Scotia’s economy benefited greatly from the work of these organizations.

2001: creating more effective industry participation. In 2001, the Board of Directors of the Nova Scotia Cattlemen’s Association did a short term Strategic Action Plan. The goal was to focus the limited resources of the organization on the areas most likely to positively impact the mandate and objectives of the association. The resulting plan called for the formation of a legislated commodity board, NS Cattle Producers, and some important new operational goals.  

During 2003 and 2004: surviving disaster, pushing plans ahead.  The BSE crisis required us to focus on several major issues at once.  While we fought to keep the industry alive, we also fought to keep our producer organization alive.  Industry and government leaders re-visited existing plans and made adjustments which helped the industry survive. The BSE Taskforce relied heavily on those NSCA plans. Simultaneously, we brought NSCP to reality, gathering support for the new organization and Levy system, and writing complex regulations.  We also conducted a major communication initiative, including meetings, information materials and an effective public relations campaign.    

Early 2005 : capacity building and continued implementation.  Working with government and industry experts, NS Cattlemen’s Association developed and submitted another new strategy plan, which enabled the NSCA to cease operations and the new NSCP organization to begin.  This included producer support and added value programming, plus the implementation of the new regulations and associated activities as outlined in previous plans.  Draft regulations were completed and submitted for final approval.

Government accepted this plan and provided financial support to begin the necessary work. NSCP added a General Manager, successfully administered the industry programs and also did a significant amount of work to build industry strength through cooperation with government and industry stakeholders in Nova Scotia, the maritime region and with other members of the Canadian cattle industry.  Detailed work continued on finaliuzing NSCP regulations, setting up new administrative procedures and levy details. 

Fall 2005:  Nova Scotia Cattle Producers provided leadership to organize a Maritime beef industry strategic planning session.  We chaired discussions between NS, NB and PEI producer organizations, plus beef specialists from the three provinces.  We then set up a workshop at the Memramcook Institute in New Brunswick, with the primary objective of developing a strategic plan for the Maritime Beef Industry.  Although representatives from the three Maritime Provinces have come together in the past, to work on common problems and projects, the November meeting represented the first time the full board membership from each provincial association agreed to meet with the goal of developing a comprehensive Maritime Beef Producers Strategic Plan.  Representatives developed an achievable plan, and prioritized action steps.  The Maritime Beef Council was created and continues to move ahead on important projects. Recent additions include the Maritime Beef Council levy committee.  

In late 2005, NSCP developed a new Nova Scotia - specific strategy to carry the industry into the future.  On the day the proposal was to be presented to the Minister, Premier Hamm announced his plan to resign and have a leadership convention, followed by an election.  Significant changes in government within Nova Scotia New Brunswick and Canada caused a delay of and changes to specific strategic planning.  We continued work to get the new organization started, with detailed work resolving regulations and setting up a completely new registration process.         

2006:  During the first part of 2006, we presented our industry plan to two NS Agricultural Ministers and our Premier. NSCP finished the delivery of the provincial industry programs started the previous year.  We also focused on administration and regulations. The regulations were due to be settled in in April 2005 but took until February 14, 2006 to resolve. We presented information on the new regulation and our strategies to department representatives, three sets of Zone Meetings, three NS political parties, NS Department of Justice, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, National Checkoff Organization and special interest groups.  We were also active in establishing positive relationships with other NS agricultural groups. 

While getting the levy and registration systems implemented, NSCP managed completion of the Maritime Beef Industry strategy, including projects such as Beef Production Modeling, Herd Renewal, the first Maritime Beef Conference, and applied for a CITP funded Maritime Traceability Pilot Project. We also visited Quebec to review the ATQ system.  Maritime Beef Council work required strategic work, and we made presentations to the three Maritime governments and the federal government.

egulations and check-off page.

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