At the Saskatchewan Goat Breeders Association (SGBA), our focus is on supporting producers and assisting the growth of the goat industry.  My role as President is to support this and ensuring we are in line with our mission statement. 

 

With the increased immigration, we have an increased demand for goat meat.   We have an opportunity for growth, however headwinds from the importation of goat meat from other countries make it difficult to compete on price alone.    

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I come from an agricultural background, and I know just how important agriculture is to Saskatchewan and the hard work that goes into it.  My personal and professional life revolve around agriculture and have a strong desire to make a difference.  This understanding shapes my passion to help, support, and lead others to success.  I have been fortunate since joining the SBGA to have made great relationships in fellow board members, the members we serve as well as those that work to support us. 

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With the new tagging and traceability requirements, this will pose a large learning curve for Canadian producers. Being a member, SGBA will give you the support to transition through this and keep you up to date with changes that affect you and our industry.  If you know someone that has goats, be it pets or otherwise, these regulations will affect every goat owner.  After seeing what BSE did to our producers, the market, the bottom lines; there is merit to the tagging and traceability program.  To lobby the government for Tariffs on imported meat, we need to understand how many goats there are and currently there isn’t really any way of knowing other than if everyone has a Saskatchewan Premises Identification (PID) number that it is up to date. Additionally, we won’t be able to get the US boarder open until we have traceability.  Point being, we all have a part to play in our industry to grow it and make it profitable. 

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There has been a lot of misinformation about tagging and traceability requirements and we are committed to providing members up to date information.  It is change, and we all love change… but it is progress and in time this will give our industry the sustainability it needs.  

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Thank you to our dedicated Board Members for their ongoing contributions and commitment to our industry. Your time, passion, and leadership make a meaningful difference. 

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To our members—thank you for your continued involvement and support. And to those who are not yet members, I encourage you to please join us. 

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Please join us in having your voice heard and supporting our industry by becoming a member.

 

Being a member allow us to share information with you and for you to give us feedback. This could be on something you are seeing whether that be disease, experience at abattoirs, selling to stores, sales yards, good software or bad software, new tag issues, education suggestions, being a part of shaping regulations and finally sharing thoughts to help our industry. 

Together, we can strengthen our industry, support one another, and build a strong future for goat production in Saskatchewan. 

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Cory Pearson 

President, Saskatchewan Goat Breeders Association