Manitoba Beef Producers online fall district meetings wrapped up last week.

General Manager Carson Callum talked about the feed situation heading into winter.

"Lots better [than last year]. It still varies from producer to producer but kind of anecdotally, we've heard from our board and a number of members and it's just feed production was a lot better this based on some of the growing conditions. A lot of folks should be in a lot better shape than they had been in the last couple of years."

Callum says holding district meetings online this year was not ideal, but did allow producers to discuss key issues.

"Ag Crown Lands is always a big topic especially with some of the changes that have happened in the last while. Business Risk Management programs, that was a big discussion topic. In light of the pandemic, it really showed the importance for these programs and changes that might be needed for folks to be able to manage their risk...I always like to talk about the importance of public trust in our industry"

He commented on the current mood in the beef industry.

"Still a lot of uncertainty, a lot of concern related to the impacts of the pandemic. We had a better growing year for many. I know it varies across the province but that has helped and we're just hoping that folks when they actually ship their cattle get some decent prices and things don't crash again as a result of some of the COVID-19 impacts."

Callum notes a number of director elections took place during the meetings.