Sask. cattle producers closely watching labor dispute at Cargill beef plant in Alberta

Saskatchewan cattle producers are closely watching a labor dispute at the Cargill beef plant in High River, Alberta.

Workers rejected a contract offer last week and have set a strike date of next Monday.

Cargill responded with a lock-out notice also for next Monday.

The president of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers, Kelcy Elford, says a labor disruption would be devastating.

He says it would cause a major backlog of cattle and pressure prices.

A shut-down last year due to the Coronavirus caused a backlog of cattle for months.

The Cargill plant processes 36 percent of Canada’s beef herd.

The two sides in the contract dispute are expected to resume talks early this week and both are hoping to avoid a work stoppage.

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