Local Ontario farmers say business is steady but slashed retail prices of beef could damage the industry if the ongoing XL Food recall is not resolved.

Farmers said Wednesday that a crisis is looming if costs continue to rise but the price of beef heads in the opposite direction.

“Replacement cattle are very high, cost for feed is a lot higher than it was a year ago and then when you have a finished product, you’re not getting what you should be getting to cover costs,” Andy Skinner, a local farmer, told CTV Toronto Wednesday.

Prices for Ontario farmers have remained steady for four to five weeks now, Murray Morrison at Ontario Stockyards Inc. told CTV. The stockyards, which auctions off approximately 120,000 head of cattle a year, is not linked to the recall but could be affected if retailers continue to slash prices.

According to Morrison, Ontario meat remains unaffected by the Alberta recall because it is either processed in Ontario or in the northern United States.

“I don’t believe the problem is as big as it’s been made out to be. It is a problem but it’s not as huge as we think it is,” said Morrison.

Alberta’s XL Foods released a statement on Tuesday saying it has corrected the problems that led to the facility’s temporary closure last month. Corrective actions were required by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency after more than 1,800 beef products were recalled following the discovery of E. coli at the plant.

At least 11 people have been affected by a strain of E. coli that has been connected to the recalled beef.

The XL food union claims the company is refusing to address food safety problems at the facility, saying the company has a long way to go to fix the problems.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency staff conducted a pre-inspection at the plant on Tuesday. It is the first step toward determining if the plant is safe to resume operations.

The CFIA has not said when it will comment on the inspection, but it is likely to be later this week.

“The beef’s safe. It’s just one instance and I think they’ve gone overboard with the recalls on the beef,” said Dave Clark, livestock exporter told CTV News.

With files from CTV Toronto’s Janice Golding