The cattle industry has always had a tinge of unpredictability to it, says the chairman of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association.

So Ryan Beierbach says the industry is trying to stay calm in the face of the latest unknown — what a possible renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement under new U.S. President Donald Trump might mean.

Beierbach said weather and trade restrictions are just a couple of the factors which play into the industry's unpredictability but they're all things he's seen before.

"We would move forward the same as we always do," if NAFTA is renegotiated, he said.

"You don't know what's going to happen but that's not really a big change from some of the situations we've been in before."

Trump, who was elected in November and sworn into office earlier this month, campaigned on a protectionist approach and has long voiced opposition to NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

He formally withdrew the U.S. from the TPP on Monday, and said he intended to renegotiate NAFTA "at the appropriate time."

But Beierbach said he's not worried about the return of mandatory country of origin labelling regulations, pointing to a decision made by the World Trade Organization which went in Canada's favour. The requirement was panned by Canadian organizations who argued it violated international trade regulations.

Beierbach did say that anything which would restrict the flow of cattle across the border would be a detriment to the industry. The perception seems to be that the U.S. focus when it comes to possible changes to NAFTA is mostly on Mexico, he said.

"On the beef side, we really don't have a lot to gain by renegotiating NAFTA, so there's a bit of apprehension," Beierbach said.

"Because of the way the industries work on both sides of the border and how important the cross-border flow is, I don't think that it would be a target," he said, adding he thinks his American counterparts will push to keep the current agreements in place as they are.

"But that being said, it's going to be a negotiation and you don't really know where its going to end up."

Beierbach said approximately 75 per cent of Canadian beef exports go to the U.S. He didn't have exact numbers but said "well over half" of Saskatchewan's beef exports go to the States as well.

As there is no federally inspected packing plant in the province, Saskatchewan beef is usually sent to Alberta. From there, it could be sent anywhere, Beierbach said.