As we’ve seen in earlier posts on this blog, Canada’s agriculture industry is experiencing a chronic labour crisis.
According to labour market information (LMI) research conducted by The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC), the vacancy rate for on-farm jobs is seven per cent, which is the highest vacancy rate of any of Canada’s industry sectors. Read more
In previous posts on the blog we’ve talked about the contribution the beef industry makes to Canada’s economy; about beef exports, young people in agriculture and more. These are all subjects that matter to Canadians.
The central issue of all these topics is ‘sustainability’ – our ability to operate profitably and for the long-term, without being harmful to people or the environment. That poses some big questions for us as an industry. How are we performing when it comes to our industry members, our animals, our environment and our consumers?
That’s why, in 2014, the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) commissioned the National Beef Sustainability Assessment (NBSA) and Strategy. The two-year study assessed the environmental, social and economic performance of the Canadian beef industry, right from ‘farm to fork’, and identified areas where we could improve.
According to Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, chair of the CRSB, “we have created a sustainability benchmark to enable us to start measuring, and to be able to tangibly see, what we’re doing well and where we need to improve. We now have a national report that’s been measured coast to coast and encompasses all the components to the sustainment of the entire beef industry.”
“We created completely new models, for instance for biodiversity and carbon sequestration,” said Cherie. “It is the first, and most inclusive of its kind worldwide, and is now an internationally recognized model.”
A summary of the methodologies and results can be found in the newly released assessment and strategy report (PDF). In this post we’re going to take a look at some of the areas where room for improvement has been identified, and where goals have been set.
From ranching right through to feeding or processing, our industry uses water, land and feed; our operations consume resources and release substances into the air and water. Cattle also release methane into the air as food ferments in their rumen, or stomach.
On the other hand, the beef industry also provides many benefits, such as sequestering carbon in the soil in the form of manure, providing natural habitat for biodiversity and maintaining wetlands on the landscape.
The study examined the environmental performance of the Canadian beef industry in the following areas:
Some of the main goals for our industry identified by the study are:
The social part of the study covered three main areas:
The following goals were recommended:
Producer viability and consumer resilience were the main areas of focus for the economic portion of the study. The two main goals that came from this were:
Cherie explained that the assessment will be an ongoing process, with updated surveys so that progress can be monitored.
This is a living document. It’s just a snapshot, and it will change for the next go round
“When you take a look at all the components of producing a pound of beef,” Cherie continued, “it’s given us the ability to really focus on the individual stages and see exactly how we can improve. It gives operators goals to focus on that are specific to their own part of the beef chain.”
If you would like more detail on the results of the assessment, the goals or the action items that will help us to achieve those goals, check out the National Beef Sustainability Assessment and Strategy Summary Report (PDF).
In an earlier post on this blog we explored the contribution Alberta’s beef industry makes to our province’s economy. We explained that exports make up an important part of that contribution, because we produce more beef than Canadians eat.
To learn more about beef exports, and where they go, we spoke with Rob Meijer, former president of Canada Beef. “Many agricultural commodities, like beef cattle, have a high dependence on exports,” said Rob, “and every year, Canada exports approximately 45 per cent of its beef production.”
Canadian beef is shipped to 58 countries, but 71 per cent goes to the United States. China, Mexico, Japan and Hong Kong together represent another 24 per cent (source: Canadian Cattlemen’s Association).
The good news for Canadian beef producers, and for the economy, is that the first half of 2016 saw an 11 per cent increase in exports, by volume. “These increasing export volumes have been supported by larger domestic beef production which is up nine per cent so far this year,” said Rob.
“While new markets do occasionally open to Canadian beef,” he continued, “what is often more significant to the industry is the expansion or liberalization of trade with existing markets. For example, on June 28th of this year, Mexico announced that, effective October 1st, the full range of Canadian beef products will be eligible for import. Then, on July 8th, Taiwan reopened its borders to boneless and bone-in beef from cattle under 30 months of age.”
Both Mexico and Taiwan had previously banned imports of Canadian cattle and beef, after the 2003 outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The resumption of trade is a testament to the fact that the Canadian beef industry produces safe, high quality beef.
Rob explained that exports allow producers to add value to their products by giving them access to customers who use different parts of the carcass than Canadian customers do. “In fact, over the last 10 years, export markets have added an average of $510 per head of additional value,” he said.
For an industry that contributes $33 billion worth of sales of goods and services, either directly or indirectly, to the Canadian economy, it’s clear that exports represent a valuable part of the business. And of course exports allow millions of people across the world to enjoy our beautiful Alberta beef!
Drive anywhere around Alberta, and you’ll see that familiar sight of rolling grain fields and pastures filled with cattle. They’re part of what makes this province so beautiful, but they’re also important for their role in feeding people and the economy. This week on this blog, we’re going to take a look at the financial contribution the sector, and in particular cattle feeding, makes to Alberta’s economy.
Agriculture in Alberta is big business, and cattle feeding is an important part of that. Here are a few ways cattle feeders contribute to the economy:
Cattle feeders contribute to the economy by producing a product that has value (beef). But along the way, they also improve the value of other farmers’ products. They do this is by using feedstuffs (barley, wheat, corn, potatoes and even carrots) that fail to meet the grade for human consumption. If it weren’t for operations such as cattle feeders, all of this product would likely go to waste.
The importance of any industry to the economy is related to the amount of added value it generates in addition to the original product. In the beef industry, the cattle are bred right here in Alberta, and then, thanks to the presence of Alberta cattle feeders, they usually stay in the province throughout the production chain, until they are ultimately purchased by beef processors. Without question, beef is the most valuable value-added agriculture product that is produced in Alberta.
Because we usually produce more beef than we can eat here in Canada, we are also able to export beef to places like the US, Mexico, Korea, and Japan. When that beef is exported, it commands a high price and boosts the provincial economy.
The health and potential of any economy is directly related to the health, well-being, education and skills of its citizens. When people aren’t healthy, economic production goes down, and healthcare costs go up. Beef is a very good source of zinc, protein and iron, and part of a healthy and balanced diet. Beef fuels economic value that way too!
For more facts about feedlot operations, check out ‘Feedlot facts: five things you might not know’ and ‘Three things you should know about Canadian beef’.
When the Liberal government announced a review of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFW program) last week, the news caused little more than a ripple — but to the beef industry it’s a big deal.
