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How a verified quality assurance initiative that boosted Canada’s wine industry could have lessons for beef producers

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This is the third post in our Spotlight on the Speakers series, featuring speakers from February’s Alberta Beef Industry Conference.

This week we spoke with Mark Sheridan, president of Hester Creek Estate Winery in B.C., to learn more about the Vintners’ Quality Alliance (VQA).

The wine industry’s VQA program was instigated in the late 1980s when NAFTA eliminated the differential tax structure. At the time, Canadian wine producers lost their preferential tax rates, and realized they needed a recognizable quality standard to give their industry an edge with consumers.

“It gave us instant credibility on the worldwide market because it’s a verified quality standard that is in line with other standards from around the world,” said Mark.

How a similar program could work for beef producers

The wine industry’s quality assurance program assures consumers that they are buying a product that will meet their expectations.

“Consumers are increasingly wanting to know the story behind the wine – Where is this wine from? Where were the grapes grown? What makes that area unique and important?” said Mark.

VQA

Consumers also want to know where their beef comes from, how it was raised, and how it was cared for. The beef industry’s Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program has the potential to provide consumer assurances in a similar way to VQA, but is currently evolving and has not yet attained certification from a recognized certifying body.

Another program that provides the assurances demanded by today’s consumer about animal health and welfare is the National Cattle Feeders’ Association’s Canadian Feedlot Animal Care Assessment Program, which is certified by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) and recognized by both the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and the National Farm Animal Care Council.

How would a quality assurance program differ from beef grading?

In an earlier post we explained how beef grading provides a quality rating for individual cuts of beef. A quality assurance program could provide the deeper level of information increasingly demanded by consumers – for instance, where the beef comes from and whether it was raised humanely.

In a highly competitive global marketplace it would give a further edge to Canada’s beef producers. “We have the best beef in the world so let’s take advantage of all the good things we do and position our product to get the best return we can”, says Bryan Walton, president and CEO of the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association.

Why our high standards of animal care make Canadian beef the best

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Canada’s beef producers are committed to raising their cattle in a comfortable, low-stress environment. Healthy animals under good care produce a better product. Our producers realize that caring for, and respecting, the animals that feed us is the right thing to do.

“We’re proud of our production practices and how we look after the cattle in our care,” said Bryan Walton, ACFA’s president and CEO. “The way we raise our animals is integral to providing premium Alberta beef to the world.”

Here at ACFA, we have championed several initiatives that help our members meet or exceed best practices and regulations:

National Beef Code of Practice

In association with industry partners and the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC), we helped develop the National Beef Code of Practice. The code, which was developed in conjunction with animal welfare and enforcement representatives, as well as experts in beef cattle behaviour, health and welfare, defines the base standards of animal care.

Canadian Feedlot Animal Care Assessment Program

This fully auditable program, which is certified by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO), provides cattle feeders with a way to assess their animal care practices and demonstrate their high standards. Consumers increasingly rank animal welfare as an important factor in their buying decisions and this program provides confidence in an integral segment of beef production.

Industry collaboration

We collaborate with important animal care organizations like Alberta Farm Animal Care, and participate in programming such as the Canadian Livestock Transport Certification Program. This is a standardized course offering certification that is recognized throughout Canada and the United States. The program is led by an industry initiative to address the need for increased accountability and improved handling practices in livestock transport. One of the main strengths of Canadian Livestock Transport is that the courses present the current regulations for animal transport in Canada.

The basis for these programs is scientific knowledge about the needs of animals. Through training and experience, and with the guidance of accredited veterinarians and animal nutritionists, our industry members produce healthy, delicious food in an ethical, sustainable, and socially responsible manner.

If you’re still not convinced that Canada’s beef cattle are cared for in the most compassionate, respectful way possible, check out ‘3 feedlot myths busted’.

Foot-and-mouth disease strategy crucial for Canada and cattle feeders

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Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious virus that can affect cattle, sheep and swine. When an outbreak hits any livestock producer’s operation, the results can be devastating, with the potential for entire herds, or even an industry, to be decimated.

The Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association (ACFA), is concerned that Canada is not sufficiently prepared for an outbreak. This needs to be addressed by both the Canadian government and our own industry.

“The Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association and the National Cattle Feeders’ Association (NCFA) are continuing to elevate the importance of readiness for a foot and mouth disease outbreak in Canada,” said Bryan Walton, ACFA’s president and CEO. “One crucial aspect is access to a vaccine, and a policy around vaccination for FMD in Canada.”

In March 2018, a delegation of government and industry representatives, including Bryan Walton and Ryan Thompson, visited Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) in Lyon, France, to learn more about its production capabilities for an FMD vaccine.

“FMD is a serious issue, so it was good to have an industry-government delegation in Lyon, to see the facility and talk about the path forward,” said Ryan Thompson, NCFA board chair. “We all need to work together to make sure our members are able to have a strategy to deal with an outbreak.”

Some background

The North American FMD Vaccine Bank is a resource jointly administered by commissioners from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. However, the U.S. is seeking government funding to create a ‘US only’ vaccine bank because, in today’s intensive livestock industry, they see it as the only way to ensure their producers have access to the required number of vaccines, regardless of strain. There is concern that with their own private resource, their support for the North American bank will diminish.

If Canada does not take similar measures it puts the entire beef industry at risk.

Boehringer Ingelheim has the technology to produce sufficient quantities of an effective, DIVA-compliant (Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals) FMD vaccine – potentially within five days of receiving the request.

Next steps

“The meeting has triggered strong interest among both industry and government leaders, in looking at the greater use of vaccination strategies in Canada’s livestock industry, in the event of an FMD outbreak,” said Bryan. “Greater use of vaccination would require several other strategies to be fully and effectively implemented by industry — like an immediate ‘voluntary cease movement’ – also referred to as a 48 or 72-hour standstill – and use of packing plants to slaughter for disposal rather than consumption.”

Vaccination would greatly reduce the need for a ‘stamping out’ strategy, involving mass depopulation and disposal. That would be difficult, if not impossible, to implement in larger operations, and is increasingly considered unacceptable by the general public.

“A very pertinent question for Canada relates to how we re-gain FMD-free status after the deployment of the vaccine,” continued Bryan. “It is most likely that the process of regaining FMD free status in Canada or North America, as recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health, OIE, would take a year or more from the incidence of an outbreak. This will depend in part on whether the control measures involve ‘stamping out’, which would enable faster recognition, or vaccination, which would result in a longer time for recognition. It is important to note that once OIE recognition of FMD-free status is obtained, it would take longer still to re-establish market share.”

Industry members and government have set up a meeting for April 20, 2018, to begin discussion of a ‘made in Canada’ FMD vaccination strategy, taking into account what that would require from both industry and government.

FMD is just one of ACFA’s initiatives aimed at helping beef producers raise healthy animals in a low-stress environment. You can learn about other actions being taken in ‘Animal health initiatives from Alberta’s cattle feeders’.