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The four pillars of responsible beef production

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Alberta’s cattle feeders take great pride in the crucial role they play in producing our province’s world class beef – and in using responsible and sustainable production methods.

Here at the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association (ACFA), we support our members in continuous improvement under four pillars:

1. Animal care

Alberta’s cattle feeders believe in treating the animals that feed us with care and respect. They follow the National Beef Code of Practice to ensure the finest in animal care, food safety and sustainability.

Two key programs that help them maintain the highest standards of animal care are:

-The Feedlot Animal Care Assessment Program

-The Canadian Livestock Transportation Certification

2. Animal health and production

Ensuring the health and well-being of livestock is a top priority for feedlot operators. ACFA is heavily invested in helping through initiatives such as the new histophilosis vaccine, and through forage and feed grain research.

3. Environment

Cattle feeders work hard to minimize environmental impact from their operations. 

ACFA has participated in several initiatives:

-The Feedlot Emergency Preparedness Plan which protects animals, the environment and human health in the event of an incident such as a disease outbreak or a natural disaster. 

-Environmental impact studies, such as Alberta Agriculture and Resource Development’s Livestock Impact on Groundwater Quality in Alberta.

-Interaction with the Natural Resources Conservation Board on environmental initiatives.

-Membership of the Intensive Livestock Working Group and Agri-Environmental Partnership of Alberta. 

–Project Clean Cow.

4. People and communities

Protecting people, and the communities in which they operate is important for cattle feeders. Food safety, farm safety and community service are at the centre of their everyday operations.

It is on these four pillars that Alberta’s cattle feeders operate in the most responsible manner possible. They strive to ensure excellence in animal care, food safety, farm safety, and respect for people and their communities. At ACFA we are working hard to support them in those efforts.

Cattle feeders get serious about dust

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On February 11, the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association hosted an information session in Picture Butte, AB, about the challenges of dust management in feedlots, laying out strategies to help operators control the common problem.  

Subject matter experts who presented at the session were Walter Ceroici, acting CEO of the Natural Resources Conservation Board in Edmonton, and Dr. Brent Auvermann, centre director and professor of agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University. 

Why dust is an issue for cattle feeders

During the hot, dry months of summer dust poses a constant challenge to feedlot operators. On the hottest days, cattle move little during the day, but in the evening, when the sun is low in the sky and temperatures cool, they start to move around. And when they move, they kick up the dust.

Dust is not just an annoyance for cattle, feedlot workers and their neighbours – it can also cause more serious issues. Dust can impact the health and performance of cattle, be a serious irritant for those suffering from respiratory problems, and in some cases can create a traffic hazard on nearby roads.

How to minimize dust

Applying water to pens and roadways has long been the most common technique used to minimize the dust raised by cattle in feedlots. Ideally, it should be sprayed onto dusty surfaces before the dust becomes a problem, but forecasting the correct time, and applying water in sufficient quantities, isn’t always that easy.

“This sounds straightforward,” said Walter, “but it can be challenging to determine the timing and frequency of pen watering in order to be effective. The volume of water required to control dust by watering varies with the depth of manure in pens. During extremely dry conditions there is no practical way to supply the amount of water needed to control dust without creating other issues such as odour, flies and pen floor damage.”

Some other methods of dust control include:

-Removing dry powdery dirt and manure from pens on a regular basis.

-Increasing stock density in pens during the dustiest times of the days.

-Planting windbreaks and other vegetative barriers to help stop dust from travelling.

According to ‘Dust Emissions from Cattle Feeding Operations,’ written by Dr. Auvermann, along with Sharon L.M. Preece, Ronaldo Maghirang and Steve Amosson, pen design also has a role in minimizing dust:

“The shape of a pen should allow for complete manure harvest from edge to edge. Pen surfaces should slope away from aprons, feed bunks, and water troughs at a 3 to 5 percent grade. They should drain separately into a runoff channel rather than into each other wherever possible.”

Roller-compacted concrete is another technique that cattle feeders have used successfully to keep dust to a minimum.

Having a plan

The Natural Resources Conservation Board of Canada, (NRCB), encourages feedlot operators to be aware of the conditions that contribute to dust, and of the options for dust control. 

They recommend every operation have a dust control plan, outlining strategies to mitigate dust, as well as response strategies in the event of a dust incident. The plan would typically outline available dust control methods, when those should be applied and how they should be implemented, as well as the responsibilities of individual workers in dust control.

“Operators who would like assistance, or to learn more about strategies to control dust for their operation are encouraged to contact their local NRCB staff,” said Walter.

Will eating less meat benefit the environment?

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We hear a great deal in the media about the negative impacts of livestock production on the environment. Unfortunately, that’s only half the story, and it’s time for people to take a more balanced look at how to best feed a hungry world.

Why plant crops are not the only answer

All agricultural activities have the potential to create both negative and positive environmental impacts. 

Beef cattle contribute approximately 2.4 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But beef production also has many environmental benefits: 

Carbon sequestration: One acre of healthy grassland can store more than 80 tonnes of carbon. Figures citing beef production emissions do not take into account the approximately 1.5 billion tonnes of GHGs naturally sequestered from the atmosphere by grasslands and pasture.

Biodiversity: Although cattle production uses 33 per cent of Canada’s agricultural land, it supports biodiversity and provides 68 per cent of the Wildlife Habitat Capacity of all agricultural land in Canada (CRSB, 2016).

At-risk species: Several at-risk species, such as burrowing owls, swift fox, greater prairie chicken, sage grouse, black-tailed prairie dogs, and loggerhead shrikes prefer unbroken pasture as their habitat.

Water management: Grasslands help maintain watersheds, which in turn help prevent drought and flooding.

Erosion: Grasslands also help prevent erosion.

Regeneration of unusable land: Grasslands account for about 33 per cent of Canada’s agricultural land, but this is primarily land that is unsuitable for crop production. While beef production makes use of land that is too rocky, hilly, boggy or dry for crop production, it also naturally replenishes and adds nutrients to the soil.

Replacing beef with plant crops would require moving more land into cultivation. This will result in a loss of natural grasslands, the release of soil carbon, reduced biodiversity and the potential loss of several at-risk species. This does not take into account the environmental and financial costs involved in converting native grasslands to crops, then continually irrigating and replenishing the land to maintain those crops.

How did beef production get such a bad rap?

The oft-quoted negative impacts of beef production on the environment come primarily from two discredited sources:

‘Livestock’s Long Shadow’ was a 2006 UN study that cites a number of incorrect facts, statistics and statements. For example, it asserted that 18 per cent of global GHG emissions come from livestock. Later studies conducted by the World Resources Institute (WRI) conclude that the true figure is only about five per cent. 

‘Cowspiracy’ is a 2014 Hollywood film which likewise uses incorrect facts and statements to argue that we should move away from a meat-based diet.

Despite the fact that these two sources have been emphatically discredited and disproved, they are still incorrectly quoted as ‘proof’ that livestock production is environmentally unsustainable.

Continued improvement

Like any responsible industry, Canada’s beef producers are dedicated to improving their impact on the environment. The true facts about Canadian beef’s contribution to climate change reflect this effort:

– Canadian beef has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world: 11.4 kg of carbon dioxide per one kg of live cattle weight.

– Cattle contribute very little to total Canadian and global GHG emissions: GHGs from cattle are 2.4 per cent of total Canadian GHG emissions and 0.04 per cent of total global GHG emissions. In Canada, 28 per cent of GHGs come from transportation.

– Canada’s beef industry reduced its GHG footprint by 14 per cent from 1981 to 2011. Canada now produces the same amount of beef with 29 per cent less breeding stock, 27 per cent less slaughter cattle, and 24 per cent less land.

Cattle feeding and the environment

In Canada, beef cattle are primarily raised on natural grassland and pasture for about 12 to 15 months, and then they are ‘finished’, often at a feedlot, using high-energy grain rations. 

85 per cent of the grain fed to livestock is unfit for human consumption and would otherwise be considered waste.

This combination of pasture followed by feedlot allows us to use less land, less water and emit fewer greenhouse gases, putting Canadian beef producers among the most efficient in the world.

Making up your mind with all the facts

Next time you’re faced with a delicious, nutritious steak, consider that beef production has many benefits for the environment, and that beef producers are working successfully to reduce any impacts that their activities do have. 

Not only is beef an important part of a healthy, balanced diet, it’s production also plays an important role in protecting our native grasslands and supporting Canadian wildlife and eco-systems.

A year of speaking up for cattle feeders

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As advocates for our province’s cattle feeders, the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association champions their interests, freeing them to concentrate on what they do best – producing premium beef for the world.

This past year has been another busy one. Here are the major projects the association has undertaken:

International trade

ACFA worked closely with the National Cattle Feeders’ Association to advance swift passage of several Canadian trade deals:

– Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which replaced NAFTA.

– The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which broadens access to Asian markets.

– Opening markets in China for Canadian bone-in-beef products, including the creation of a pilot project to export fresh and chilled beef to China.

– Positive changes to the Restricted Feeder Cattle Program at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and postponement of changes to the CFIA Manual of Procedure that would have stalled trade with China.

Labour

To address the chronic labour shortage, ACFA reached an agreement with the Alberta ministry of Labour to facilitate faster and more direct applications for temporary foreign workers, as well as relaxed education, language and income requirements.

ACFA continues to work on this crucial program.

Taxation 

Lobbying for fair taxation has been a top priority. Efforts include:

– $75,000 in funding to appeal Lethbridge County Livestock Head Tax.

– Successfully advocating to drop proposed changes to the taxation of family owned corporations.

– Seeking rebates for carbon tax paid by agriculture.

– Successfully advocating for improved allowances and deductions from federal corporate income tax for capital investment (i.e., new Accelerated Investment Incentive).

Government consultation and submissions

ACFA regularly consults with municipal and provincial governments to represent our members’ interests. This year, ACFA:

– Urged a return to full funding for veterinary schools at the universities of Calgary and Saskatchewan.

– Called for improved regulations for winter manure management.

– Consulted on an Animal Health Pathfinding initiative for Foreign Animal Disease Preparedness.

– Attended the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) annual meeting, and met with the European vaccine bank.

– Worked with the province and Alberta Veterinary Medical Association on the dispensing of antimicrobial products.

Next week, we will explore upcoming priorities for 2019. In the meantime, we wish you a happy new year.

Test your cattle feeders knowledge

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Throughout 2018, we have provided you with insights and facts on Alberta’s cattle feeding industry. This holiday, take a few minutes to test how much you have learned from those posts.

The cattle feeders quiz has questions drawn from this year’s blogs. Some of the questions are easy, some a little trickier, and all the answers can be found in blog posts from 2018.

Answers:

1, B; 2, A; 3, B; 4, A; 5, A; 6, B; 7, C; 8, B

How did you do?

If you got all eight questions right, you’re a cattle feeder guru! If you got five to seven questions right, you’ve obviously been paying attention all year. If you got four or fewer, don’t worry — we’ll provide more great cattle feeder information throughout 2019.

Next week, we’ll be reviewing what our industry and our organization has been up to in the past year.

In the meantime, we wish you, and your friends and family a safe and happy holiday.

The truth about beef production and sustainability

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Canada’s beef producers want consumers to know that they are producing good, healthy food in a sustainable way. 

But, what does sustainable mean, and what are beef producers doing to foster responsible production? For answers to these questions we turned to the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB).

CRSB is a collaborative, multi-stakeholder organization dedicated to promoting sustainability throughout the Canadian beef industry. They have three main pillars of focus: 

1) Sustainability benchmarking – a farm-to-fork assessment of the overall performance of the Canadian beef industry from environmental, social and economic perspectives.

2) The Certified Sustainable Beef Framework, which provides a tool for producers to attain certification against sustainability standards, which can then be communicated to consumers.

3) Sustainability projects, which help advance continuous improvement for sustainability in the Canadian beef industry.

“We define sustainability as a socially responsible, economically viable and environmentally sound product that prioritizes the planet, people, animals and progress,” said Andrea White, CRSB’s community engagement manager.

CRSB has adopted the same five focus areas as the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB): natural resources; people and the community; animal health and welfare; food; and efficiency and innovation. 

Some recent projects which have come from the organization include the National Beef Sustainability Assessment and Strategy (2016), CRSB Certified Sustainable Beef Framework (2018), collaboration on a Species at Risk on Agricultural Lands project, intended to maintain and enhance wildlife habitat, and a study evaluating consumer perceptions of beef sustainability.

How is the beef industry doing on sustainability?

“One of our priorities is to teach the public that beef production in Canada is already sustainable,” Andrea said. “There are a lot of loud voices out there telling very small pieces of the story, but they often don’t talk about the many ways beef production actually benefits the environment. By working together as an industry, we can tell the whole story, and demonstrate the good work we are doing.”

You can read about the ways beef production benefits the environment in ‘4 things you should know about beef production and the environment’.

Through a combination of sustainability projects and public outreach, the CRSB aims to support continuous improvement in the industry’s sustainability performance, while simultaneously creating public awareness of the true facts about the impact of beef production on communities, animal care and the environment. “Sustainability is a journey, not an end point,” said Andrea.

Cattle feeders and sustainability

Sustainability is a top priority for Alberta’s cattle feeders, so the appointment of Les Wall of KCL Cattle Co., in Coaldale Alberta, to the CRSB Council is good news. 

“We are pleased to have Les Wall, a progressive and innovative producer, join the CRSB Council,” said Anne Wasko, CRSB chair. “We look forward to his valuable expertise and experience in representing the cattle feeding sector on our multi-stakeholder leadership team, to help propel the sustainability of Canadian beef forward.”

To learn more about the work that cattle feeders are doing to improve the sustainability of their operations, check out ‘The beef industry and sustainability: how are we doing and where could we improve?’

The rising cost of hiring temporary foreign workers puts cattle feeders at risk 

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Many of Canada’s agricultural producers rely on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to help keep their operations running. Even though they would prefer to hire from within the domestic labour pool, there are three main reasons why it is hard for them to find local workers:

1. Farm work is often seasonal, and many Canadian candidates choose to seek year-round work elsewhere.

2. The work can be extremely physical and strenuous, which limits the number of people interested in, or able for, such work.

3. While baby boomer farmers are retiring, young people are leaving rural areas for cities, creating a labour gap.

The agricultural industry collaborated to create a Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Workforce Action Plan and have urged the government to adopt their recommendations for addressing the labour crisis.

Why new changes to the temporary foreign worker program will impact cattle feeders

In October 2018, the Alberta government changed the prevailing wages for temporary foreign workers.

For example, the minimum wage for the NOC (national occupational classification, or occupational group) that includes specialized livestock workers and supervisors has increased from $18.43 per hour to $21.63 or more, across the province. That’s a wage increase of more than $3 per hour.

These minimum wages are in addition to other requirements such as supplying housing for workers, so the total cost of hiring a temporary foreign worker can quickly become prohibitive for agricultural producers, even though they desperately need help.

The Agriculture Industry Labour Council of Alberta (AILCA) has written a letter to the federal and provincial governments asking for support, because it is concerned that proposed changes to two programs intended to help farmers with a worker shortage will make it even harder to access labour. You can read more about that in ‘Alberta’s agricultural leaders ask government for help with labour crisis’.

To learn more about the agricultural labour crisis, read ‘12 must-know facts about the agricultural labour shortage and why it matters to Canadians.’

Why rural infrastructure must be a government priority

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Our farmers rely on rural roads and bridges  to bring in supplies and get their products to market – but a lack of government funding to maintain and rehabilitate that infrastructure is working against them.  

There are three primary types of infrastructure – municipal (local roads and bridges), provincial (secondary and primary highways) and federal (railways and ports). The problem lies at the municipal level.  Local governments do not have large tax tools like personal income tax, corporate income tax, and sales tax.  Their taxing power is limited to the property tax. In rural areas, where the population is small, municipalities simply do not have the funds required to sufficiently maintain local roads and bridges.  

More and more, business is also being conducted online, but rural areas have limited access to consistent, reliable internet. This service needs to be extended to remote areas so that agricultural producers can benefit from the reach and efficiencies of digital commerce.

How municipalities are managing

Because municipalities are not receiving the financial support they require from senior level governments, some are taking radical measures.  Examples include the ‘livestock head tax’ imposed in Lethbridge County, recategorizing intensive livestock production from ‘agricultural’ to ‘commercial’ or ‘industrial’, and creating exclusion zones where agriculture activities are not allowed.   

Solutions

1) For rural infrastructure to adequately support farmers and rural residents, provincial and federal governments must provide adequate financial support. Rural infrastructure is just as important as urban projects such as transit or green initiatives.  

2) The taxation system for farmland in Alberta has not been updated in decades. Assessment does not capture farmland used for intensive livestock production, and the values attributed to cultivated land are inaccurate because new technology has made previously less productive land more productive.

Since the 1920s and 1930s, consecutive federal and provincial governments have invested billions of dollars in irrigation including headworks, canals, and reservoirs.  If there are no roads and bridges to go along with that, we will not maximize the return on these billions of dollars of historical investment.

Without the infrastructure to get product to market, investment in agriculture will slow. But high quality, public infrastructure will stimulate investment and support agriculture.

You can read about other issues affecting Alberta’s cattle feeders in ‘Pressing cattle feeders issues discussed with politicians during Ottawa trip’. 

How roller-compacted concrete is improving cattle health in feedlot pens

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Alberta’s cattle feeders are always looking for innovations that will contribute to their excellent standards of animal care and improve the sustainability of their operations.

Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) is a product new to the industry that can be used as a base for feedlot pens instead of clay. Jared Clark, of KCL Cattle Company Ltd., near Lethbridge, explains some of the benefits of RCC, in this video:

Benefits of RCC

Roller-compacted concrete was developed in the 1960s, but its application in the feedlot world is new. The benefits for cattle health, feedlot efficiencies and environmental performance are all being studied, but feedlots using the product have already observed:

– Reduced pen dust, which improves air quality, as well as water quality in the dugouts near the pens.

– Reduced loss of clay every time a pen is cleaned. This means less pen maintenance, and also reduces the emissions created by trucks hauling away manure mixed with clay.

– Less mud in pens gives cattle more room to roam, and also promotes foot health.

RCC is just one of the many ways cattle feeders care for their animals. You can learn more in ‘Why our high standards of animal care make Canadian beef the best’, and ‘How 5 freedoms help ensure excellence in animal care’.

Micro-machine helps reduce feedlot waste

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Feeding cattle the best diet for growth is a complicated business. Now, new technology is making it not only easier to do but also more efficient. 

Micro-machine technology enables cattle feeders to accurately measure individual additives or supplements that help cattle grow. 

There are three primary constituents in cattle feed – the concentrate, which is typically grain; the roughage, or silage; and supplements, including minerals and vitamins. The makeup of the feed varies with the gender of the animal and how long it has been in the feedlot.

Most Canadian feedlots hire nutritionists to create a balanced feed plan for their livestock.

Once a nutritionist has decided on the optimum supplement blend, it is typically made into a custom pellet. These pellets are then mixed in with the grain and silage. A feedlot might have four or more different pellets formulated for use during different stages of the feedlot growth cycle. 

Simon Cobban, manager of feedlot solutions at United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), said customizing feed for different groups of cattle can be wasteful. “If a feedlot operator wishes to increase the use of any given supplement, he must increase the number of pellets added to the feed. This means increasing all the supplements in that pellet and incurring a great deal of waste.”

How technology is reducing waste and improving accuracy

With micro-machine technology, cattle feeders can measure individual additives or supplements to within 1/100th of a gram. Once measured, these supplements are then sprayed directly onto the grain. It provides a much more accurate and homogenous mix than mixing in a pellet.

“The machines aren’t new, but the high capital cost puts them out of reach for most feedlots,” said Simon. “At UFA, we have a program for cattle feeders where we provide the machine at no cost, as long as they buy our feed, additives and supplements. We install the machine in a custom building, set it up, program it and maintain it. It makes this technology much more accessible.”

Initially, UFA’s micro-technology program was only available for feedlots that feed 10,000 or more head of cattle per year. It is now available to feedlots with 5,000 head, and it will soon be going down to 1,500 head.

“We currently service something like 60 to 65 per cent of the fed cattle in Western Canada,” said Simon. “We have 100 per cent customer retention, and we have quite a few smaller feedlots waiting for when we can reduce that threshold to 1,500.”

To learn about other ways technology is used in feedlot operations, read ‘How technology is helping improve feedlot efficiencies’.