Alberta Biosecurity Support Program gets rolling

Farm Business Communications, 8/28/2010
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By Staff

A three-year federal/provincial grant program aimed at helping or encouraging Alberta livestock operations to set up biosecurity measures is now taking applications.

Alberta's Growing Foward Biosecurity program, which will accept applications up until Sept. 30, 2012, will cover 50 per cent of eligible expenses for approved biosecurity work by farmers, non-profit farmer groups and "farm service providers," the province said Friday.

Funding will go to eligible applicants to "adopt and promote biosecurity measures in line with industry-developed national standards and benchmarks."

The maximum amount available will be $20,000 for producer projects and $80,000 for not-for-profit and farm service provider projects.

Eligible producers, defined as farmers who produce at least $10,000 worth of ag commodities every year, can submit projects "exceeding $2,000," the province said.

Work eligible for funds include the implementation of biosecurity measures (as well as feasibility studies and risk assessments for those) as well as the purchase of approved equipment, software and other technologies.

Work such as delivering, implementing and promoting biosecurity programs and/or developing training materials to help with on-farm implementation is also eligible, the province said Friday.

The program was set up to coincide with the current Growing Forward federal-provincial ag policy funding framework, which runs to the end of March 2013. Ongoing biosecurity program initiatives will be "evaluated at that time," the province said.

The province on Friday also rolled out details for a Growing Forward Leadership Development program, aimed at boosting the industry's success through "advancing leadership skills and capacity."

Eligible costs covered under the program includes the costs of enrolment in leadership development programs with at least 12 instructional hours of curriculum offered in Canada or the continental U.S.

Topic areas that may be considered include team building and group facilitation training; media training; conflict resolution and consensus-building training; coaching and mentoring skills development; communication skill development; strategic thinking and planning; and board governance.

The program is also available to "leadership program developers" such as industry organizations, producer groups and eligible schools, the province said.

BIXS Cattle ID System Soon to Go Live

Farm Business Communications, 8/24/2010


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BIXS cattle ID system soon to go live

By Daniel Winters, Manitoba Co-operator


After extensive beta-testing by computer-savvy ranchers this summer, the online record-keeping system called the BIXS, or Beef InfoXchange System, will be ready for launch for the cow-calf sector by September of this year, says Larry Thomas, national co-ordinator for the CCA's Canadian Beef Advantage program.

"The countdown to the BIXS launch has begun," said Thomas in a presentation on the new system at the semi-annual CCA convention in Calgary. In the first stage of the launch, due to begin in September, some 6,000 users are expected to use the platform to input data on 60,000 head of cattle.

Along with the early adopters will be program partners such as members of the Beef Breeds Council, participants in the Pfizer Gold program, and the Canadian Angus Association, which will submit the contents of their databases into the system the instant it goes live.

The roll-out will come in stages so that kinks can be worked out before it is opened up the ranching public.


Lack of high-speed Internet access in rural areas is a problem, said Thomas. Those stuck on dial-up who wish to get their cattle on the BIXS will be able to order or download the necessary paper forms from the CCA, fill them out, and use a third party to input their data online.


The second phase, called BIXS 2, is touted as an information-exchange system that will eventually include all elements of the value chain, from the cow-calf producer to the feedlot operator and the packers. The developers of BIXS claim that the only limit to its future potential as a goldmine of production information will be the users' imagination.


Feedlots will be able to provide in and out dates for animals, so that cow-calf producers will be able to identify their best animals.
Packers will be able to scan carcasses for quality traits using a digital scanning camera that works in a way similar to an MRI in a hospital, then upload the data to BIXS where it can be accessed by the original cow-calf producer and compared with the national average.

Currently, Cargill and XL have scanners paid for with federal government funding already installed, and within a year portable units will be in place at other smaller packing plants across the country.


Data from the devices, which will go beyond grade information, to include carcass yield, ribeye area, marbling score and more, will be streamed back to the BIXS program so that the cow-calf operator who registered the RFID tag entry can access it.

What's the Beef? Food-Inflation Fears

Wall Street Journal•
• COMMODITIES
• AUGUST 25, 2010
What's the Beef? Food-Inflation Fears
•
By LIAM PLEVEN
Cattle prices are soaring toward records, pushing up the cost of beef in grocery stores and adding to the risk of a broader wave of food inflation.
The gains are being fueled by rising appetites globally and a dwindling U.S. herd. Purchases of U.S. beef around the world have surged as emerging economies become more prosperous. At the same time, ranchers hit in recent years by drought and the financial crisis have cut the number of cattle to the lowest level in decades.
The rally has driven up the futures market for cattle by 11% since early July to reach the brink of the $1-a-pound mark, just shy of the $1.04 record set in 2008. Prices dipped 0.3% Tuesday, to settle at 99.475 cents a pound, after rising for the previous 11 trading sessions.
Consumers already are paying more, with the retail price of choice beef up 4% in July from December, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Further increases may be in the offing; last week alone wholesale prices climbed 3.2%.
While some observers said the August rally may be short-lived, they also said the fundamentals of a cattle shortage and rising demand mean prices will remain high over the longer term.
Nations in Asia and elsewhere are buying more U.S. beef. Meantime, it will take at least two or three years to substantially increase the U.S. herd, taking into account the months of gestation and then calf growth. The U.S. is crucial because it is the biggest beef producer in the world.

ALMA Introduces New Chair, Board Members

July 22, 2010
Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency introduces new chair,
board members

Edmonton… Three new Board members have been named to the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA), including an Alberta veterinarian with extensive international business experience.

Dr. David Chalack, DVM; Anne Dunford and Jurgen Preugschas bring considerable industry knowledge and talent to the ALMA Board.

“The addition of David, Anne and Jurgen will better position ALMA to help address the challenges of Alberta’s livestock industry as we work to increase demand for our products,” said Hayden. “I know these members are looking forward to their new roles as government looks to increase market access both domestically and internationally for all livestock species.”

Each brings extensive agriculture experience spanning many years of actively working within the livestock industry. As Board Chair, Dr. Chalack brings valuable leadership skills and an ability to understand complex issues and develop proactive solutions. Okotoks resident Dunford, General Manager and Marketing Specialist for Gateway Livestock Exchange in Taber, has a broad knowledge of livestock marketing along with years of networking experience in the livestock industry.
Preugschas, a Mayerthorpe hog producer with 39 years of agriculture industry experience, is currently Chair of the Canadian Pork Council.

“I also want to thank Cherie Copithorne-Barnes for her hard work and dedication as interim Board chair,” added Hayden. ALMA contributes ideas, information and investment as it works with industry partners towards achieving the goal of a sustainable, profitable and internationally respected livestock and meat
industry. For further information on ALMA, visit www.alma.alberta.ca
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Media inquiries may be directed to:
Gordon Cove
President and CEO, ALMA
780-638-6489
To call toll-free within Alberta dial 310-0000.
Backgrounder
July 22, 2010
Biographies of new ALMA board members
Dr. David A. Chalack, DVM

Dr. David A. Chalack is a veterinarian and owner/partner and president of Rocky Mountain Holsteins Inc, as well as the Canadian Sales and Marketing Director with Alta Genetics Inc. based in Balzac. Chalack is currently the President and Chairman of the Board for the Calgary Stampede. He also serves as a Director of Horse Racing Alberta, on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the new University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine Faculty and on the Board of Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Livestock Genomics. Chalack is also a member of the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors. He previously held the position of director of the Canadian Livestock Genetic Exporters Association. He is also an official judge with Holstein Canada and has judged in more than 14 countries.

Anne Dunford
Anne Dunford is the General Manager and Marketing Specialist for Gateway Livestock Exchange based in Taber. Prior to joining Gateway Livestock Exchange, she was the Senior Market Analyst with Canfax, a division of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, for 21 years providing members with market information and analysis. Dunford is currently a member of the Calgary Stampede International Agriculture Committee. She previously sat on the Statistics Canada Advisory
Committee on Agriculture.

Jurgen Preugschas
Jurgen Preugschas has been farming since 1970 and is a founding shareholder and director for Peak Swine Genetics Inc. Preugschas currently owns and operates a 3,000 acre farm in Mayerthorpe, where he raises grain, oilseeds, alfalfa and custom grazing cattle. He also owns a nucleus swine herd for Peak Swine Genetics Inc, which finishes 20,000 pigs per year. Preugschas is the current President of the Canadian Pork Council, as well as co-chair with Agriculture and Environment Partnership of Alberta. He previously held the positions of director and chairman of Alberta Pork, director of the Canadian Agrifood Trade Alliance and director of the Canadian
Federation of Agriculture.
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Media inquiries may be directed to:
Gordon Cove
President and CEO, ALMA
780-638-6489
To call toll-free within Alberta dial 310-0000.

When Science Meets Taste

Science Meets Taste

The days of giant porterhouse steaks filling a plate are gone. Consumers want a smaller, leaner cut of meat. Ranchers are obliging by experimenting with cattle breeds, different feeds and new technology.
By Jen Gerson, Calgary Herald August 8, 2010 Wearing a wide-rimmed western hat and matching boots, Fred Taylor leans back and watches customers paw through plastic-wrapped trays of blood-red sirloin, flank, rib-eye and tenderloin.

He doesn't stand too close, mind you, as it might hinder the glorious purchase of meat. But he enjoys watching.

"Most people, they sort through like that," he said, chuckling. "They don't even know what they're looking for."

Taylor is a meat grader. For him, a piece of raw beef is almost sacrosanct -- the product of years of improving technology and delicate breeding programs fine-tuned to increase fat distribution and perfect rib size.

The result, lost on the oblivious masses sorting through refrigerated Styro foam, is that steak has been steadily improving in Canada.

Almost 15 years ago, during the best time of year, only about a third of the beef produced could meet a AAA standard, one of the highest awarded to meat.

Now, packing houses can see up to 70 per cent of meat score the coveted grade.

The standard has improved so significantly that ordinary stores are now selling even Prime beef, the grade that trumps AAA.

The beef is so heavily marbled that Taylor

questions whether it should be offered in stores, rather than high-end restaurants exclusively.

"It takes a consumer only 30 seconds to ruin two years of a farmer's work," he said. And most people would be unable to tell the difference.

Taylor devotes part of his time to teaching shoppers how to spot a Prime, AAA and the lesser grades of AA or, god forbid, A beef.

Building that better steak starts on the cutting floor.

Taken at about 16 months old when their flesh is still tender and their bodies are the right size to yield a 10-pound sirloin flank for under $100, the cows are led to the slaughterhouse where they are killed and strung.

Taylor's job begins here, when a meat saw cleaves the cadaver between the 12th and 13th ribs.

First, he checks the colour. It must be bright red; neither purple nor dark. Such aberrations could indicate a distressed cow. One in heat perhaps, or a creature startled by a sudden hailstorm.

Taylor grades the distribution of the fat. Called marbling, the white curds must be small and scattered throughout fine muscle. The further down the rib, the thicker the fat becomes, until it grows into a web-like connective tissue that will make the steak more difficult to eat.

A well-marbled cut of meat will lead to a tastier, juicier steak. The marbling also determines the grade; a raw prime steak has noticeably more flecks of fat than AAA.

Taylor also checks the colour of the fat. It should be white and firm, indicating the animal had been fed a grain like barley. There's nothing wrong with a corn-fed cow per se, he said. But the carotene in that plant tends to turn the fat into a less palatable mushy yellow. White fat looks better on the tray.

The last 180 days of a cow's life will be spent at a feedlot where they are fattened with grain.

In recent years, health-conscious consumers have called for more grass-fed beef, believing it to be more natural.

Greg Keller, manager and part owner of the Bon Ton Meat Market, said the exultation of grass-fed cattle is unfounded.

"Cattle in every different region are fed whatever there's an abundance of. In Alberta, barley is what we have and we have to finish them with grain because that's what gives it the marbling," he said.

"Nothing is cleaner than grain. There's a bit of a stigma with it, but there's nothing to worry about."

Whether the flesh is finely marbled is a matter of feed, luck and genetics.

That's why farmers experiment with various cattle breeds, favouring those with a good yield and a high-quality carcass.

Like trends in skirt lines, breeds have become de rigueur at high-end restaurants and among backyard barbecue jocks. In the past, larger, continental cattle were popular for their plate-crunching steak sizes.

Now, educated tasters tend toward the smaller, more flavourful British stock, like Black Angus.

But at this year's Calgary Stampede Quality Beef Competition, the carcass of a modest Canadian crossbreed called the Speckle Park took top prize.

"There are good and bad points with the Black Angus. I think we've taken the Black Angus and improved on it," said Ken Malterer, a cattle rancher near Ponoka who raises Speckle Park.

He uses a computer program called HerdMaster to track his beef.

"It's amazing what they can do now," he said. "You could see how patterns of different bloodlines created better carcasses."

Farmers track an animal using a tag on its ear that will yield information on its parentage.

"What we found out is that if you take the poor ones out, the ones that don't grade, that are not the right size or have too much back fat, and you eliminated them from the herd, then you'll bring up the quality of your herd."

Technology has allowed him to shape breeds to customer tastes.

"Now our markets have changed. They're going to smaller animals with a little more compact marbling. The consumer demand is for a smaller steak. We don't want a big steak that goes over the side of the plate anymore."

Satoru Kogo, head chef at Chicago Chophouse in Calgary, agrees that tastes are changing as beef-eaters become more educated about their meat.

"People are starting to understand about the whole marbling situation. Before, everybody was saying that fat was disgusting and not healthy," he said. "I'm surprised. Some of the guests that we get know more about meat than I do.

"They know about meats available in New Zealand or Japan. They've read about Kobe beef and are curious about what they can get."

Kobe, a breed of cow native to Japan, is known for its pale colour, rich flavour and high fat content. It doesn't taste like steak, Kogo says.

"It melts in your mouth, just like chocolate," he says. But the pricey meat doesn't have the traditional feel of a piece of steak, which is why so few restaurants carry it.

"It's turned into such a delicacy. Most people prefer red meat."

Taylor has little patience for Japanese steak. It's a niche product. He would rather see the vibrant red of a quality Albertan cow.

He has one other tip: "Don't overcook it."

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
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Cloned Embryo Sale Claim has Feds Checking with UK

Cloned embryo sale claim has feds checking with U.K.; Food from cloned animals not approved here
Edmonton Journal
Fri Aug 6 2010
Page: A5
Section: News
Byline: Sarah Schmidt And Christina Spencer
Source: Postmedia News
The federal government is probing a claim that embryos from a cow bred of a cloned parent animal in Great Britain have been sold to breeders in Canada.
"We are working closely with our U.K. counterparts to investigate these allegations," Canadian Food Inspection Agency spokesman Guy Gravelle confirmed Thursday.
Foods derived from cloned animals are not approved for sale in Canada.
But the possibility that clone-derived animal embryos may have entered this country follows reports that breeders from several European nations have been importing from the United States embryos and semen from cloned animals or the offspring of cloned animals. For example, the New York Times reported last month that dairy products derived from cloned animals are already thought to be in some grocery stores in Britain and in Switzerland.
One farmer told the Times he uses milk from the progeny of a cloned cow in his production, adding he was also selling embryos from the same cow to Canadian breeders. The farmer was not named.
Cloning animals is among the techniques breeders use to try to produce heartier, healthier animals, with higher-quality meat or the ability to produce more milk. But public reaction to cloning has been mixed, at best, in many countries.
Two years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded that cloned pigs, goats and cattle were safe to eat, as were their progeny.
The European Parliament recently moved to ban the sale of meat or dairy from cloned animals and their offspring, however, and Canada has not yet approved their sale.
At the same, this week the U.K. government said that meat from a cloned animal had made its way into the food chain, according to FoodQualitynews. com.
In Canada, "our officials are in contact with our counterparts in the United Kingdom and will receive pertinent information once the investigation . . . is completed," Gravelle said in an e-mail to Postmedia News. "The CFIA reviews any credible information it receives about non-compliance to determine what followup action is required."
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the federal Health, Agriculture and the Environment departments produced a draft assessment of the safety of cloned animals in 2008, but have not yet finalized it, Gravelle said.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Update

Government of Canada and Colombia Work to Remove Remaining Agricultural Barriers to Trade

Ottawa, Ontario, August 5, 2010 – The Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture, today announced a special round of bilateral technical discussions between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Colombia’s Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA). The meeting confirmed for August 18, 2010, will map out the resolution of the remaining outstanding technical issues between the two countries.

“Canada and Colombia have a strong partnership based on principles of sound science that is paying dividends for our farmers,” said Minister Ritz. “By tying up the final technical details, we are helping hardworking Canadian farmers reap the full benefits of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement when it is officially implemented.”

Colombia lifted its BSE bans on beef in January 2010 and live cattle in April 2010, demonstrating their commitment to science-based approaches to trade.

Colombia is a dynamic emerging market with a population of 48 million and an economy with high growth potential. In 2009, trade on commodities with Colombia totaled $1.2 billion. Opportunities for further growth will be facilitated by the implementation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which received Royal Assent in Canada in June 2010 and which will come into force once the Government of Colombia completes their domestic approval processes.

Colombia is the third-largest market in South America for Canadian agri-food products. An FTA will open new market opportunities for Canadian farmers and exporters and will help level the playing field vis-à-vis competitors that are also seeking preferential access including the United States and the European Union. The FTA will also have a positive impact on the economy and contribute to creating more jobs in Canada.

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For more information, please visit Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement or contact:

Media Relations
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
613-773-7972
1-866 345-7972

Meagan Murdoch
Press Secretary
The Office of the Honourable Gerry Ritz
613-773-1059