By Barbara Duckworth, Calgary bureau December 2, 2011
Canadian cattle producers may gain market intelligence they have not previously enjoyed if the newly launched Beef InfoXchange System does its job.
BIXS is an individual animal and carcass data information system developed by the Canadian Cattlemen's Association to improve the flow of information among cow-calf producers, feedlots, processors, restaurants and value chains.
It was launched this fall.
Producers attach information to a unique animal identification number housed in an electronic ear tag. The information is kept private in the BIXS controlled database.
"There was a thought we could use this tag for something good," said BIXS co-ordinator Larry Thomas, who started working on the program three years ago.
"The tool is in the ears of these cows to move information around."
Thomas said no other business allows producers to remain in the dark about what happened to their product as well as its quality and consumer acceptance.
Focus groups with cow-calf and seedstock producers, feedlots and processors were held to let BIXS designers know what users need from such a system.
It was agreed the program had to be voluntary, confidential and easy to use.
Producers who add their cattle to the online database need to provide the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency ear tag number, birth date or month when the calf was born and the producer's account number to validate the information. They also need to say whether they participate in the on-farm food safety program known as verified beef production.
"There is a feeling one of the first end market draws will be for products sourced from an on-farm food safety chain," he said.
The program will also handle age verification.
As well, room is available for optional information on vaccination programs, which products were used, weaning weights, castration and how it was done.
Animal health records can be added, which could be shared with producers to see how their animals performed at the feedlot. Packers could return details on carcass grades and yields as the system expands.
Many producers keep extensive records, but the key to completing the information circle was learning how they did at the time of slaughter.
"It is one thing to get the information back, it is another thing to make sure you are moving correctly on the information," he said.
Thomas said participants indicate how much information they want to share, but BIXS may not be for producers who aren't interested in sharing information.
There is no guarantee participants will make more money, but the program could match cow-calf operations to a feedlot, restaurant or processor looking for specific types of animals.
A buyer can list certain requirements and send a query to BIXS. The manager of the data scans the database and informs a producer that he matches the criteria for a certain buyer.
"The person who launches the query is never informed of the results of that query," Thomas said. "The consent solely rests on the producer."
Producers may work with others to enrol cattle in BIXS and interpret the information so that strategic decisions can be made. The first year of information is not enough to make changes, but several years of data can build trends.
Cow-calf producers interested in the program can visit bixs.cattle.ca/. To get started, click on the BIXS login and registration box on the main page. Producers will also find a registration guide, which provides full instructions.
Source: http://www.producer.com/Daily-News/Article.aspx?aid=42769
Note: The registration page for CBBC BIXS is: https://www.bixs.ca/en/web/cbbc/guest/registration
