Canadian Livestock Producers Receive Tax Deferrals

OTTAWA, Ontario – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced Nov. 29 that a list of designated areas eligible for tax deferrals has been expanded. The tax deferral is for the benefit of producers coping with extremely dry growing conditions on forage yields. Eligible producers in designated areas can defer income tax on the sale of breeding livestock for one year to help replenish breeding stock in the following year. “Proceeds from deferred sales are included as income in the next tax year, when they may be at least partially offset by the cost of replacing breeding animals,” according to the agency. “In the case of consecutive years of designation, producers may defer sales income to the first year in which the area is no longer designated.” To qualify, the breeding herd must have been reduced by at least 15 percent. Thirty percent of income from net sales can then be deferred. In cases where the herd has been reduced by more than 30 percent, 90 percent of income from net sales can be deferred. “Our government understands the difficulties faced by livestock producers due to unforeseen weather and we are acting,” said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “With this tax deferral, producers in another 34 drought-affected municipalities will be able to redirect money towards restocking next year.” Eligible producers will be able to request a deferral when filing their 2012 income tax returns.

Harper Government Supports Livestock Traceability and International Marketing at Agribition

Regina, Saskatchewan, November 19, 2012 – The Harper Government has invested in Canadian Western Agribition to track the movement of all livestock entering and leaving the exhibition grounds as well as to promote Agribition in foreign markets, David Anderson, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board and Member of Parliament for Cypress Hills—Grasslands, announced today on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "Our Government's top priority remains the economy, and Canada's agriculture and agri-food industry plays an important role in creating jobs and keeping our economy strong," Anderson said. "These investments, totalling close to $250,000, will help enhance our traceability, animal health emergency management, and food safety systems, in addition to promoting our products in foreign markets, leading to increased profits for our farmers." MP Anderson was attending the opening of Agribition's new cattle handling facility along with Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart and Regina Mayor Michael Fougere. Agribition is Canada's largest livestock exhibition with approximately 3,500 entries for various shows and sales, as well as several hundred head of rodeo stock. "With the help of this funding, Agribition can maintain its status as North America's best beef show," said Marty Seymour, Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Western Agribition. "Our show continues to be the leader in international livestock marketing, and now traceability. We are the first show to implement traceability across our entire system." The Harper Government investments include $100,000 under the Livestock Auction Traceability Initiative (LATI), a three-year, $20-million initiative funded under the Agricultural Flexibility Fund as part of the Economic Action Plan. This project ensures that all animals featured at Agribition have radio-frequency identification tags, and their movement is tracked using mobile reader technology. Another investment of $147,000 through the AgriMarketing Program is helping Agribition to organize and coordinate international market activities, promote itself in foreign markets, and establish the International Business Centre. This will help solidify Agribition's reputation as one of the most sought-after agricultural marketplaces in the world, connecting international buyers with Canadian exporters. Through the AgriMarketing Program under Growing Forward, the Harper Government is investing $88 million to help industry implement long-term international strategies, including international market development, industry-to-industry trade advocacy, and consumer awareness and branding activities. The Harper Government has identified market development as a priority under Growing Forward 2, and this announcement is another example of what is being done to enhance competitiveness and drive innovation and long-term growth in Canadian agriculture. For more information on LATI, please visit www.agr.gc.ca/LATI. For more information on AgriMarketing, please visit www.agr.gc.ca/AgriMarketing. - 30 - For more information, media may contact: Media Relations Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Ottawa, Ontario 613-773-7972 1-866-345-7972 Jeff English Press Secretary The Office of the Honourable Gerry Ritz 613-773-1059 **********

CBBC Setting New Directions

Canadian Beef Breeds Council is contacting each of its breed association members as well as exporter and service provider members for their input into the role of CBBC and the services it provides. Mauricio Arcila, Technical Services Coordinator, will be contacting each breed association member in the days ahead and reviewing the following : 1) Defining your market, both domestic and export; 2) Where do you see potential new markets? What is your process for identifying new markets, both domestic and export; 3) What could the CBBC be doing for you to support your goals, both domestically and internationally? 4) Define your relationship with trade/sales facilitators and any issues that have been encountered? 5) Research. What would your top three research guidelines be regarding genetics industry issues should the CBBC gain access to research funding? 6) Service Provision by the CBBC - you will be invited to rank various services that CBBC provides currently and ones that you would like CBBC to offer in the future; 7) Reporting on sales to demonstrate value - is there anything that you believe important for us to keep in mind while designing a template with CanFax for reporting purebred cattle sales domestically and internationally? We look forward to hearing from you!

Canadian Beef Breeds Council participates in Official Opening of Livestock Consultative Centre, Orenburg, Russia Vice President, David Bolduc presented an overview of the Beef Value Chain in Canada and the role of the Canadian purebred cattle producers in this chain. Also presenting were Gordon Stephenson, Canadian Hereford Association, Dr. Roger Davis, Davis-Rairdan Embryos International. The Signing of Agreement on Cooperation between the Canadian Hereford Association and the Russian National Kazakh Whgite-Headed Breeders Association, the signing of Agreement on Cooperation between the Canadian Hereford Association and the Russian National Hereford Breeders Association, and the signing of the Contract between Xports International and LLC Orenburg Ivolga for the delivery of genetics, were completed. The meetings included presentations from the following: 1) Yury Berg, Gobernment of Orenburg Oblast; 2) Fred Gorrell, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food; 3) Fedorov Nicolay, Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation; 4) Valery Kalashnikov, Academic Secretary, Department of Zooltechny, Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Academician 5) Sergey Miroshnikov, Director, All-Russia Research Institute of Beef Cattle Breeding, Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences; 6) Colin Jeffares, Assistant Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Alberta Province 7) Sergey Solovyov, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Processing Industry of Orenburg Oblast; The meetings were followed the next day with tours of cattle ranches including Kalmyk and Hereford breeds.

October 14, 2012 CBBC will be working with Agriteam Canada to develop an Updated Domestic and Export Development Marketing Plan. The plan is to be submitted to CCMDC in early January and will cover the period from April 1, 2013 to March 2014. CCMDC has approved a grant to the Council that will enable us to complete an updated Domestic and Export Marketing Plan. We have engaged Agriteam Canada to coordinate and complete the plan which must be submitted by January 14, 2013

CBBC Participates in Mission to Russia

CBBC Executive and Staff are participating in a mission to Russia with delegates from the federal and provincial governments. The purpose of the mission is to participate in the formal grand opening of the Livestock Consultative Centre in Orenburg, Russia, meet with representatives of government and industry and tour ranches. So far CBBC has attended the Golden Autumn Livestock Show in Moscow and toured Red Square. There are Russian cattle on display as well as American. It was noted that the food displays included very little beef and mostly pork and chicken. Next stop is Orenburg at which time further updates will be posted.

October 12, 2012 The Council has named chairs of five working committees and a Task Team to provide input and strategic direction for the Council. The committees and chairs are; 1. Task Force – Doug Fee 2. Communications- Rob Smith 3. Member Services Neil Gillies 4. Fund Raising – Bruce Holmquist 5. Strategic Alliances – Byron Templeton 6. Domestic & Export Marketing – David Bolduc