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

September 13, 2012 CBBC has engaged Doug Fee , former CEO of the Canadian Angus Association to manage our office and and coordinate with Agriteam Canada to lead the development and implementation of Governance and structural changes in the Council

Announcement of Additional BIXS Funding

CCA welcomes Minister Ritz to AGM, announcement of additional BIXS funding

March 08, 2012

Ottawa ON - The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) is pleased that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Minister Gerry Ritz today came to the CCA’s annual general meeting in Ottawa to announce that the Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) will receive an additional $3 million in federal funding.

The funds will be used to expand the program to ensure crucial data is incorporated into the BIXS data base. CCA President Travis Toews said the ability to flow more data into the BIXS data base will complete the circle of information, and provide the incentive for producers to participate.

“This expansion of the BIXS program is precisely what the Canadian cattle industry has been waiting for and I thank Minister Ritz for his support for the BIXS data base,” Toews said.

BIXS is an individual animal and carcass data information exchange system developed by the CCA and the Canadian Beef Breeds Council as an integral part of the Canadian Beef Advantage, with funding provided through AAFC’s Agriculture Flexibility Fund. The $3 million announced today is in addition to the original AgriFlexibility Fund contribution of $5.36 million announced last March for the development and implementation of the BIXS program.

In addition to the BIXS announcement, Minister Ritz also re-confirmed both the Government of Canada’s and his commitment to opening international markets for Canadian livestock, beef and beef products. He highlighted the very important recent market access openings for beef in Korea and beef tallow in China.

“We are very pleased that Minister Ritz shares the CCA’s view that access to global markets is a top priority. He has worked tirelessly to open markets for Canadian beef and we will continue to support him as he persists in those efforts,” Toews said.


For further information, contact:
Gina Teel
Communications Manager
Canadian Cattlemen’s Association
403-275-8558 x 406 | 403-875-3616
teelg@cattle.ca | www.cattle.ca

Beef production protocols for the EU Market

On January 1st, 2012, Canada implemented a new protocol for the production of cattle used to produce beef for the European Union (EU) market. While the requirement to ensure that no Growth Enhancing Products (GEP) are used in animals for the EU remains firmly in place, significant progress has been made to reduce paperwork and other costs of participation. Among the most important changes is the removal of the requirement for a dedicated EU program ear tag. In the past, the protocol specified that a special EU tag be placed in the animal's ear in addition to the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) tag. This change reduces costs for participants and also the logistical challenges of securing these tags from a single supplier.

Another important attribute of the new approach is that it permits sales of EU eligible animals at the auction mart. Given the numbers of animals sold at auction, it is important that Canadian producers be able to utilize this option in the same manner as EU protocols implemented in Australia and the U.S. currently permit. Simplified requirements for testing and monitoring on the farm have also been put into place which reduces the cost of labour and also expenses related to veterinary oversight.

While significant progress has been made at the livestock production level, further improvements regarding EU-approved slaughter protocols are needed in order to get more facilities approved for the EU and to help those that are already approved operate more efficiently. For example, under the current EU requirements it is not possible to use the antimicrobial treatments that many processors rely on. These include organic acid washes which are sprayed onto carcasses and cuts. Currently the use of lactic acid is being considered in the EU following a positive recommendation by the European Food Safety Authority. The approval process has been slow to proceed and it remains to be seen when this type of intervention will be an option for beef exported to the EU.

The importance of antimicrobial interventions will continue to grow as new microbiological testing requirements for the U.S. market are implemented in March of this year. Accordingly, the CCA will continue to work towards further results on these technical issues so that the Canadian industry is able to take full advantage of the free trade agreement currently being negotiated with the EU.