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Consumers respond well to Ontario's corn-fed beef programStarted in June, this response to consumer concerns about animal protein feed sources is already catching onby OWEN ROBERTS and SHANNON HICKSBSE hasn't shown-up in Canada, but consumers have clearly voiced their concerns about meat safety. In response, an industry-wide coalition launched a feed-related, consumer-oriented campaign in June called Ontario Corn-Fed Beef. It's clever - its name says nothing about food safety, but its emphasis is much more focused on this than on producers' choice of grain.The Ontario Corn-Fed Beef program looks like it's working. At the time of its kick-off in Lasalle, near Windsor, there were 10 producers in the program. That's now grown to more than 100. During the first week of the program, 20 carcasses were shipped under the corn-fed beef stamp. That number now tops 90 per week and a gourmet butcher shop chain in the Windsor area has joined the program. While no one wants to discuss sales figures, the initiative is getting rave reviews from the retailer who launched it, Windsor-based Elias Markets, where beef is king with the city's burgeoning blue-collar crowd. "Consumers seem to be highly responsive, and the retailer has noticed a significant increase in beef sales," says Arnold Drung of Mallot Creek Group Inc., who oversees the consumer acceptance surveys for Elias Markets. That's music to the ears of the Ontario Cattle Feeders' Association (OCFA), the Ontario Cattlemen's Association and Beef Improvement Ontario, which received support from the Agricultural Adaptation Council to get the program off the ground. Value chains - interconnected initiatives like this, meant to involve and benefit all players in the production process - are a relatively new concept in Ontario. The council is promoting them, because they catalyze alliances between producers and processors, who need each other to attract and satisfy lucrative retail markets. The key to the corn-fed program is the animals' diet. Besides having a high corn content, the feeding regime "must be free of by-products of animal processing of any type, as well as feeds that were intended for human consumption and any by-products that result from human food production." There are other considerations. Animals must be on the corn-fed diet for 100 days before slaughter. Carcasses must be aged 10-14 days, grade at the high end for marbling and originate from farms that have completed an Environmental Farm Plan. Producers have to complete the provincial Livestock Medicines Course and the Ontario Corn-Fed Beef Quality Assurance Course (nine were held in the spring and summer, in Guelph, Appin, Belgrave and Woodstock). And participating farms will be monitored periodically by independent third-party auditors, to validate records and on-farm production practices. Some of these measures are simply good management. And as a result, it's expected the program won't add more than $1-$2 to the cost of raising each animal. "With time, we think there will be a preference internationally and locally for this product, and the demand will more than compensate for the extra cost to producers," says program product manager Dave Murray. The main additional cost to farmers is the soy or alfalfa-based protein feed supplement. Without blood meal or bone meal - cheaper sources of protein - the cost of production goes up. But, on the positive side, so does consumer confidence. It's time to pay attention. A consumer survey earlier this year by the Ontario Farm Animal Council of 1,000 respondents in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Peterborough and Halifax, showed only one-fifth have no concerns about the safety of milk, meat and eggs. And half agreed with the statement that using antibiotics and growth hormones on farm animals endangers human health. "We're concerned about some consumer perceptions...and we want them to put faith in this product," says Wayne White, meat director for Elias Markets, the first company to market corn-fed beef. Whether or not that faith will be supported by the 100-day feeding regime - whether consumers will consider it adequate time for the participating cattle to "cleanse" their systems of animal protein - is a question the industry is waiting to be answered. But looming even bigger is this issue: if corn-fed beef catches on, how will consumers start viewing conventional beef? Measures such as this are meant to bolster the industry and give producers new opportunities. But will consumers raise safety issues with beef outside the program? That's a crapshoot. And maybe the non-corn-fed products are destined to disappear anyway. The OCFA is solidly behind the program, its members produce more than half of the finished cattle in Ontario, and organizers expect to be shipping 100,000 carcasses a year when the program is totally operational. About 35 of the 40 Ontario producers considered "big" (those feeding 700 or more animals) are enrolled to start shipping under the corn-fed beef logo, targeted for 2002. Some won't take much convincing. Gilbert Vanderrekroek, who farms near Norwich with his brother Albert and daughter Angela, has been feeding whole corn to about 900 animals for more than 12 years. Joining the Ontario Corn-Fed Beef program was an easy decision for Vanderrekroek, who says animals on high corn-based diets have better gains, higher yields and produce a better quality beef.
"Corn-fed beef is not for every farmer or store," he says. "But if people want it, it will become a premium product." BF
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