Funds for beef technology, research

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

by SUSAN MANN

Beef farmers, feedlot operators and packing plants will now be able to update their information technology systems thanks to funding from the federal government.

At today’s annual meeting of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association in Ottawa, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced $5.3 million in funding to ensure the information systems of industry stakeholders stay compatible with the Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS).  This system enables producers and processors to transfer animal and carcass data seamlessly.

Travis Toews, Canadian Cattlemen’s president, says participation in the program is voluntary. Participating farmers enter their data, such as age verification; feedlots enter their animal health and production data; packers send back grading and yield data. “All that information would be accessible to all the participants in the supply chain.”

The $5.3 million in funding for information technology upgrades was part of $8 million in money the federal government announced for the beef sector.

A total of $2.5 million is being given for the second phase of the Beef Cluster. The money will be used to build on research already being done by a network of industry, academic and government experts. Research will focus on increasing the competitiveness and profitability of beef producers by reducing production costs, increasing feed efficiency and decreasing the impact of animal health issues.

The cattlemen’s association is also getting $364,000 to enhance its Quality Starts Here-Verified Beef Production on-farm food safety program.  BF