March 15, 2012

 

Canada to invest US$3 million on beef industry

 

 

In order to help improve their profitability and competitiveness, the federal government is investing US$3 million in the beef industry.

 

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made the announcement at the Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA) 2012 annual general meeting underlining how important the beef industry is to the Canadian economy, with more than US$6.2 billion brought to the farm gate in 2010.

 

Yellowhead MP Rob Merrifield added, "This additional investment will improve the flow of information across the beef value chain, leading to improved management decisions, greater production efficiencies, reduced costs and enhanced overall competitiveness of the Canadian cattle industry including at home in Yellowhead,

 

"The valuable work the cattle industry has done on traceability has built a strong platform for the Beef InfoXchange System and this investment will further enhance the system."

 

Last March, Ritz announced an initial investment of US$5.3 million for the Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS), which allows the seamless transfer of animal and carcass data from producer to processor.

 

This additional funding is intended to enable the CCA to improve the quality of information available through BIXS and facilitate the transmission of electronic data from packing plants to the BIXS database.

 

"The flow of fundamental information to the BIXS database will enhance the completeness of the data and reinforce the value of the BIXS programme offering," said Travis Toews, Canadian Cattlemen's Association president.

 

"I thank Minister Ritz for ensuring the BIXS database is as robust as possible."

 

2012 has already been a year of successes for Canada's beef sector, including restored market access to South Korea for beef less than 30 months of age and to China for bovine tallow for industrial use, said Merrifield.

 

These breakthroughs mark the first time in nearly a decade that such products have been able to reach these key markets.

 

The Canadian Renderers Association Market has said access for Canadian to China is expected to be worth US$50 million annually, according to the, while the Canadian beef industry has estimated that restored beef access to South Korea could result in annual sales reaching US$30 million by 2015 for Canadian producers.

 

"Economic growth is a key priority for your government, and that's why we are creating new market opportunities for the Canadian cattle and beef industries," said Merrifield.

 

"Canada is among the world's largest exporters of high-quality beef and we're working hard with the industry to make that business grow even stronger."