The Canadian beef industry reports it made gains with its five-year national beef strategy, including increased exports, a better reputation with the Canadian public and improved health status.
The strategy was adopted by the Beef Cattle Research Council, Canada Beef, Canadian Beef Breeds Council, Canadian Cattle Association, National Cattle Feeders’ Association, Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and Canadian Meat Council.
Craig Lehr, chair of both the research council and the Canadian Beef Advisors group, highlighted Canada’s gains in controlling Bovine Spongiform Encephalopthy disease.
In 2021, Canada achievbed negligible risk status, setting the Singapore has since removed all related restrictions, Japan has fully expanded access and Taiwan has removed all BSE restrictions.
Asian markets also opened wider under the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, said Lehr.
“We’ve strengthened our exports. We hit over the $5-billion mark in exports, largely due to the CPTPP, and that’s without having access to China,” said Lehr. “That’s huge.”
China remains closed.
The increase in exports shows demand for Canadian beef and respect for quality of the product, Lehr said.
He said the industry spent a lot of money to improve its reputation with Canadians, including partnering with conservation organizations, and a short documentary “Guardians of the Grasslands” that said cattle farms sequester carbon and preserve the environment.
“We’re part of the solution, not part of the problem,” he said. “I think it’s huge to be able to swing that narrative. It really shows the industry is doing what it needs to do. We’re proving ourselves and what we do. That’s all done on the back of producer dollars.”
He said social media has been a powerful tool to connect with the public and to praise the nutritional and environmental benefits of beef.
From 2014-22, greenhouse gas emissions from beef production dropped 15 per cent, Lehr said, and probably decline more with the adoption of newly-approved feed additives.
He said the main challenges that remain to be met are attracting young people into the industry and making the supply chain more resilient.
