Canadian Cattle Association Pleased with Federal Funding of Several Industry Improvement Initiatives

Tyler Fulton, Vice President of the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA), was glad to be in Regina today at the Canadian Western Agribition (CWA), Canada’s largest livestock and beef cattle show, where the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food highlighted an investment of up to $4,569,682 for 4 projects to the CCA. The funding is provided through the AgriAssurance Program – National Industry Association Component and the AgriCompetitiveness Program, two federal initiatives under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

During the event, Minister MacAulay also participated in a roundtable discussion with cattle ndustry leaders. The event provided the opportunity to gather cattle industry stakeholders and to celebrate the welcome funding announcements.

The largest of the 4 projects relates to Canadian beef sustainability and the work of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef Chair and Saskatchewan cattle producer Ryan Beierbach said of the funding “The Canadian industry does more than talk sustainability. We measure what we do and how we can and are improving our environmental, social and economic impacts and benefits. This funding helps to do thatmeasuring, and to improve the value chain bring certified sustainable beef to market.”

The environmental benefits cattle provide are not easy to show everyone. CCA’s Public andStakeholder Engagement division developed a Guardians of the Grasslands game to take theshort documentary into classrooms and to fairs and exhibitions to engage youth with what grazing means for landscape renewal and habitat for many species. PSE Chair Bob Lowe said“This funding helps extend industry’s voice into classrooms in new provinces and to trade shows across the country. We have a great story, but we don’t get to show it to everyone. This reachesa much wider audience.”

Another project involves improving Canada’s on farm beef producer program Verified BeefProduction Plus (VBP+). VBP+ has modules on animal health, animal care and biosecurityaspects. All the aspects show the way to continued improvement in practices and sustainabilityon farms and ranches across Canada. The funding will help VBP+ continue evolving andreaching more producers

The One other CCA project being funded is exploring technological improvements to forageinsurance. The Grassland Production Index project is developing an interface for satellite-basedinformation that aims to improve understanding of and delivery of forage insurance offerings.

Fulton added “Exploring new ways to help producers manage risks is key to improving industry.All these projects do that. Risk of consumers not understanding the benefits of cattle on theland, risks producers face from weather challenges and the risk of standing still on productionpractices or marketing undertakings. The support Minister MacAulay’s announced today showshis ministry’s support of the Canadian Cattle Association’s many steps to improve the outlookfor Canadian cattle producers.”