For a very long time farm producers have been told one way to greater returns is to take control of their product further along the food chain.
Typically that has meant some form of integration with processing, so that producers garner some of the returns that are achieved as products get closer to the end users 鈥� the consumer.
The attempt at taking such control has been mixed as you might expect.
Any business is far from a guaranteed success, and some flourish, while others wither and die.
The reasons for the successes and the failures are not also crystal clear, but they occur sometimes in spite of the best efforts of those involved.
But one undertaking which has had what has to be termed overwhelming success was launched back in the 1970s - Certified Angus Beef.
That the program remains active today, closing in on 50-years, is testament to it working as a program.
Now one might argue whether the idea of a certified Angus beef product has produced a premium price for the farm producer, but what it has done is create the idea of Angus beef being associated with the best beef on the market.
It is a tool for restaurants and retailers to use to help attract consumers who have come to trust the Angus label as a quality beef product.
It was a forward thinking concept when launched.
Back in the 1970s the North American beef herd was an extremely diverse one. The flood of European breeds was in full swing, and cow herds were what a former beef specialist in Yorkton oft termed 鈥渞ainbow cow herds鈥� based on a myriad of genetics within a given pasture.
The result was a beef product at the store meat counter that was not as consistent at times as consumers might have liked.
A group of Angus producers reasoned by focusing on stock that was at least half Angus they could create a more consistent product, and earn market share based on that premise.
The idea caught on, and has worked across Canada and the United Stated for years now.
It appears the program is about to make a foray into a new market as well.
鈥淭he Certified Angus Beef 庐 (CAB庐) brand began production and sales in Russia this spring, through licensed partner Miratorg Agribusiness Holding, said CAB President John Stika, in a release which arrived at the newspaper office recently.
鈥淢ost of those cows are commercial purebred Angus, sourced mainly from the United States over the last eight years, and spurred by Russian loan subsidies aimed at building a modern food supply chain. A large share of them belongs to Miratorg.鈥�
鈥淔ounded in 1995 in Moscow and already a leader in pork and poultry, company executives researched beef production systems. They were familiar with CAB from the imported product in Russia since 1998 until recent years, and on later visits to the U.S. that included shopping for Angus genetics and initial training in American ranch management.
鈥淭he world鈥檚 leading brand of fresh beef became a logical end target for the North American-style plan Miratorg announced in 2009 as it began to build up dozens of cattle ranches south of Moscow in the Bryansk region. Its leadership team reached out to CAB in 2011 to explore mutual opportunities, which have been discussed in CAB board meetings since 2013, according to minutes. 鈥淭he decision to expand beyond North America for the first time was not taken lightly,鈥� Stika said, 鈥渂ut we found much in common. It鈥檚 rare to have the opportunity to engage with people starting from scratch,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd while this partnership has great potential for Russian agriculture and consumers, it stands to strengthen the global reach and reputation of the Certified Angus Beef brand.鈥�
鈥淐AB board chair John Pfeiffer, Mulhall, Okla., said the decision is 鈥渁 natural fit,鈥� good for the brand and for breeders: 鈥淭his whole initiative started when Miratorg began building a herd based on superior Angus genetics from the U.S., and now they are an active member of the American Angus Association.鈥�
It is interesting to think an idea launched here close to five decades ago is just now being launched in Russia as an innovative approach to marketing beef.
The situation speaks to how different the agriculture market remains half a world away from us.
It is easy to sit here on the Canadian Prairies and think of the agriculture sector as a world leader in adopting new technologies. Here that vision is quite accurate.
But that is not the case for farmers in much of the world. The combination of political systems, access to markets, technology, money and education come together in many countries to have stymied the level of development seen here.
That said, an idea such as Certified Angus Beef, a program with a well-defined track record, should transfer smoothly if the safeguards are in place in Russia to safeguard the integrity of the beef certified, which will only grow an already very successful farmer initiative.
Calvin Daniels is Assistant Editor with Yorkton This Week.
