WESTERN PRODUCER — The federal government is providing more than $12 million to the Canadian Cattle Association as part of more than $21.7 million for research to promote environmental and economic sustainability and resilience in the beef industry.
It will fund 23 projects under the new federal Beef and Forage AgriScience Cluster, which will be administered by the CCA’s Beef Cattle Research Council. The announcement was made July 12 at the Calgary Stampede by Francis Drouin, parliamentary secretary to federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.
More than $9.6 million of the funding is provided by Canada’s beef industry, primarily through producer checkoffs, with the research to be conducted across the country during the next five years, said a federal statement.
It will focus on the three main priorities of climate change and the environment, economic growth and development, and sector resilience and societal changes. It includes supporting sector goals to meet federal greenhouse gas reduction targets by maintaining native grasslands, sequestering additional carbon and reducing emissions intensity, said the statement.
“These projects include reducing methane emissions through feeding strategies, breeding forages that are more productive and profitable and developing technologies for faster response to emerging diseases,” said Drouin during a news conference at the Stampede.
“And just as importantly, the new cluster will help to get this research to farmers so they can transform it into real results on their farms.… Our shared investments of nearly $22 million in the new cluster will help Canada’s beef industry meet the demands of our global customers for high quality, sustainable product.”
The Beef and Forage AgriScience Cluster is one of six national research programs that aim to help promote sustainability and growth in the Canadian agriculture and agri-food industry. They are being funded through the Clusters Component of the AgriScience Program under the $3.5 billion Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership ().
“If we don’t invest in research, then the (beef) sector is going to fall behind because our competitors are investing in research,” said Drouin during an interview.
“So, in order to keep our cattle producers, which are doing a tremendous job, we need to stay at the forefront and we do that by investing in research.”
The announcement represents a big investment in the beef industry at a time when it is facing increasing public pressure over greenhouse gas emissions, said Craig Lehr, chair of the Beef Cattle Research Council.
“And a lot of the research we do not only allows us to grow and improve, and reduce our environmental footprint, but in a lot of cases, it validates what we’re already doing, and now we (will) have the information, the data, to take that and help inform public policy on that, which is key.”
Research is vital to ensuring a brighter future for the beef industry, said CCA president Nathan Phinney.
“And we’re in an industry that runs off of science, so to see that kind of support so that we can continue to improve, innovate and move our industry forward with those dollars — and on the same token, the producers believe in it and they’ve come to the table with a fair amount of dollars as well.”
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