Glacier FarmMedia — The Canadian Cattle Association and Beef Cattle Research Council said cuts to federal research centres and programs will have long-term debilitating consequences for the beef industry.
The two organizations issued a statement Feb. 3 saying they are concerned about the reductions, particularly at Nappan, N.S., Quebec City and Lacombe, Alta., and they offered suggestions on how some of the research could be saved.
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“We recognize the fiscal pressures facing the federal government; however, the cuts will have far-reaching impacts for cattle producers, the beef industry, consumers and Canada’s efforts to grow the economy and diversify export markets,” they said.
In the last 10 years, beef producers have increased their research contributions by more than 600 per cent as an investment in future economic growth and competitiveness, the statement said. Public-good research is essential where market incentives are limited or independent expertise is required, it said.
WHY IT MATTERS: Cuts and closures at Agriculture Agri-Food Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency have been announced as part of the federal expenditure review. The industry has denounced the cuts, saying they will limit Canada’s ability to innovate and compete.
CCA president Tyler Fulton said research capacity can’t easily be rebuilt.
“Canada’s beef producers rely on a stable, high-performing public research network to deliver the tools, evidence and innovations that keep farms resilient, food safe and our sector competitive,” he said.
“When research capacity is lost, it isn’t quickly rebuilt. Cattle producers and the public pay the price for years and even decades.”
The loss of programs at Nappan, Quebec City and Lacombe will all affect forage breeding, which is the foundation of the beef industry.
Work at Lacombe led to extended grazing practices that helped producers cut winter feeding costs and survive the BSE crisis, the statement said.
Researcher Vern Baron at Lacombe did much of this work and more recently began collaborating with others in Quebec to develop higher-yielding winter hardy alfalfa varieties. At Nappan, grazing management research and new forage varieties have been adopted across the country.
Researchers at Lacombe also developed the beef instrument grading technology currently used worldwide.
Closing Lacombe means Canada has lost its only meat science program “and will not have the scientific expertise needed to address questions of grade equivalency in any of the foreign export markets the Canadian beef sector is hoping to diversity into.”
Lacombe also housed a food safety team.
CCA and BCRC said if the cuts go ahead as they stand, they want critical capacity and programs transferred. These include moving the national carcass quality and grading research program to the University of Guelph, where there is a federally inspected research abattoir.
They said they understand the lead Lacombe food safety researcher may be transferred to Lethbridge and want that confirmed.
They want forage breeding at Nappan and Quebec City maintained or transferred.
And, they want industry investments refunded if Agriculture Canada chooses to cancel projects midway through their terms.
