THE BEEF BEAT

By Richard Horne, BFO Executive Director richard@ontariobeef.com • www.ontariobeef.com

Project and Policy Roundup

Fall is a busy time for those in agriculture, and while many producers will be busy with harvest and the fall run, industry organizations like BFO are hard at work on a number of projects and initiatives. On the project front, BFO is in the midst of completing a number of producerfocused projects, including a calf club video series, biosecurity in the COVID-era videos, virtual beef farm tours, planning for euthanasia workshops, VBP+ training, forage sampling for a satellite-based forage insurance project, and more. We’ve also been busy on the lobby front, meeting with MPs and MPPs virtually, in committee, and in the countryside. We continue to focus on the immediate need for BRM program enhancements, support for processing infrastructure and access to labour at both levels, and drought assistance for affected regions, among others.

BFO has also partnered with the Quebec Beef Producers, Veal Farmers of Ontario, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, and the maritime beef and dairy associations on the development of humane transport training for individuals involved directly or indirectly in the loading/unloading and transporting of cattle. The purpose of the training is to ensure the industry is equipped to comply with the new humane transportation regulations that came into force in February. The training session will be available both online and offline to enable broad participation. Content of these sessions will include training on and compliance with the new regulations, animal handling and transport risk management, as well as record keeping and contingency planning. We are aiming to launch this training at the tail-end of this year, after CFIA has vetted the program’s content. On this note, it would be helpful to know what you have been experiencing or hearing with respect to enforcement of these new regulations since February. Although delayed enforcement of the Feed-Water-Rest intervals are in place, the other components are in force.

There are a few policy notes to update you on. Canada’s application to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to move our BSE risk status from “controlled” to “negligible” was formally submitted earlier this year and is on track for 2021 approval. On a related and very positive note, CFIA has finally shown a willingness to respond to repeated concerns raised by many groups in the cattle business regarding the need to revise Canada’s SRM removal requirements. Discussions on what those requirements could look like began with industry in October. BFO’s longstanding position has been to harmonize our SRM rules with the United States. While we continue to fight for change and encourage our partners at CCA to keep up the pressure, it is positive to finally see a willingness start to emerge on the part of government to take a look at our current system, a system costing our farm and processing sectors tens of millions of dollars per year in lost value.

With respect to alternative proteins, the cattle sector is eagerly awaiting the release of a public consultation on a labelling guidance document for alternative protein products. The consultation has been delayed due to COVID-19 but is expected to be released this fall. BFO will be working with CCA’s Food Policy Committee and other allies to respond in a unified manner to this consultation when it is eventually released. The main focus will be to ensure the language contained within the guidance document prevents consumer confusion of products at the retail level.

I also wanted to touch on the Ontario Cattle Set-Aside program that was announced earlier this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. An industry steering committee has provided recommendations back to OMAFRA and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on the draft set of program guidelines, which were modelled after the programs implemented in Alberta and Saskatchewan. We expect the final program details to be released soon. Industry communications about this program will follow the release of the guidelines. The program will not be triggered unless there is a COVID-19 induced processing backlog in Ontario, whether it be from an outbreak in Ontario or elsewhere in the country.

On the processing side of things, we know backlogs are persistent in our provincial plants, COVID aside. BFO is currently working with Meat and Poultry Ontario on a strategy to improve the output and resiliency of these facilities. BFO has and will continue to strongly advocate for additional funding programs in this area.

Lastly, in August, the BFO Board of Directors made the decision to initiate the first outside review of the association’s structure and governance in close to 20 years. This fall, Canlead Solutions will begin the review under the guidance of the BFO Governance Committee and BFO senior staff. The review will include a membership survey, direct interviews with key stakeholders, benchmarking with other relevant organizations, and relationship analysis with organizations and government bodies BFO works closely with. An internal review of how BFO conducts its affairs is long overdue, and comes in response to multiple resolutions carried at consecutive BFO AGMs calling on the Board to initiate a review of the current structure to ensure the association is structured in a way to best serve and fulfill our mandate, and to best support the needs of the industry and the membership. I would encourage all members to complete the short survey once it is released and communicated through BFO’s various communication channels.

BFO continues to update our dedicated COVID-19 webpage regularly with important information and resources on the www.ontariobeef. com website. At the national level, COVID-19 updates can also be found on CCA’s www.cattle.ca website. I would encourage everyone to check these pages regularly. In addition, we have continued bi-weekly industry update calls with the Advisory Councillors, Presidents, standing committee members, and Ontario Cattle Feeders representatives to ensure everyone is kept up to speed through this crisis, and to provide a forum for discussion.

In closing, I’d like to wish you and your families well as we continue to endure through the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming regional meetings, whether in person or online. OB