Three straw men tasked with adding meat to the bones of the Canadian Beef Industry have released their recommendations after months of meeting with stakeholders from every corner of the industry across the country.
David Andrews, Kim McConnell and John Kolk authored the report, which was released over the Christmas holidays.
In it, the three put forward six recommendations, which they believe will lead to a vibrant cow – beef industry. All six fall in line with the strategic priorities, which include, enhancing profitability, enhancing competitiveness and enhancing industry synergy.
The recommendations include:
1 – A council of Beef Leaders – The council will be composed of reps which will be drawn from the Canadian Beef Breeds Council, Canada Beef Inc., Canadian Cattlemen Assoc., National Cattle Feeders Assoc., 2 Youth Reps from Young Cattlemen’s Council, Reps from 3 beef packers and an independent Executive Chairman.
2 – Peformance Measurements and Targets – Five areas where they believe benchmarking, goal setting and annual measurement are needed. They include: production chain, sustainability, industry synergy, competitive comparisons and consumer and customer satisfaction.
3 – The flow of information – The Straw Men have recommended a properly functioning information system that can be accessed by enterprises throughout the supply chain. They believe that the Canadian Cattlemen Association’s Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS 2.0) is the data repository to handle this job.
4 – An industry Strategy and Action Plan – The Straw Men believe the industry needs a plan moving forward. They say the biggest issues that need to be addressed is growing the national herd, regulating changes that modernize the grading system and enhancing funding and support for research marketing and assurance programs. They add that the industry is already on the right path in putting together a plan.
5 – Industry Communications – The report recommends increasing communications of what is being done by holding meeting place forums, posting council meeting reports and keeping industry supporters in the loop as to what is the latest news.
6 – Funding Industry Progress – Ensuring there is money and people behind all the industry’s marketing, promotion, research, assurance programs and defending our product.
Colin Jeffaries, whose resume includes former Assistant Deputy Minister of Agriculture with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has been appointed as the ‘Council Covener’ for the first meeting of Council of Beef Leaders.
To see the complete report click here.
