Claresholm Agriculture Supplement 2010

Chelsea Carson
Published on January 26, 2015

agriculture 2b - Claresholm Local Press, Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Kaz’s Service 403-625-2400 4010 - 3rd St. E, Claresholm Agriculture, a vital part of Alberta’s economy! 403-625-3212 4079 1 St. W., Claresholm Leyden’s “Chapel of Remembrance” Thank you to all members of our agricultural community! Morley Copeland, Managing Director Call: 403-824-3399 or 403-634-4434 www.adirrigation.ca • pumps • pipe • pivots • complete irrigation systems Full line supplier for: EQUIPMENT Supporting another season of success. S A L E S P A R T S S E R V I C E Hwy 2 CLARESHOLM, AB PH. (403)625-4421 FAX. (403)625-2148 www.agroequipment.com M y riding of Macleod is home to farming, ranching, and beef production - all integral components of Alberta's agricultural industry. We can be very proud that the quality food grown and processed here ends up on tables around the world. Salute to Agriculture Week recognizes the many valuable contributions Alberta makes to this important industry. Thank-you to the many agricultural and farm workers in the Macleod region for your commitment and dedication to maintaining this great tradition. Message from Ted Menzies, Member of Parliament OTTAWA OFFICE: (613) 995-8471 Fax (613) 996-9770 menzies.t@parl.gc.ca (email) 256 Confederation Building House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 RIDING OFFICE: 1-866-636-9437 (toll-free) (403) 625-5532 (local) Fax (403) 625-5592 4925 - 1st. Street West PO Box 40, Claresholm AB. T0L 0T0 Ted Menzies Member of Parliament Macleod By Alicia Fox Local Press Writer After the BSE crisis sever- al years ago, the Alberta cat- tle industry is still trying to recover by assuring con- sumers of the safety of their food. One of the ways they are trying to accomplish that is by mandating age verifica- tion in cattle as well as se- curing better traceability. Brian and Shaunere Lane, who own a cow/calf operation west of Claresholm, said they de- cided to participate in a trace-back program with the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA) two years ago due to an incen- tive opportunity because they felt that’s the direction the industry is headed. “There’s not many peo- ple on the trace-back sys- tem yet because it’s not mandatory yet,” Shaunere said. Both said it had so far been a lot of work to record everything about their cat- tle, not only the number for the Radio Frequency ID tag (RFID) but everything about the cow including what medications have been administered, where it has been transferred, how long it stayed in the new area, and when it came back. “It’s a pile of work,” she said, but added later, “As food security becomes more important to people, they’re going to want to know all about that ani- mal.” The Lanes hope it will give them a leg up on the competition and make their cattle more mar- ketable. As well, Brian added it helps in future disease con- trol if traceability is fully es- tablished. “If we had another BSE (outbreak), they can quick- ly find that cow and what herd it has been in,” he said. However, the Lanes weren’t im- pressed with some of the promises made that were never kept. They were promised a cash incen- tive by the government if they participated in the trace-back program, with 50 per cent given at signing the papers promising they would participate and 50 per cent once the program was complete. However, after promising to participate by signing all the documents and receiv- ing half the cash, the Lanes were sent a letter saying there was no funding avail- able to pay the other 50 per cent. Brian said it may have been because they hadn’t expected so many produc- ers to agree to participate or because funding ran out, but whatever the case, he feels the government didn’t hold to their promises. That being said, they feel if it does become mandato- ry they will be prepared and it will give them that much more advantage to have participated earlier on. Pilot project tests trace- ability feasibility VJV Foothills Livestock Auction in Stavely has also been involved in the start- up of traceability as they have been a part of one of six pilot projects in Alberta test-driving the ability to read RFID tags using a wide-alley reader. When the cattle are lined up, they are herded past the wide- alley reader where it picks up the infor- mation recorded on the RFID tag and records all the information includ- ed; for now, that generally only includes their age. The one-year project comes to an end in October, and Rob Bergevin, manager, said they have had help through the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development Fund, and it’s part of the Growing Forward program. “It’s a partnership be- cause we’ve invested time and money... to make this thing work,” Bergevin said. The federal government has suggested cattle need to be traceable, but before any mandates are set in place they need to test how feasi- ble traceability actually is. Through the pilot pro- jects in Alberta and another six in Canada, the govern- ment hopes to find out what questions need to be answered. “These people here iden- tified many things,” Bergevin said of the project. “We can trace cattle through an auction market environment without im- peding speed of commerce or causing undue stress to the animals.” However, some chal- lenges have arisen, and the read-rate reads in the low 90-per cent range. “Capturing the extra 10 per cent is going to be the challenge,” Bergevin said, adding sometimes the RFID tags encounter interference, fall out, or are faulty. Yancy Crosier, general manager of Integrated Traceability Solutions in Nanton, said the tags can encounter electro-magnetic interference, but that’s just one part of what can cause gaps in reading the tags. “Our average read-rates are around 97 per cent at all the auction markets,” he said. A group called Cattle Movement Working Group has been developed to ad- dress these concerns and determine the most reason- able solutions. “I think customers here have really received this well,” Bergevin said. He added traceability is going to be something that will need to eventually be ad- dressed, but full traceability is still in the infant stages. “If we want to continue to do business and have the ability to market our cattle outside of our borders, it’s one of the things –not the only, but one of things – that will allow us to contin- ue to do so,” he said. Cattle industry headed towards better traceability ”As food secu- rity becomes more important to people, they’re going to want to know all about that animal.“ — Shaunere Lane Quote/Unquote “Maybe a person’s time would be as well spent rais- ing food as raising money to buy food.” —Frank A. Clark