March 30, 2016
By Alexis Kienlen  Reporter

Sharing data through the entire beef chain adds value that can translate to economic gains — although how much of that might go to cattle producers is a question yet to be answered.
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McDonald’s Canada, Beefbooster, and BIXSco — the company now running the Beef InfoXchange System — recently collaborated with Livestock Gentec to analyze two million records of carcass data. The analysis found calves sired by Beefbooster Terminal Cross bulls were worth $219 more than the average value of calves processed by packing plants from 2012 to 2014.

​The Calgary company has been using production data since 1970 to breed superior bulls, but this data gave it an exact dollar figure on the quality of carcasses of cattle sired by its bulls versus average cattle.

“We can take carcass information and say that there’s value between the different breeds and the different bulls,” said Jennifer Stewart-Smith, chief executive officer of Beefbooster.

Read the full article here.

​Just over a year ago I took on the job as President & Chief Executive Officer of BIXSco Inc., the company that manages Canada’s Beef InfoXchange System, or BIXS. Since then, the team I’ve led has focused on one big goal. We’ve worked hard to overcome the single biggest roadblock to industry-wide data sharing of cattle production information: access to carcass data. For those who may have wondered if such a thing were even possible, I’ve got great news: That roadblock is gone.
 
Earlier this year, BIXSco and Cargill Limited signed a formal agreement enabling cattle production information to be tracked through the supply chain.
 
To achieve this, Cargill has agreed to provide the last three years of carcass data, along with all future data, to BIXS in trust. This data will be invaluable in helping beef producers improve operating efficiency and profitability. 
 
The big idea: selling and buying data
 
BIXS is similar to a stock market. It lets buyers and sellers exchange data for a price. Producers will be able to purchase carcass data, and sell their management data back to others.
 
As participation in BIXS grows, we’re busy rebuilding BIXS’ data management system to accommodate higher volumes of data, enabling more robust exchange of information up-and down-stream. All of the various fields that were used in the previous BIXS versions will be available.
 
As always, we will continue to ensure no personal information is shared through the system; users will remain anonymous until they choose to contact a source of information.
 
BIXS: Helping Canada set the world-wide standard for tracking
 
With the biggest industry influencers participating in BIXS, Canada is becoming well positioned to set the world-wide standard for supply chain beef carcass data and chain of custody.
 
The potential benefits to the entire supply chain, especially producers, are enormous—not least of which is our collective ability to communicate a consistently positive and credible message to domestic and foreign consumers about the high quality of Canadian beef. Chain of custody and transparency are two issues that the Canadian beef industry needs to be able to illustrate to our customers.
 
What are you waiting for?
 
I travel throughout the world and know that Canadian beef isn’t yet a worldwide name—and that’s a shame.
The timing is perfect to act now. Restaurants and retailers are already responding to consumer demand for more information about the history of their beef—and are expecting producers to be able to authenticate the sustainability of their practices.
Data sharing provides transparency in the sustainable practices and commitment Canadian produces have to provide the best quality beef. By helping to track those practices through the system, we can strengthen and protect the whole industry.
 
We haven’t even begun to understand how powerful data sharing can be for individual producers and the industry as a whole. That’s why we are inviting the entire industry to join us to help explore the possibilities.
 
Hubert Lau is President and CEO of BIXSco. The BIXS database includes information about individual animal and carcass data, management protocols, and health treatments. Signing up for BIXS is easy and free. For more information about unlocking the value of data and participating in BIXS, click here.   
 

CTV Regina spoke with Shane Jahnke, VP Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association and Matt Sutton-Vermeulen, Project Manager with the McDonald's Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot project about the importance of sharing the sustainability story of the beef industry with consumers.  See the video here: ​http://ow.ly/Zd33y 

Click here to read the article from The Saskatchewan Stock Grower's Beef Business magazine.