by Will Chabun

A veterinarian who’s also an epidemiologist and stock grower hopes the backlash to a restaurant chain’s decision to go out of Canada for beef supposedly raised in a “humane” way sends a lesson to that chain  and others.

Leigh Rosengren, who practises and farms near Midale, is also heartened by the willingness of Canadians to show, through social media and other means, support for the Canadian cattle industry.

That reflects the fact Canadians know we have “the safest food system in the world” and can “see through” claims that it isn’t.

The Earls restaurant chain triggered this controversy by announcing Tuesday it would become the first chain in North America to serve only “Certified Humane” beef — meaning beef raised without the use of antibiotics, steroids or added hormones, and slaughtered according to the specifications of animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin.

​ Earls — which uses more than two million pounds of beef each year — claimed it was unable to find a Canadian supplier that could meet the chain’s demand for the product, though it said nothing about working with Canadian producers to do so. That means that beef served at Earls restaurants nationwide will no longer come from Canada, but from Kansas.
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This prompted Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall to tweet: “So @earlsrestaurant didn’t even consult with Canadian cattle producers before opting for US beef…”

Read the full article here.

Immediate release

Youth beef clubs awarded $9,750 in McDonald’s Video Contest

April 28, 2016 - Five Canadian youth beef clubs from across the country have shared their sustainable beef stories and won a total of $9,750 to support their clubs.

The contest engaged the next generation of Canadian beef producers at three levels:

1. Directly engaging them in a community workshop to share their definition of sustainable beef and why it is important to them and informing them about the McDonald’s Sustainable Beef pilot; Why it was undertaken and how it was conducted and hear what other ranchers in the community have learned through participation
2. The opportunity for their families to participate directly in the pilot itself.
3. Challenging them to produce a short video demonstrating why sustainable beef is important to their club members and how they make continuous improvement real on their ranch or feedlot.

The five winning clubs were selected by a panel of judges on three criteria: their ability to define why sustainable beef is important to their club members; their ability to bring continuous improvement in sustainable beef to life; and their ability to build connectivity between the beef community and consumers.

“We were thrilled to see the quality of entries and the effort these clubs took to share their passion for the beef industry with us,” said Jeff Fitzpatrick-Stillwell, Senior Manager, Sustainability with McDonald’s Canada. “Congratulations to all the winners for their hard work and their ongoing commitment to promoting sustainable beef in their communities – the future is in good hands.”

Prizes were awarded to the winning clubs:

• Excellence (First Place): Canadian Junior Angus Association/CJAA ($5,000)
• Achievement (Second Place): Longview 4H Beef Club ($2,500)
• Entry (Third, fourth and fifth place): Saskatchewan Junior Angus Association, Durness 4-H Beef Club and Holden 4-H Beef Club ($750/club)

According to Belinda Wagner, advisor with the CJAA, the group enjoyed the opportunity to interview members from across the country and find out what was important to their families in each diverse region of the country. 
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“The CJAA will be using the prize money to enhance programming at our two National events, Showdown 2016, the National Junior Angus Show to be held in Truro, Nova Scotia this summer, and GOAL 2017 which will be held in Edmonton, Alberta next February.  We hope to provide additional trucking assistance for animals to get to Showdown and for GOAL, our leadership conference, we hope to have a speaker(s) specific to continued sustainability in the beef industry,” said Wagner.

A preview of the winning entries was shared at the Alberta Farm Animal Care conference in Olds, AB on March 22. All the videos submitted can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVP4ExYF4JaF_b_pIbnfZEw

For the latest news on the Sustainable Beef Pilot visit http://www.mcdvsb.com/news or follow us on twitter (@VSB_pilot) or on Facebook at McDonald’s Sustainable Beef Pilot Project.

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​For more information contact:
Matt Sutton-Vermeulen 515-371-7914

Canada leads the way in the search for more sustainable ways to produce beef
​Posted Apr. 7th, 2016 by Barbara Duckworth

OTTAWA — Canada is a star on the world stage when it comes to sustainability on the ranch, says Dennis Laycraft, the new chair of the Global Round Table on Sustainable Beef Production.


“I am pretty proud of the progress we have made in Canada,” he said at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association annual meeting last month.

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Research has shown that the Canadian beef industry is leaving a small carbon hoof print. 

A recent study from Agriculture Canada and the University of Manitoba measured changes in greenhouse gas emissions of Canadian beef production from 1981-2011 and found a 15 percent improvement in 30 years. 


Read the full article here: Western Producer