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MARCH 19, 2012
Keepers & Culls A message that isn’t going away LEE HART
T
here is a recurring message in the livestock industry and in agriculture in general and that’s that farmers and ranchers need to get on the ball with the public and consumers with their message about being good operators. It is a message that tells consumers and the public they are good stewards of the land, do their best to protect the environment and treat their livestock properly and humanely. In this issue, Jeff Simmons, president of Elanco Animal Health (page 52) talks about
“fighting the fringe” element. Also in this issue, Lorne Rossnagel, a beef producer from Plumas, Manitoba (page 51) talks about the value of having an environmental farm plan. He doesn’t sound like a born-again tree hugger, but a good producer who sees value in these things. I also liked the quote from the renowned animal behaviour specialist Temple Grandin (page 48) during a talk in Lethbridge earlier this winter. “If agriculture is doing something now that makes you squirm at the thought of showing it to your wedding guests, then maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.” In our March 12 issue, Hyland Armstrong, a rancher and range specialist from Cypress Hills, Alta. talked about the importance of developing co-ordinated
resource management plans — it is not only a good way to manage pasture and rangeland, but it is great PR. I remember a year or so ago, Preston Manning, former leader of the Reform Party, now one of those think-tank guys, telling farmers in Medicine Hat that agriculture has to come up with really great 30-second sound bites for the media, that all sectors need to work co-operatively and they need a really convincing spokesperson like former U.S. vice-president Al Gore (not Al Gore, but someone like that) to be the front man for the agriculture industry. I run into a lot of industry people who grab this whole idea very well, and I also know there are a few/some/several who resist the notion of changing
Cranbrook farm wins award
A
nd back to the environmental theme, the city of Cranbrook in southeastern B.C. has won a national award for its 35-year-old effluent spray irrigation project known as the City Farm. The project, which was launched in mid-70s, uses water from the sewage system effluent to irrigate one-time rangeland to produce forage and graze cattle. The city took this route rather than build a mechanical treatment plant and discharge waste water into a river. The project has grown over the years, to today where it covers about 1,600 acres of irrigated pasture and hayland, produces on average about 3,600 tonnes of hay per year, and seasonal grazing for as many as 1,200 cow-calf pairs owned by area ranchers. These cattle produce as much as 750,000 pounds of beef for the Canadian meat industry. At nominal rates, just the hay and beef, alone have value of more than $1.5 million annually. While the project has received different awards over the years, the most recent was the 2012 Sustainable Communities Awards presented by The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). The award recognizes municipal projects across Canada that demonstrate excellence in environmental responsibility.
CONTACT US
Write, Email or Fax Contact Cattleman’s Corner with comments, ideas or suggestions for and on stories by mail, email, phone or fax. Phone Lee Hart at 403-592-1964 Fax to 403-288-3162 Email lee@fbcpublishing.com Write to CATTLEMAN’S CORNER, PO Box 71141 Silver Springs RPO, Calgary, Alta. T3B 5K2 their ways, changing practices, and prefer to ignore critics as a bunch of whiners. I think most consumers are complacent. They just want good-quality food that tastes good and is relatively cheap. The sector that is particularly sensitive to critics are the McDonald’s restaurants, the Costcos and the Wal-Marts who really care about their image, and will use every marketing trick in the book to protect their image and bottom line. It is a global marketplace and if they can’t buy product in Canada from producers trying to be good stewards of the land, who are environmentally sensitive, and treat animals humanely, they will find someone in the world who is, and they will keep laughing all the way to the bank.
I NEED DETAILS PHOTOS: LEE HART
About 1,600 acres of alfalfa and grass forages is cropped annually at the City Farm.
City Farm masterminds in 1973, from left, Dick Fletcher, EPEC engineering, Fred Crashley, Cranbrook city engineer, Don Sherling, alderman and George Haddad, provincial MLA inspecting construction.
A man goes to a shrink and says, “Doctor, my wife is unfaithful to me. Every evening, she goes to Larry’s bar and picks up men. In fact, she sleeps with anybody who asks her! I’m going crazy. What do you think I should do?” “Relax,” says the doctor. “Take a deep breath and calm down. Now, tell me, exactly where is Larry’s bar?”
BREEDER CHARGED
Livestock Identification Services have laid charges after a two year investigation relating to allegations of theft and fraud of cattle in the Ardrossan area of rural Strathcona County. H o w a r d S c h n e i d e r, 5 7 of Ardrossan, Alta. has been charged with 14 counts under the Criminal Code for alleged fraud and theft related offences and one count under the Livestock Identification and Brand Inspection Act for transporting livestock out of Albert without inspection. Schneider is scheduled to appear in Sherwood Park Provincial Court March 21, 2012. Strathcona County RCMP received the original complaint in March 2009 that indicated a central Alberta producer was missing 138 head of purebred Angus cattle, which he alleged were illegally removed and sold. There are still 84 head unaccounted for and the investigation is continuing. As the investigation is continuing, anyone with information on this crime is encouraged to contact the Strathcona County RCMP at 780-467-7741 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest in this matter. You do not have to reveal your identity to qualify for an award. † Lee Hart
Strathcona County RCMP (just east of Edmonton) and the “K” Division Livestock Investigation Section, with the assistance of
COMMENT
Buying a roast shouldn’t be a crapshoot BY STAN HARDER
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ew issues relating to the table are as exasperating as having paid good dollars for a food item only to find it’s the absolute pits on your plate. Since beef is in direct competition for market share with other meats it is incumbent upon the industry to deliver consistent-quality products. This, in my view still remains an elusive objective rather than being a laudable reality. I can’t remember a time when our assorted beef associations have not been agonizing about market share, yet they appear to be not only loathe but almost hostile to the concept of marketing standardized product lines. As shoppers we can toss dairy, poultry, fish (and to a great extent pork) products into our grocery carts without reflecting on the potential worth of our purchases. We can rest easy
one package is much the same as another. These suppliers have done a marvelous job of homogenizing their customer ready merchandise. Consumer confidence is clearly their “job one” and they are doing it well. Beef, not so much. For ourselves, we wouldn’t dream of walking up to a beef counter and simply accepting the top package on display. Not all steaks are created equal. Steaks readily show traits from overall plate size (natural or sectioned) and thickness to marbling, bone and gristle and it is up to us to make a judgment call as to whether each meets what we are looking for and confirms what we are prepared to pay. Experience dictates relative success, but at least we are given the option of elemental choice. (Some folks even claim to be able to distinguish one breed’s
cut from another but other than size per se I’m not sure what criterion could reliably be used that would be at all meaningful, certainly not significant enough to warrant suggestive comment. Besides, anyone writing an article on beef proposing one breed’s meat may be superior/inferior to another had perhaps best find another hobby, and soon.)
BUTCHER’S LIMITATIONS Our issue with beef as a food staple has been selection of roasts. We prefer to have butchers cut to our specs as we have found they are almost invariably proud craftsmen or women and each roast is personally handed off as a confident product of their craftsmanship. But even this has its limitations. On far too many occasions, once we get our hands on the roast its all over but the crying. Butchers
can only do what their base material allows. They can’t make it more tender or remove every vestige of gristle and have anything of consequence left to sell. Why the industry has been unable and or unwilling to introduce a formula guaranteeing beef quality beyond the vague and overly flexible “A’s” is a mystery. Branded beef has long been touted as remedy and certainly this would go a long way toward developing customer loyalty if such branding was at all reliable. Consumers need to know what they are paying for, where this or that product stands on a recognized scale of merit. If I am asked to pay top dollar for any product I want to be assured its comparative value is justified. There should be some standard for tenderness and percentage of waste readily understood by buyers, and priced accordingly.
Hamburger has its regular, lean and extra lean. We have a choice. Would it be too difficult to extend this type of designation to roasts? Tender one, two or three. Waste, one two or three. You get what you pay for. Different circumstances may call for varying grades of quality but this should be an intellectual choice not a crapshoot where prices are identical but product quality is not. We’ve had roasts unbelievably tender with flavour to die for, as well as roasts whose only viable disposition was to shave slice cold and use for sandwiches. The rub is you don’t know what you’ve got until its too late to make a change. The bottom line here is consumer confidence and in beef roasts the industry has yet to make its mark. † Stan Harder is a mostly retired Angus breeder living at St. Brides, Alta. You can email him at snharder@telusplanet.net