Maritime
BEEF CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 29 & 30, 2021 Online Event
WWW.MARITIMEBEEF.CA
@maritimebeef
Welcome Welcome to the 2021 Maritime Beef Conference, the annual beef industry event providing education and networking opportunities for all in the beef industry. This years virtual Conference provides a broad range of topics that touch on many different aspects of today's beef management. And certainly, there are beef management aspects today that are quite different from what we had to manage even 5 years ago. The speakers and their topics should provide you with some thought provoking ideas to take home with you. Take the time to visit the sponsor pages and interact with them during the conference as they have continued to support this industry event through changes from in person to virtual content. Also keep these valued partners in mind throughout the year as you make your business and buying decisions. Be sure to utilize the online forums and actively send questions and interactions through the virtual conference platform. Most importantly, enjoy the conference!
Dean Manning Chair, Maritime Beef Council
Prime Sponsors
Triple A Sponsor
The Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture has regional staff available across Nova Scotia to assist beef producers and the cattle industry.
Contact us to learn about supports available to your farm and/or agri-food business, including: Production advice and support Information regarding training opportunities Funding programs Assistance with business and financial planning for your new or existing farm or agri-food business To ask questions about regulations that may apply to your farm or agri-food business Receive guidance to access other information to help you with your farm or agri-food business
To speak to staff in your area, please contact us at 1-800-279-0825 or visit our website for direct contact information: Regional Services | novascotia.ca.
Triple A Sponsors
Double A Sponsors
Agenda Friday, October 29, 2021 1:00 - 1:15
1:15 - 2:00
2:00 - 2:30
2:30 - 2:45
2:45 - 3:30
3:30 - 3:55
3:55 - 4:50
4:50 - 5:00
Opening of the 2021 Maritime Beef Conference Amy Higgins, Industry Coordinator, Maritime Beef Council Healthy Grass: Perennial Cool Season Grass 101 Christine O’Reilly, OMAFRA Healthy Grass: Starting out Grazier Adam MacLean, Owner, Operator BREAK Healthy Grass: Adaptive grazing, systems thinking and well-being Dr. Kate Sherren, Dalhousie University Canada Beef: BIG News Michael Young, Canada Beef Healthy Grass: Season Extension Grazing Panel John Duynisveld, Dean Manning, Cedric MacLeod • Tanya Dykens, Moderator Wrap Up for the Day
Agenda Saturday, October 30, 2021 8:00 - 8:10
8:10 - 9:00
9:00 - 9:45
9:45 - 10:00
10:00 - 10:45
10:45 - 11:30
11:30 - 12:00
12:00 - 12:15
Welcome and Announcements Healthy Cattle: Data Management Panel Amy McFadgen, Dan DaCosta, Tim Dixon • Amy Higgins, Moderator Healthy Profits: Healthy Profits: Selecting Data to Improve Your Bottom Line Jasper Munro, AgSights BREAK Healthy Cattle: Mineral & Supplements Consideration Dr. John MacKinnon, Professor Emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan Healthy Grass, Cattle & Profits: Young Farmers Panel: Spencer Yeo, Susan Hamilton, Darren Dinsmore • Amy Higgins, Moderator Healthy Profits: National Cow-Calf Cost of Production Network Brenna Grant M.Sc. PAg (CanFax, BCRC) Closing Remarks
"A" Sponsors
Speaker Christine O'Reilly OMAFRA Christine O’Reilly is the Forage and Grazing Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs. Her areas of focus include the benefits of forages and grazing within cropping systems, forage production and grazing systems for northern Ontario, and improving the productivity and profitability of forages.
Healthy Grass: Perennial Cool Season Grass 101 Friday, October 29 | 1:15 – 2:00 pm It starts with healthy grass. Well-managed grass is the cheapest source of feed, but what kind of management does grass really need to be healthy? In her talk, Christine goes back to basics to tease out key management practices that can make a big difference in pasture production.
Speaker Adam MacLean Owner, Operator Adam MacLean is a shepherd, grazier and Agriculture Climate Action Specialist with the PEI Department of Agriculture and Land, raising a hardy outdoor flock in the hills of South Melville PEI and working to incentivize and support adoption of adaptive grazing for positive economic and environmental impact. He's a greenhorn farmer (i.e. new to the industry), started with minimal resources (no money), and sees intensive grazing of ruminants on leased land as a great entry point into farming.
Healthy Grass: Starting out Grazier Friday, October 29 | 2:00 – 2:30 pm This talk will highlight some of the features of a low-capital, grazing-intensive business; with a focus on portable, flexible infrastructure, woodland and hedgerow for year-round outdoor livestock shelter; pasture lambing, and extended season grazing. Adam will discuss the opportunities and challenges in grazing management, and speak to the environmental benefits of this production system, particularly in the context of a changing climate. Finally, he’ll identify resources and supports for those considering intensifying their grazing management. Developing a livestock business based on grazing can be a key strategy to lower startup costs and raise healthy animals with minimal capital investment. Observation is essential. Grazing practices should be flexible, based on observations and feedback from animals and land. Grazing should never be prescriptive. AAFC's Agriculture Climate Solutions program will be incentivizing adoption of adaptive grazing, helping offset costs of infrastructure development.
Speaker Dr. Kate Sherren Dalhousie University Dr. Sherren, Dalhousie University, has been researching grazing management and agricultural climate adaptation since her postdoctoral fellowship in Australia, 20082010, with a particular interest in the social science dimensions of high-intensity shortduration rotational practices, including motivations, cognitions and well-being.
Healthy Grass: Adaptive grazing, systems thinking and well-being Friday, October 29 | 2:45 – 3:30 pm Adaptive grazing is a term that has emerged to encompass a few approaches to grazing planning and high-intensity short-duration rotation regimes, including adaptive multipaddock grazing, holistic grazing management, and most recently regenerative grazing. Most of the debates around adaptive grazing have been based on reports of mixed production and climate benefits to offset the workload involved for farmers in planning, monitoring and stock handling, yet farmer well-being outcomes are only beginning to be explored. In early 2020 a national survey (n=200) was used to understand the uptake of adaptive grazing approaches in the Canadian beef industry, to understand who self-identifies as using them, the diversity of practices involved and the implications for reported farmer well-being. Several surprises emerge, when compared with the literature and previous field studies in Australia, the Falkland Islands and Alberta, that inform a rich set of reflections on adoption and well-being, including the need for longitudinal research designs to better understand causality: that is, are adaptive ranchers born or made?
Speaker Michael Young Canada Beef Michael Young is the President of Canada Beef and he brings broad expertise in domestic and global business development, brand and strategic leadership. Michael has worked in the Canadian red meat industry for over 39 year specializing in beef, veal and pork sales, marketing, product development and education in both the domestic and export marketplace.
Canada Beef: BIG News Friday, October 29 | 3:30 – 3:55 pm During his professional career, Michael has promoted Canadian beef, veal and pork in more than 25 countries and conducted over 300 carcass cutting, merchandising and sausage making demonstrations. He has authored numerous technical cutting and buying manuals, guides, merchandising resources and financial yield and performance analysis tools for the Canadian red meat industry. Michael leads all aspects of Canada Beef’s domestic and international market development and promotion efforts, including strategic business planning, program development, performance measurement and reporting and human resource management.
Key points from the discussion:
• The Opportunity Gap — Canadians continue to prepare more meals at home to feed their family and friends and they are looking for information and inspiration. • Customer Experience is the key. • Canada Beef has created a digital ecosystem of consumer information to simplify selection, preparation and enjoyment of a wider variety of beef cuts.
Panel Healthy Grass: Season Extension Grazing Panel Friday, October 29 | 3:55 – 4:50 pm John Duynisveld Holdanca Farms
Dean Manning Manning Family Farm
Moderated by: Tanya Dykens
Cedric MacLeod MacLeod Agronomics
Panel Healthy Cattle: Data Management Panel Saturday, October 30 | 8:10 – 9:00 am Amy McFadgen Windy View Farms
Dan DaCosta Dandy Little Ranch
Moderated by: Amy Higgins
Tim Dixon Dixon Farms
Speaker Jasper Munro AgSights Raised on a commercial beef and grains farm, with a Masters of Science from Dalhousie University focused on beef cattle feed efficiency, Jasper Munro is dedicated to finding ways that technology can be used to improve on-farm management and decision making. This led to working at AgSights since 2017.
Healthy Profits: Selecting Data to Improve Your Bottom Line Saturday, October 30 | 9:00 – 9:45 am Currently, much of the data collected and breeding decisions made on beef cattle operations focus on output such as weaning weight or carcass traits. Do these actually benefit our bottom line? When we market our calves are we generating more profit because of these decisions? In many cases we aren't. This presentation will take a look at genetic improvement in the beef industry and how we can focus on traits that impact not only our bottom line, but also the profit of the markets we sell into. Coming out of this talk you will: (1) have a better understanding of genetic tools at your disposal, (2) see first-hand how these tools can be used to benefit your bottom line, and (3) learn where the Canadian beef industry is taking genetic improvement from here.
Speaker Dr. John MacKinnon, Ph.D., P.Ag. Professor Emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan John McKinnon, was the Professor and Beef Industry Chair at the University of Saskatchewan from 1992 to 2019 and is currently a Beef Cattle nutrition consultant since 2020.
Healthy Cattle: Mineral & Supplements Consideration Saturday, October 30 | 10:00 – 10:45 am A common question asked by beef producers goes something like this – “Do I need to feed minerals year round”? To answer this question, it is important to remember that requirements for specific minerals such as calcium or copper vary with stage of pregnancy, lactation/breeding status, age of the animal and body reserves. This implies that while the absolute amount of a given mineral varies with stage of production, the need for year round supplementation still exists. In short mineral nutrition is essential for a productive/healthy cow herd. Mineral deficiencies can result in a wide range of issues in the breeding herd. For example, macro mineral deficiencies such as that of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium can lead to poor reproductive performance in cows and bulls, tetany like issues in grazing cattle as well as poor growth and immunity in calves. Similarly, specific trace mineral deficiencies such as that of copper, zinc or selenium can negatively influence conception rates particularly in younger females, growth of calves as well as their health status. A year-round mineral program is essential to prevent such deficiencies from happening. Producers should work with their feed company/nutritionist to develop an understanding of regional and local issues influencing the amount and potential availability of macro and trace mineral content of forages including soil mineral content (i.e. molybdenum levels) and water quality (i.e. sulphate levels). With this information you and your nutritionist can develop a mineral feeding program that meets the requirements of your cow herd 365 days a year!
Panel Healthy Grass, Cattle & Profits Young Farmers Panel Saturday, October 30 | 10:45 – 11:30 am Spencer Yeo Yeo Stock Farm
Susan Hamilton Wild Pasture Farm
Moderated by: Amy Higgins
Darren Dinsmore Aldercroft Farms
Speaker Brenna Grant, M.Sc. PAg CanFax, BCRC Brenna Grant grew up in Saskatchewan on a cow/calf, yearling grasser operation where her family still operates. She received a BA in Agricultural Economics from the University of Saskatchewan and a Masters in Applied Economics from Montana State University. She has been with Canfax Research since 2007.
Healthy Profits: National Cow-Calf Cost of Production Network Saturday, October 30 | 11:30 am – 12:00 pm The Canadian Cow-Calf Cost of Production Network was launched in Q1 2021. There were 115 participants contributing to 25 cow-calf and 3 dairy-beef production systems benchmarks. The Network represents a wide variety of production systems varying in animal performance traits, economies of scale, labour productivity, feeding systems, and financials. The purpose of the network was to provide national coverage, standard methodology, benchmarks, reduce response burden, and learning in community.
SAVE DATE
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MONCTON, NB
OCTOBER 21 & 22, 2022 Delta Beauséjour
WWW.MARITIMEBEEF.CA
@maritimebeef