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MARCH 2, 2017 | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | THE WESTERN PRODUCER
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Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE) A unique research, teaching and outreach centre that unites the U of S with livestock and forage producers, the agriculture industry, and provincial and federal governments.
Bart Lardner (left) of the Western Beef Development Centre. The centre’s cattle herd (right) will eventually be relocated to the LFCE’s forage and cow-calf unit near Clavet, Sask. Photos: Bart Lardner.
With years of experience behind their names, Bart Lardner and Paul Jefferson are seasoned pros in their fields. Lardner is a senior research scientist at the Western Beef Development Centre (WBDC) and an adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S). Jefferson is a longtime forage researcher and was WBDC’s vice president of operations until he retired from the role in 2016. With each passing season, the two scientists are wondering more and more about the future. “We’re seeing it every year at our field day: a younger audience,” says Lardner. It’s those young audiences that the two established researchers have in mind when they discuss the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE) — an initiative that will unite all aspects of the beef cattle industry. In the process, the LFCE will bring about exciting new possibilities for researchers, faculty, producers, industry — and, yes, those very same students who will one day shape agriculture in Western Canada and beyond. “We’re seeing the change happening at the industry level and we think the LFCE is a great opportunity for the research community to gear up and prepare for the next generation of scientists and technologists to come in and do the work that will be available for the next generation of beef producers who are still kids,” Jefferson says. Representatives from government, industry and academia are working together to develop the LFCE, and it’s these strengthened partnerships that Jefferson says will lead to a greater output of research. He points to forage as an area that, while sometimes overlooked by industry outsiders, could benefit from the new “efficiencies and synergies” made available because of the centre. “It doesn’t sound sexy. It’s not a breakthrough in DNA or something like that — but sample drying, grinding and processing for forage research is the backbone of everything you do,” Jefferson says. He adds that the multiple users of the LFCE will help to mitigate some of the natural expenses that come hand in hand when working with beef cattle for the purposes of research and teaching. “Beef research is expensive. It’s expensive to keep cows. It’s expensive to have the overhead of facilities and labour to keep live animals for research. Really, how do you make that cost effective? You utilize that herd as many ways as possible for research — as many projects as possible,” says Jefferson. Ultimately, Lardner and Jefferson both believe that the LFCE will have a lasting impact — solidifying the U of S and Saskatchewan as leaders in beef cattle and forage research. “This LFCE idea and vision is for the next 50, 60 years. It’s for the next set of researchers that we’re going to train in Saskatchewan. We’re going to attract the best — recruit the best research scientists and faculty. We’re just fortunate that we’re going to end our careers under this new model. I’m optimistic that it’s going to be the best institution in all of Canada,” Lardner says. “If you take the very long-term view of this project, it is about training the next generation of beef producers and industry experts.”
For more information, visit usask.ca/lfce.
Pork is the world’s most popular meat because of the amount consumed in China, while beef is losing market share. Brown said that is not a disaster because beef is higher priced and considered a special product. “We should celebrate price increases that allow the industry to make money,” he said. China wants other red meat as well. “In late 2012-14, suddenly China emerged as a huge vacuum pulling in sheep meat from Australia and New Zealand,” Brown said. “It led to a surge in price that was very helpful to every sheep farmer, wherever they were in the world.” China took 30 percent of the world’s available sheep meat. High prices were not sustained, but it remains a good destination for Australia and New Zealand lamb and mutton. The higher prices also encouraged more Chinese farmers to add goats and sheep to their farms so that fewer imports were needed. World per capita meat consumption is rising in developing countries, but politics and fluctuating currencies can sometimes outweigh demand. Russia was a massive meat market from 1995-2010, but that it is now declining because of political
changes that banned imports and weakened the currency. Australia, Brazil, the United States, Canada and India are the big exporters. There is potential in those countries for herd expansion and greater levels of productivity. India is a significant exporter of water buffalo meat. It is the cheapest bovine meat in the world at $3,000 per tonne. More than 700,000 tonnes of Indian buffalo meat went through northern Vietnam to China last year. It is also sold to the Middle East, North Africa and Indonesia.
Australia is supplying Vietnam’s growing demand for meat The desire to consume more dairy products has seen a surge in the number of milk cows in India. Those cows will eventually find their way into the beef trade. Australia has always been active in Asia. A new market for more than 300,000 cattle from the country’s Northern Territories recently emerged in Vietnam, where there is a growing demand for meat among its 90 million people. It is feasible to ship livestock from Australia to Vietnam, where they go on a short-term feed program and
are slaughtered. Animal welfare groups are heavily critical of how the animals are shipped, so the Australians have to guarantee the care of those animals right through to slaughter. Brazil is a major exporter, but its growth in beef and veal production is slow. It went up one percent last year and 1.9 percent is expected this year. Its exports are not expected to grow because Brazilians are large consumers of their own beef. Argentina may improve its trading position, but it is often held back by politics, including government restrictions of exports. “This is a country that has squandered its extraordinary destiny in beef,” Brown said. “It is nothing compared to what it was back in the 1990s.” The United Kingdom’s plans to leave the European Union have created considerable uncertainty. The U.K. imports 300,000 tonnes of beef a year. Ireland is the main supplier. It is an EU member and no one knows what the trade or tariffs might look like in two years. “The U.K. has a culture of imported food and meat from all over the world for many years,” he said. “This is an emerging and changing market, and one where our beef demand is high.” barbara.duckworth@producer.com
2017 Livestock Care
Conference March 21-22, 2017
Best Western Denham Inn & Suites Leduc, AB
DON’T MISS! Y Painful Procedures Workshop Y Animal Welfare in the 21st Century Y Moving Beyond the Five Freedoms Y Practical Strategies and New Thinking in Swine Production Y A Tale from a Dairy Farmer Y A Day in the Life of a Chicken Vet Y Rodeo Showcase Y A Fresh Look at Consumer Attitudes
Register at: afac.ab.ca/2017