A new single national agency for beef marketing, promotion and research is in the works for Canadian cattle producers. The new single agency comes as a result of a Canadian Beef Export Federation member vote to consolidate their operation with that of the Beef Information Centre (BIC) and the national beef checkoff agency.
The merger came as a result of a study and recommendation by the Canada Beef Working Group comprised of members of all the respective groups involved. The recommendation to merge was put forth in an effort to create a trimmer, more efficient organization for the industry. While the industry as a whole welcomes a less cluttered landscape, there still exist concerns over issues like governance and direction of the new organization, leading to a mood among producers of cautious optimism and a wait and see approach.
RealAgriculture’s Megan Oleksyn asked three industry members about the merger at the recent ALMA FutureFare conference. Phil Rowland, President of the Western Stock Growers Association, Dave Plett, the President and CEO of Western Feedlots Ltd., and Reg Schmidt, the Provincial Director of the Feeder Associations of Alberta all offered their opinion on the merger.
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