Canada Gold Beef

[grassfarmer]

Did anyone else happen to attend the Canada Gold Beef presentations in Lethbridge, Ponoka or Vermillion last week? Ponoka had a fairly low turnout but there seemed a lot of enthusiasm among those attending. I think it looks like a program worth trying and we certainly intend to sign up most of our commodity calves for the pilot project this fall.
As they are looking to get 66,000 cattle on feed this fall I think the challenge will be getting the message through to many of the cow/calf producers who aren't too up with current events. I've spoken to a couple of them that have this confused with the Alberta Meat and Livestock Strategy - one person insisted that a condition of which would be the weight recording new born calves!
If anyone has questions I understand the phones at Canada Gold Beef will be manned as of Monday 18th August.

[Kathy]

Had not heard about the meetings. Did they say that the producers involved will be "required" to have "Premise ID" numbers?

[grassfarmer]

Oh enough already with the "Guv'ment are coming to get us theory" If you have a social insurance number the Government already know where you live and all about you.
The Canada Gold Beef program requires that producers register their premises with CCIA for traceability. The people behind Canada Gold Beef are not shadowy Government types but a few industry players who have done a lot of hard work to attempt to create a new way for beef producers to do business. Hopefully this new way of doing business will produce increased returns to primary producers.

[wilagro]

Most consumers don't give a hoot if the beef they buy is "gold", "silver" or whatever? Most want quality that they can "taste" at a "price" that they can "afford".

Personally, I am dubious of any scheme which makes claims of a superior product with a higher price tag attached.

Quality meat does not require gimmicks to sell it. Just sell it as Alberta grown, (if it is), and it will sell.

Our Co-op stores have advertised that their meat was cut from beef aged 14 days, but I would like to see them "prove" this. From MY personal experience, most of the beef offered today in Alberta has about 3 days of age on it.

It costs money to age beef properly and the packers are not going to absorb that cost...period. There was a time when packers aged beef properly but that was over 50 years ago.

[grassfarmer]

Wilagro,
Who says the gold designation doesn't provide consumers with quality that they can taste at a price that they can afford?
This program is more about getting fairer returns for all those in the beef production chain rather than necessarily charging consumers extra for a product.
"Quality meat does not require gimmicks to sell it. Just sell it as Alberta grown, (if it is), and it will sell." - In Alberta maybe but what about the huge volume that we have to export? Alberta beef doesn't mean anything to most of them.
The 14 day aging of your COOP beef is no big mystery - it's being wet aged in a bag with liquid as opposed to proper (dry) aging.

[wilagro]

grassfarmer: In the beef production chain the primary producer is being shortchanged bigtime. With the packer-fed beef and the assured delivery from "packer-controlled" feedlots the cow-calf operator is handy to have around to fill in the gaps.

If the Alberta Gold designation is used for export trade...fine, but the greatest benefit will still be on the packer side with a "trickle down" effect for the producer. The deck is stacked and has been for some time.

BUT, now with the AB government involvement...vavavavoom let the good times roll. CONTROL is what is all about...they have it and the rancher/farmer doesn't.

[per]

Canada Gold is about stopping whining about commodity beef and its troubles and stepping up to the plate as private citizens and doing something about it. It is not about trickle down but rather gives you an opportunity to participate in the value chain PAST the packer. If you don't want to participate, don't. It may or may not work but just like voting, if you just sit back and do nothing then you don't have the right to bitch. I will most certainly commit some of my commodity beef to the pilot project.

[grassfarmer]

Seems Wilagro is confusing the CanadaGold program with the ALMS policy introduced by the AB government.

[wilagro]

grassfarmer: Actually the AB gov't reference was an additional thought and not really part of the Alberta Gold debate. I just threw than in as a capper as our problems will all be solved with THEIR involvement...after all governments can do no wrong, at least in their mind.

[Eastcoaster]

I wish they would set up a division in the Maritimes,possibly taking over the "Atlantic Beef Products" slaughter facility. We are losing ground here fast.