GF, that is a great challenge. I am not sure I have better answers and I probably tend towards the sink or swin model (which I appreciate the minister can't do).
I think that a pilot slaughter plant (similar to the leduc pilot plant for agrivalue) would be a good investment. It would allow smaller value chains to get started without incurring the cost of building a plant. I think investment in research and extension is a good move. I think some sort of an exit strategy is a good investment. I think that investing in an agency to assist local businesses in navigating export is a good investment.
I don't disagree that the floor needs to be raised, but I don't see a lot of fostering of innovation through the program. Quite frankly there are all kinds of opportunities out there, and I think producers need to pursue them. I don't think that dragging the entire industry up by its' bootstraps so to speak really accomplishes anything in terms of adding value. Rather it simply raises the base expense level.
One major challenge I see is that poor cattle obtain too much money out of the marketplace. The producers of these cattle are overpaid, and producers of superior cattle are underpaid. The best rewarded producer will be the one that has the lowest cost, rather than the best product. Addmitedly producers can't always get this information back, but conversely this is not a profit driver for the guy who sells at weaning.
Canada Gold has very good protocols and procedures, but it still does not have any breed makeup or quality criteria persay in their specifications that I can see.
I think that a pilot slaughter plant (similar to the leduc pilot plant for agrivalue) would be a good investment. It would allow smaller value chains to get started without incurring the cost of building a plant. I think investment in research and extension is a good move. I think some sort of an exit strategy is a good investment. I think that investing in an agency to assist local businesses in navigating export is a good investment.
I don't disagree that the floor needs to be raised, but I don't see a lot of fostering of innovation through the program. Quite frankly there are all kinds of opportunities out there, and I think producers need to pursue them. I don't think that dragging the entire industry up by its' bootstraps so to speak really accomplishes anything in terms of adding value. Rather it simply raises the base expense level.
One major challenge I see is that poor cattle obtain too much money out of the marketplace. The producers of these cattle are overpaid, and producers of superior cattle are underpaid. The best rewarded producer will be the one that has the lowest cost, rather than the best product. Addmitedly producers can't always get this information back, but conversely this is not a profit driver for the guy who sells at weaning.
Canada Gold has very good protocols and procedures, but it still does not have any breed makeup or quality criteria persay in their specifications that I can see.
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