New Information Website - Beef InfoNet

[joedales]

News Release

Beef InfoNet aims to meet the information needs of beef producers.

Beef producers today need access to increasing amounts of information to stay competitive, but the resources they can turn to are shrinking. Luckily, producers are only a click of the mouse away from Beef InfoNet (www.vido.org/beefinfonet).

This convenient online resource aims to fill the void left by the phasing out of academic extension units, and to meet the need for information due to the increasingly technical nature of animal production.

“Beef producers who are wondering how to address disease, improve nutrition or meet environmental regulations will be able to go to this Web site to find answers, whenever it is most convenient for them,” said Dr. Philip Griebel of the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO).

Created by the VIDO Beef Technical Group, Beef InfoNet will provide up-to-date information covering the full spectrum of issues facing beef producers when complete.

Dr. Griebel and Reynold Bergen of Alberta Beef Producers unveiled Beef InfoNet Saturday at the 4th annual Alberta Beef Industry Conference. The site can be reached through the “Information for Producers” section of the VIDO Web site (www.vido.org).

Beef InfoNet is a continually-updated index of information from academic, government and beef industry sources based across North America, in various formats including video. New resources are added weekly.

“This site will provide a portal to the Internet for beef producers. Our vision is that Beef InfoNet will provide rapid access to a variety of sites from which producers can obtain information,” said Dr. Griebel.


The site is also a library where producers can find technical information on a range of topics influencing daily management decisions.

Topics covered include:

Animal Welfare
Marketing
Food Safety
Disease Treatments
Vaccination
Feedlot Management
Breeding
Nutrition
Environmental Issues
Pest Control
Air Quality

Beef InfoNet will continue to be operated and maintained by the VIDO Beef Technical Group. VIDO formed the group in 2001 following consultation with cattle industry representatives across the country. It is made up of industry leaders from across Canada and VIDO scientists.

Funders and supporters of the VIDO Beef Technical Group include:

Alberta Beef Producers, Alberta Livestock Industry Development Fund (ALIDF), the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association, La Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec, InterVet Canada Inc., Manitoba Cattle Producers, Novartis Animal Health, Ontario Cattlemen’s Association, Pfizer Animal Health, Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, Saskatchewan Cattle Marketing Deductions Fund, Saskatchewan Horned Cattle Trust Fund, and Schering-Plough Animal Health.





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For more information, contact:



Dr. Philip Griebel

Research Scientist, VIDO

Facilitator, VIDO Beef Technical Group

Phone: (306) 966-1542

philip.griebel@usask.ca





Tess Laidlaw

Communications Officer, VIDO

Phone: (306) 966-1506

tess.laidlaw@usask.ca

[farmers_son]

I checked out the site. I was wondering who was behind this so checked out the “About Us” link and lo and behold there was rkaiser telling us everything we ever needed to know about Animal Welfare, Marketing, Food Safety, Disease Treatment, Vaccination, Worker Safety, Feedlot Management, Breeding, Nutrition, Environmental Issues, Pest Control, and Air Quality. Good to see rkaiser involved in the cattle industry. Spending some of those checkoff dollars...eh.

I can’t wait to hear what rkaiser is going to tell us about Kyoto. LOL.

Getting back to the site, information is very powerful. I think anytime we access information we need to be aware of who is providing the information and that those people may have a bias. I think producers in general have a great deal of trouble accessing unbiased information such as research projects, surveys, articles and so on that have not been filtered for them by any particular interest group.

The information on this site is heavily filtered. What we really need is to be able to access a much wider range of information and then decide for ourselves.

[smcgrath76]

Different rkaiser. the white cow kind.
I agree with your statement about data F_S, with the proviso that producers have access to knowledge or expertise as to how to interpret the data.
For example, from your commentary on here in the past, I know that you are extremely astute at assessing financial and economic information. I am not sure many producers have those type of tools at their disposal.
Just a question???

[grassfarmer]

I wonder if that applies to the ABP and "filtering" what is allowed to appear in the media farmers_son? In terms of defeated resolutions etc.. LOL

[farmers_son]

Good lord...you mean there is more than one. LOL. Grassfarmer, I did think of that when I was typing and that I might be talking out of both sides of my mouth at once. Obviously a complex issue. I think smcgrath76's comment is good and very relevant.