Greg Appleyard, President, Cattleland Feedyards, Strathmore

Prairie Heritage – Christopher Weader, Email: spiritviewranch@netkaster.ca, Phone: (780) 978 2697

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  North America views the EU market as a net importer of beef, with a very attractive affluent consumer base.
  
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  The EU market will be targeted by North American exports and intense lobbying is taking place through the auspices of the WTO to lift what they see as “political trade barriers” that prevent the trade of beef produced with the aid of growth hormones.
  
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  North America view the EU CAP framework as a shackle that, together with restrictions on growth hormone and GM technology, make EU food production inefficient, uncompetitive and expensive.
  
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  Beef production will transfer to the areas in the world with the lowest cost of production and with the greatest natural resources. Urbanised areas will see food production become more intensive in character due to the lack of land available.
  
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  Ecoli is the number one issue in the US beef industry. Lactic acid interventions on slaughter lines are accepted practice and could be something that is eventually seen in the EU.
  
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  The lack of mandatory traceability in the US cattle industry is a weak spot that there seems to be an air of complacency around due to issues of constitutional rights over private information. This could hamper their export ambitions and make them susceptible to further food scare events. Their mismanagement of the “pink slime” issue is also indicative of a disconnect in the US between consumers and the politically powerful beef lobby.
  
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  The Canadian beef industry, due to its own BSE problems in 2003, has implemented extensive traceability and mandatory multi species individual ear tagging using electronic tags. They are well placed to exploit export opportunities, and have the added advantage of extensive natural resources available to them for food production.
  
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  The US is in the unique position of having a huge domestic market to balance carcass utilisation in tandem with exploiting export opportunities.
  
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  China, Russia and Asian Pacific rim countries are being targeted as areas with huge export opportunities for North America.
  
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  Beef production in North America, however, is under pressure from competition for animal feed from ethanol production, extreme weather events, and competition for land and labour resources from oil and gas production.
  
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  The beef industry in both the US and Canada benefit from extensive backing from government, state, research, pharmaceutical and financial institutions due to the importance of the sector in the economy.
  
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  Private North American companies involved in the North American beef industry are getting involved in primary production in other countries, like China and Russia, where demand for beef is rising and domestic production is under developed.
  
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  An emphasis on lean beef is predominant in North America to promote beef as a healthy option.
  
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  The UK beef industry would benefit by adopting certain aspects of North American beef production. These include; greater consolidation of cattle numbers to increase economies of scale, greater integration of research and development on farm, better management of risk and volatility through hedging of all inputs as well as the beef price, incentivising the eating quality of beef by picture grading the rib-eye for marbling and yield, more innovative arrangements of cattle ownership to increase the availability of equity in primary production, use of real time on-line livestock auctions, use of systems management frameworks to improve on farm efficiencies.