Long sought changes to the bison carcass grading system have come into effect.
Since the summer of 2005, the Canadian Bison Association has been spearheading a lobbying effort to put slower-growing bison heifers on an equal footing with bulls.
Under the old regulations, heifers were often downgraded into the C grade, which cost producers up to $300 per animal.
“With the new grading system in place, a large percentage of those animals should fall into the A grades without compromising the quality for the consumer,” said association president Mark Silzer. “We feel it is a beneficial change that will allow producers to get more money out of the market.”
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As well, C grade carcasses were not eligible for the European market, which has set an annual import quota of 11,500 tonnes for only grade A meat.
In 2005, only 1,100 tonnes of bison meat were shipped to Europe, according to an analysis posted on the Canada Gazette website along with the changes to the Canada Agricultural Products Act.
The Canadian bison grading system, which in the early 1990s used a system based on beef grading, was officially introduced in 1995. At that time, because the breeding population was still growing, animals going to slaughter were primarily bulls.
However, as the bison population grew, more heifers were killed. Since heifers take longer to reach market weight, carcasses were often downgraded into the C category because of their age.
However, studies at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lacombe, Alta., found that although the C grade carcasses were older, there was no difference in quality between the C and A grades.
Along with the elimination of the C1 and C2 grades for intermediate aged carcasses, the changes will also see an increase in the minimum fat requirement for A1 grade bison from one to two millimetres, and the creation of a Canada B3 grade for young carcasses with deficient muscling.
The maximum fat thickness for the A3 grade will be set at 18 mm, and a new grade, A4, will cover carcasses exceeding the new limit.
Rocco Verelli of Northfork Canadian Bison Ranch in Lasalle, Que., said the grading changes would benefit the industry by allowing more heifers to qualify for export to the European Union.
“We couldn’t bring animals in the C grade into Europe and usually the animals in the C grade were almost like the As,” he said.
“So people were getting penalized for that. I think it’s great because it will open up the market for more animals.”
Silzer said the changes would likely encourage the development of more slaughter capacity in Canada. Because the United States has no grading system for bison, many producers had been shipping heifers south to avoid the costly discounts that they faced under the Canadian regulations, he added.
The cost of shipping an animal south depends on location, he said, but the freight and veterinary inspection bill could be $60 to $80 per head.
