Beef research funding could be a casualty of fewer cattle going to market, Alberta’s decision to make the national checkoff voluntary and less federal money than expected.
Canfax research manager Andrea Brocklebank said meaningful research takes several years to complete, and funding has to be in place to see it through.
“A voluntary national checkoff could substantially hinder research,” she told a Canadian Cattlemen’s Association committee meeting in Regina earlier this month.
Five cents of the $1 checkoff goes to research in most provinces, although it is 10 cents in Alberta and Saskatchewan, home to the two largest herds.
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Cattle marketings are expected to be down over the next three or four years, Brocklebank said, and when the industry turns around and enters the expansion phase, they will drop even more.
That and the possibility of losing some of Alberta’s contribution make it difficult to predict how much will be available to leverage other funds.
She said the industry was working under proposed terms of nine-to-one leverage as the beef research component of the Growing Forward strategy, also known as the beef science cluster, was developed over the past year.
For every dollar the industry contributed, Ottawa would contribute nine.
“The nine-to-one was seen as very positive,” Brocklebank said in an interview.
But when the program was announced this past May, the ratio had dropped to three-to-one.
“There is concern because we know we’ve typically been able to leverage at a greater level historically,” she said.
“The industry is in a lot of turmoil right now. Research is critical to moving forward.”
One concern is the loss of researchers. Brocklebank said key federal researchers in meat quality, food safety and forage production are near retirement or retiring.
The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC), which administers the check-off money used for research, wants to work with the federal government to set priorities and develop a long-term national beef strategy.
BCRC is the largest funder, but more than 30 organizations spend money on research, she said.
Commitment needed
A fragmented approach with inconsistent priorities has hurt research efforts in the past, she added, which is why the industry continues to try to negotiate a more meaningful commitment to national research.
“We’re putting all of our money on the table,” she said.
During federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz’s question-and-answer session with CCA del-egates, Alberta delegate Rob Somerville asked if the government would consider a higher ratio.
“We are serious about the science cluster concept, but is the government serious?” Somerville said.
Ritz replied that it is, but he did not address the issue of a higher ratio.
Brocklebank said she hopes to hear soon if the beef science cluster application has been approved. She noted that Growing Forward ends in 2013 and a year has already been lost due to delays in announcing it. At best, a three-year study could be initiated now.
Meanwhile, research money is going toward a beef quality audit, the first since 1999.
Mark Klassen, CCA’s manager of technical issues, said the industry has changed significantly since the last audit. For example, he said, “there were very few branded programs then and now there are lots.”
The packing plant component of the audit is expected to start in winter.
