Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Northern Ireland and Ireland in Photos

Morning Star, Belfast member of Taste of Ulster and raise their own beef for the restaurant.

Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland

Co. Cork

Champion Irish Angus Bull Calf, Piltown

Co. Kilkenny at Delaney's

The view from the lookout near Kilkenny.

ICBF - Ireland



I met with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation on Friday of last week to learn more about what specifically they do and their role in agriculture in Ireland.  As it turned out I also had an excellent tour of the area where they are located as I got very lost driving to the meeting.  Their office is in Bandon, County Cork in the south west part of Ireland. From their website “ICBF exists to benefit our farmers, our agri-food industry and our wider communities through genetic gain. We do this by the application of science and technology to ensure that our farmers and industry make the most profitable and sustainable decisions, through the use of the services provided from the ICBF cattle breeding database.”  They work in both beef and dairy and are an interesting model.  

The centre of their operation is their database.  Like everything else right now, the more data you have the better and this organization has it all.  Also taken from their website is this graphic which represents the data flow that they use.  They use data points from all other organizations to provide a service that helps steer genetic progress and to help individual producers excel.


At first I had to think “Wow! they really have this data sharing concept down in Ireland” then after talking to people there realized that because of the high level of government involvement in agriculture and the subsequent regulations imposed on them, much of this data is mandatory and then can easily be shared.  Producers when they sign up are asked for authorized the sharing of the data with AI companies for example and producers do pay for the ICBF service (performance reports and consulting assistance).    

Having all the data from all the breeds allows ICBF to also do a number of benchmarking studies and offers the industry Across Breed Genetic Evaluations.  For an example of what their reports look like, you can view a bull on their site and can see their Euro Star ranking system that works within breed as well as across breeds. 

They also assist in the administration of a number of government funding programs which are linked to increased data collection for their database. Often to encourage data submission there is a financial incentive.  Currently there is also a program running where livestock producers participate in discussion groups with other producers in their area to discuss issues and learn from each other.  This has been very successful so far and I have come across this in other countries as well.  From the outside looking in, it appears to be a great mentoring opportunity for all involved.  I hope to see something like this happening in Canada in the near future.  


With  meetings such as this I always seem to come away with ideas and inspiration this meeting with ICBF was no different.  I hope to continue to observe what they are doing and to learn from them in the future as well.  

Monday, August 25, 2014

Ireland & Northern Ireland Overview

For 8 days I have toured Northern Ireland and Ireland.  1905 km on the rental car.   Fond memories, new places and great people.  If you flip back to the starting posts on this blog you will see the love affair that I have with Ireland that started last year while my friend Lisa and I were travelling here.  This country is warm, inviting, laid back and a place that I plan to visit again very soon.  The people here are what really puts the experience over the top and I have always had a friendly greeting, smile and offers for assistance whenever I needed it here (and a few times when I was perfectly fine on my own)


I learned some very interesting things this week.  Ireland is actually the 4th largest beef exporting country in the world; the majority of their product going into other EU countries.  The herds on average are small but there are 60,000 beef producers in the Country, it adds up quick.  The national herd from what I have seen is made up of Charolais, Simmental, Limousin with a splash of British Breed influence mixed in.  Angus cross Holstein also were very popular.  

Fertility was the issue that everyone I talked to seemed most concerned with but progressive young farmers are culling hard for it and ensuring that it is top of mind.  I met with a lady named Lisa from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation in Bandon, Co. Cork, Ireland the other day.  They are taking special note of it as well and working with producers to address the issue.  The ICBF focuses on genetic improvement to benefit farmers, agri-food industries and the wider community.  They are the keeper of all the data for dairy and beef production in Ireland.  I will post more on them next time.  


I have visited beef and dairy producers, auction markets, industry organizations, marketing groups, branded beef programs and a processor.  Covered the island almost from the far north down to the south west.  It has been a great experience and I urge everyone to visit Ireland at least once.  

Sunday, August 17, 2014

United Kingdom Part 1

I have spent the last 6 days travelling around Britain and my trip has taken me over many. many miles along motorways and back lanes.  I have visited with producers, attended an local fair and spent a considerable amount of time in grocery stores. I have tasted the Gold Award winner of England’s Best Burger Challenge and had the best fish & chips I’ve ever tasted.  All in, it has been a wonderful week.  The United Kingdom for me has been a country of contradictions which makes it, its own unique self.  

Also, I have been able to reflect on the similarities between the beef industry here and our Canadian system as well as contrast the strengths and weaknesses of both.  The similarities have been slightly startling.  The biggest commonality we share is the inability to have a strong marketing presence internationally.  I have been toying with a few ideas in my head as to why this happens in Canada.  After talking to some people this week I believe we share the exact same problem.  For years both Canada and the Untied Kingdom have had a large, affluent customer base for their meat exports right at their doorstep.  While Canada enjoys geographical proximity to the United States of America, the UK has Western Europe just across the channel.  Both markets take a lot of meat products and neither exporting country has to work very hard to fill the need.  

I am a strong believer that this will change very shortly and was pleased to find someone with a similar opinion in the United Kingdom.  Canada will need to do a better job of branding ourselves internationally if we want to be recognized as an exporter of quality, premium beef.  I believe the first step starts at home. There has been much progress made by Canada Beef through the Canadian Beef Advantage and I applaud the work done thus far.  I don’t think we can stop however until all meat sold domestically and internationally is branded with the Canadian beef logo.  It was amazing to see all British beef marked with their official designation.  The mark is exactly the same across all meat products as well which makes it easy for consumers to identify Canadian product.  Australia has a very similar system and I hope one day in the near future, Canada’s product will be similarly branded with the red maple leaf.  


This trip so far has reinforced for me the need for the Canadian beef industry to work together as when one sector succeeds we all succeed.  We are headed in the right direction and I am confident that we will get there sooner rather than later.

I am now off to Northern Ireland and Ireland for the next week.  More updates and photos to come soon.  

Agricultural Societies Alive & Well

I rearranged my schedule this week to catch the Okehampton Agricultural Fair in the South West part of the UK.  This one day event was a sight to see and I am delighted that I took the time to visit it.  Agriculture is alive and well in this part of the country and it was refreshing to see the community coming together to celebrate it.  After the hectic traffic and congestion that I have faced in other parts of the country, I was relieved to slow down for a day.  There was no midway to be found and I wish that Agiricultural Societies at home could have this type of success without the midway and overly commercial aspects that most fairs have adopted.  Even as the rain continued to pour down sporadically all day, it didn’t dampen the festivities or affect the competitions one bit.  

The cattle show was a small component of the day and by my estimation there were far more sheep entries than cattle (beef and dairy combined).  Exhibitors from the local area had however brought out their best Galloway, Limousin, South Devon, Blond Devon and Belgium Blue cattle.  You may wish to reread that list as I expect you are thinking I forgot a few breeds.  But, you have read it correctly there were no Angus or Hereford cattle at the show.  A bit surprising to me as we were mere hours from the birth place of both breeds.  The big framed Contintenal cattle were obvious the kings of this region.  Being in the Devon region I was not surprised to see the strong showing of Devon cattle there but have never been to a show where there wasn’t at least a handful of Angus.  

The display was impressive.  A lot of work went into the set up of those fairgrounds for a one day show.  I could compare the displays to that of Lindsay Fair (at least back 15 years ago) that is not taking the midway and demo/tractor pull into effect.  Much grander than anything we ever put on in Oakwood.  As I walked around I couldn’t help but think that perhaps the Oakwood Fair could have been saved if the community had rallied around it more and the ever growing Lindsay Exhibition wasn’t right next door.  (My apologies to my Western Canadian readers who may not understand my Ontario references)


The show went on through the pounding rain and I expect the tent selling Wellington boots was a hot spot through out the day.  It was a prime example of community spirit where you could tell friends were getting together and neighbours were catching up.  Amid all that as an outsider I still felt right at home, it was a pleasure to take in and a great day playing in the mud.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Kazakhstan



While it was work that took me to Kazakhstan last week, I am sure some of what I saw and learned there will sneak into my Nuffield report.  It is a beautiful country and I hope to go back again.

Medeo- World's highest skating rink in the mountains outside of Almaty

The cable car up to the ski hill from the top of the dam outside of Almaty.


The countryside a few hours north of Almaty, it ended up hitting 37 C on this day. 
The cattle auction near Kostanay during the Opening Ceremony.

The video I shot of the first lot selling is available on Youtube.


Astana, the new capital city.