Dear GRSB Member,

We are pleased to welcome several new members to GRSB, and have featured each of them in the column of the right. Thank you all for joining and we look forward to working with you.  To all of our existing members I would like to call again for your news, particularly as it relates to sustainability actions you are involved with.

We are looking forward to next week's meeting of the Definition Committee in Calgary, and to making the next steps towards finalising our Principles and Criteria.

Thanks,


Ruaraidh


Ruaraidh Petre
Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef
Executive Director 

 


Sustainability News


Industry Leaders Establish Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

Dateline: 06/10/14, Source: Canadian Cattlemen's Association

Leaders from across various industries have come together to form the first Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB). With over 68,500 beef farms contributing more than $33 billion to Canada's economy and conserving over 50 million acres of Canada's environmentally significant grasslands, the Roundtable aims to be a leader in the continuous improvement and sustainability of the beef value chain. Fundamental to the success of the Roundtable will be science-based information, multi-stakeholder engagement, communication and collaboration.


Selling the Sustainable Story

Dateline: 06/10/14, Source: By Matthew Cawood, The Land

When Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and importers recognised an American trend towards grass-fed beef a few years ago, they set in place initiatives that have made Australian grass-fed one of the fastest-growing niche markets in the United States.

Australian grass-fed beef is now stocked across about 3000 stores owned by 10 retail chains, MLA North America regional manager David Pietsch reports, and the food service sector is rapidly picking up on consumer demand for the product.


Burdekin Graziers Beef's Best

Dateline: 06/09/14, Source: By Inga Stunzner, Queenlsand Country Life

Burdekin graziers Barry and Leanne O'Sullivan won the rural section at the Premier's Sustainability Awards on Friday, May 31, for their leadership and innovation in the beef industry and commitment to the grazing best management practice (BMP) program.

The award, sponsored by Australian Country Choice and Coles, recognises the achievements of Queensland producers who have developed a sustainable agricultural business while demonstrating improved environmental and on-farm performance.


Prosecutor Fights Beef Industry in War on Amazon Deforestation

Dateline: 06/11/14, Source: By Jeff Tollefson, Bloomberg News

The morning after I landed in the Brazilian state of Pará, I joined a pair of state government officials heading to an event in a municipality of Terra Alta, located 70 miles inland from the capital of Belém. It turned out they were honored guests, and as we approached we discovered that a parade was literally waiting for them on the side of the road before rolling into town. A man was shooting fireworks out the back of one truck, and a stack of concert speakers belted music out of another.

The occasion? Several dozen properties were formally being entered into the new "rural environmental registry," and the local government was using the occasion to persuade more landowners to register their land and protect their remaining forests.


Beef Sustainability on Menu at AgForce 360 Forum

Dateline: 06/16/14, Source: Beef Central

Beef industry sustainability and the growing influence of consumer expectation, two of the most contentious subjects currently before the agricultural sector, will feature at the AgForce 360 Series Roma event on 25 June.


Family Farms Are Viable with Sustainable Intensification, Says Sir Gordon Conway

Dateline: 06/09/14, Source: By Stephanie Brittain, Imperial College London News

Today, family farming – crop, livestock, forestry and fishery production that is managed, operated and laboured by both men and women's families – still predominates in both developing and developed countries. Globally, about 1.5 million people are part of family farms and of the 525 million farms worldwide, 85% are considered small or no larger than 2 hectares.


Squaretable 'Resets' Beef Course

Dateline: 05/29/14, Source: By Matthew Cawood, The Land

The beef industry hit "reset" on the fractious beef sustainability debate last week, regrouping around an internally-driven sustainability initiative driven by the Red Meat Advisory Council (RMAC).

A "squaretable" meeting of beef industry representatives in Brisbane on Friday agreed that sending the right sustainability message to Australia's global beef markets is imperative, and that the process should be driven from within Australia by industry. RMAC is now charged with assembling a taskforce to develop a "sustainability framework" to promote the industry's credentials globally.


Outcome Measures Drive Profitability, Sustainable Practices Link

Dateline: 06/10/14, Source: The Meat Site

Farmers are seeing the value of switching to outcome measures to increase profitability as part of building on their sustainable farming practices.

"Farmers are business focused – they are constantly looking for efficiencies that can increase their profitability and overall sustainability of their business. To do that, they need to identify aspects in their operation that can be improved," Ruth Layton, a Veterinary Director within the Sustainability Science Division of Benchmark Holdings plc – a sustainable food chain business with practical research farming operations in the UK and Brazil. ullamco.


Video: Sara Place on Beef Sustainability

Dateline: 05/27/14, Source: SunUpTV, Oklahoma State University

Sara Place has an overview of the practice of sustainable agriculture. See Video HERE.


Members in the News


McDonald's Canada Tours Jumping Pound Cattle Ranch

Dateline: 06/12/14, Source; By Kathryn McMackin, The Cochrane Eagle

Tuesday (June 10) marked the official opening of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB), which will open up the lines of communication between multiple stakeholders to advance economic, social and environmental sustainability of Canadian beef product.

"We have never worked this closely with stakeholders in the past," said Fawn Jackson, manager of environment and sustainability for The Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA). The CCA is a member of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, which Jackson said provides a base foundation about sustainable beef.

          McDonald's Canada representatives recently took a tour of Copithorne-Barnes' ranch in Jumping Pound. The restaurant is looking to begin sourcing only verifiable sustainable beef in 2016.

"We are currently working with the Canadian Cattlemen's Association and other industry stakeholders towards an agreement on a pilot project with the goal of advancing the ongoing improvement in the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the Canadian beef value chain," said a media statement from McDonald's Canada. "Beef is important to Canadians, and we are extremely proud to work with the industry around sustainability."


Cargill Chief Executive Discusses Role of Responsible Supply Chains in Future Food Production at Fortune Brainstorm Green

Dateline: 05/20/14, Source: PR Newswire

Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Green 2014 conference, Cargill President and Chief Executive Officer David MacLennan highlighted complexities and tradeoffs involved in producing more food, more sustainably as a growing global population becomes more urban and more prosperous. MacLennan commented on the implications of prices, changing diets and climate change on the future of food and cited some of the collaborative efforts in which Cargill is involved to address challenges inherent in producing food sustainably.


JBS Pushes Into Value-Added, Premium Lamb Segment

Dateline: 06/04/14, Source: By Jon Condon, Beef Central

Woolworths customers in Victoria and southern NSW will this week have access to a new range of value-added, MSA-graded, free-range grass fed lamb products that have been designed and developed by JBS Australia, and produced out of the company's southern region plants in Victoria and Tasmania.


Checkoff Looks at Millennial Consumers' Demand for Beef

Dateline: Archived, Source: High Plains Journal

For the beef checkoff, there are two important goals in the Beef Industry Long Range Plan around which key elements of the program are builtundefinedbuilding beef demand and protecting beef's image.

The checkoff conducted a study in late 2013 to better understand their target audience overall. This research included focus groups among ‘mature millennials' (ages 25 to 34 years) to learn more about what really defines these consumers in a face-face setting, along with a survey of 1,250 from this group through online research to gain a perspective on the millennial generation versus non-millennials.

So what did the study find? Millennials eat beef a couple times a week, which is not different than non-millennials, and their reasons for choosing beef are also the same; most, regardless of generation, want a great-tasting meal, value and a food they feel confident preparing.




Our Members

 

         

 

 

 

To read the entire source article, click on the link in the headline.

Welcome to the Table!


We Welcome These Newest Members to the Roundtable

Dateline: June 2014

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd

Constituency: Producer

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd is the farmer-owned industry organization representing New Zealand's sheep and beef farmers. They share their name and brand with Beef + Lamb New Zealand Inc, which is responsible for promoting beef and lamb in the New Zealand market.


INALCA S.p.A.

Constituency: Commerce & Processing

With headquarters in Modena, Italy, INALCA S.p.A., the first national company in the beef production sector, carries out integrated industrial activities covering all working and transformation processes and is present on all main international markets.

As one of the main European beef processors, it produces and sells a complete range of beef products.


Snappy Jack Cattle Company

Constituency: Producer

Established in 2000 in Broadview, MT, Snappy Jack Cattle Company utilizes a proprietary integrated cattle selection, management and marketing program by BeefTek, Inc. to develop consistently uniform beef production.


United Producers, Inc.

Constituency: Observing Organization

As a farmer-owned and operated livestock cooperative in Columbus, OH, United Producers Inc. provides livestock marketing, financial and risk management services to the agriculture community in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. It services 45,000 members in the region.


Where Food Comes From

Constituency: Commerce & Processing

Located in Castle Rock, CO, Where Food Comes From® (d.b.a. IMI Global) is a provider of third-party identification, verification and traceability solutions for the livestock and agricultural industries. The Company supports more than 6,000 ranchers, feed yards, meatpackers, food retailers and restaurants with a wide range of solutions which annually verifies marketing claims for approximately one half of all U.S. beef exports.


Members in the News


Walmart: The Corporate Empire's Big Step for Sustainability

Dateline: 05/22/14, Source: By Peter Seligmann, The Guardian

Walmart has a big responsibility. As the world's largest corporation, with more than two million employees, there's no denying its tremendous power. It operates over 11,000 stores in 27 countries, and millions of people depend on income from products that they sell to the company.

According to 2012 numbers, if Walmart were a country, it would be the 26th-largest economy in the world. And now, slowly but surely, sustainability is becoming part of its DNA. The company is now working with its 100,000 suppliers to reduce their environmental impact and ensure their commitment to the cause of long term sustainability


American Grassfed Association Ranch Day to Feature Allan Savory

Source: AGA Website

American Grassfed Association, in collaboration with Savory Institute, will hold a ranch day on June 23, 2014 at Flying B Bar Ranch near Denver. For more about the day, click HERE. For more information on Allan Savory and other featured speakers, click HERE. For Ticket information, click HERE.


Maligned Beef Product Springing Back

Dateline: 06/14/14, Source: By Matt Olberding, Lincoln Journal Star

A ground beef product derided by critics as "pink slime" and pulled from most grocery shelves two years ago is making a comeback.

Mike Martin, director of communications for Cargill, said the company has around 400 customers for the product, which is made from beef trimmings that have been separated from fat and treated with ammonia or citric acid to kill pathogens. That's more customers than Cargill had before the 2012 controversy, but the amount of product they are buying is considerably less than before, Martin said.


Funding to Boost Beef Genomics Research and Beef Industry

Dateline: 06/03/14, Source: Food in Canada

The Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA) invested $5 million, which Genome Alberta will administer. Some of the projects that will share the funds include those that will demonstrate the use of genomics-based tools to determine how the livestock industry can raise animals that are productive in specific environments and conditions.

"Through this funding, ALMA is ensuring that our producers will be able to access world-class scientific research and technologies that can help them compete in the global food marketplace," said Verlyn Olson, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.


Aus Beef's Dutch Champion

Dateline: 06/08/14, Source: By Matthew Cawood, Queensland Country Life

Australian beef has a Dutch champion: meat importer and wholesaler Jan Zandbergen, which has developed the "1788" brand wholly dedicated to selling Australian grainfed beef. The brand was devised to better position Australian meat against beef from the United States, which has long held a privileged place in European affections.

"If you put US beef side by side with Australian beef, there is very little difference in taste, but nine times out of 10 Europeans will choose the US beef because of emotional attachment," said Marco de Kleer, Jan Zandberg's sales manager.


Beef + Lamb NZ Welcomes Primary Sector Future Capability Report

Dateline: 06/06/14, Source: Voxy

Beef + Lamb New Zealand says it's important to have an understanding of the sector's workforce requirements, to be well placed to take full advantage of the opportunities ahead.

The Minister for Primary Industries, Hon Nathan Guy, has today launched the ‘Future capability needs for primary industries in New Zealand' report that forecasts the future workforce needs of the primary industries. The report says that for red meat and wool, the challenge will be in training and retaining people with market and product-oriented skills as well as cultural and language capabilities. This is because over 90 per cent of the sheepmeat and beef produced in New Zealand is exported to overseas markets.


US Needs Our Beef

Dateline: 06/07/14, By Matthew Cawood, The Land

America's need for imported beef should remain strong for at least two years, and possibly four to five years as the country's beef industry struggles to recover in the face of persistent drought.


"In fact, if anything, our reliance on imported beef will increase," said Rabobank's Saint Louis-based vice president for animal proteins, Don Close, who is touring Queensland this week. "It will increase because we have more and more beef consumption in the form of ground beef and once the cow supply stops, we will have an even shorter supply of lean beef for blending."


McDonald's CEO: 'We Will Support' A Minimum Wage Hike

Dateline: 06/04/14, Source: By Mark Gongloff, The Huffington Post

McDonald's CEO Don Thompson recently suggested his company would support a bill, proposed by President Barack Obama, raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25.


News We Can Use


If you have news to share with the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef membership, please send it to polly.welden@grsbeef.org


Unsubscribe
Copyright © 2014 Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef
Administrative Offices: 13570 Meadowgrass Drive, Suite 201
Colorado Springs, CO 80921 USA

1-719-355-2935 (Telephone) 1-719-538-8847 (Facsimile)}.
All rights reserved.
Contact email: admin@grsbeef.org

You are receiving this message as a benefit of membership to the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef