Executive Director's Message

I am really delighted to be able to share some exciting news with you in this Connect; we have hired a new Regional Director for Latin America. This will enable us to engage much more closely in the initiatives emerging in a number of countries in the region, including Paraguay, Colombia and Mexico.

As time goes on I expect that list will get longer. When all the contracts are signed and delivered, I will certainly share this with our membership and more widely through a press release. The executive committee and the newly expanded team met in Denver last week and were able to make good progress on budgeting and activity planning for the year.

The other good news last week was the release of Australia's draft sustainability framework for public comment. While as you probably recall, there is no formal national roundtable in Australia, the group developing the framework took our Principles and Criteria into consideration and what they have produced is definitely interesting and worthy of our members comment. Visit Sustainable Australian Beef.com to read and comment on the Australian draft beef sustainability framework.

Carbon Sequestration a Positive Aspect of Beef Cattle Grazing Grasslands  
Donald Stotts, High Plains Journal | January 5, 2017
Beef cattle grazing on grass pastures might not be the first thing people think of when discussing the subject of combatting greenhouse gas emissions, but it is an agricultural practice providing significant dividends to the effort.

"Environmental as well as economic sustainability are key elements of best management practices for agriculture, as most people involved in agriculture are well aware they are stewards of the land," said Keith Owens, Oklahoma State University associate vice president for the university's statewide Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station system. "Air, water, soil; we pay attention to all of them."

Australia's Brahman Story Underlines Value of Research and Industry Collaboration
Professor Dave Swain, Beef Central | January 9, 2017
The great experiment of introducing Brahman bloodlines into Australia laid down the ideal model of research and industry collaboration that all fields of science can still learn from today, writes CQU's Professor Dave Swain in this cross-posting from The Conversation.

First Australian Beef Sustainability Framework Released for Public Comment
James Nason, Beef Central | January 11, 2017
What is sustainable beef production in Australia? For the first time, that question now has a clearly defined answer. After 12 months of work, including wide-ranging consultation with industry and the broader community, an 11-member Sustainability Steering Group has today released Australia's first Beef Sustainability Framework.

The draft document will be open for industry and public feedback via a new a mew website until the end of February -click here to view- with the final document to be formally launched in March.

Advances in North American Livestock Production Must be Adopted World Wide
Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Farmscape Online | January 12, 2017
An Air Quality Specialist with the University of California Davis, says North American advances in the environmental sustainability of livestock production must be shared with the rest of the world if animal agriculture is to survive.

"Sustainable Intensification: How to Satisfy the Rising Demand for Animal Protein without Depleting Natural Resources" was discussed yesterday as part of the 2017 Banff Pork Seminar.

Dr. Frank Mitloehner, a Professor and Air Quality Specialist with the Department of Animal Science at the University of California Davis, says agriculture has to become as efficient as possible, globally, with respect to how we produce animal protein.

This story keeps coming back, in this case one of the authors of the Chatham house report repeating the message. There is still no sustained consistent reaction from the beef industry on this; there urgently needs to be concerted effort to balance some of the inaccuracies and half-truths that are repeated in such articles, and to which the general public are being constantly exposed without ever hearing that there is another side to this discussion.
Curbing Meat Consumption and Putting the Bite on Climate Change  
Antony Forggatt, BRINK | January 2, 2017
The world's current appetite for meat is excessive and constitutes a pattern of over consumption that is neither healthy nor sustainable. A growing global population cannot converge around the levels of meat consumption seen in industrialized economies without huge social and environmental cost.

Global consumption of meat is expected to increase 76 percent by 2050. Consumption in emerging and developing economies is rising fast and shows no sign of slowing, while meat-eating in industrialized countries has plateaued at excessive levels. Income levels are driving the increase, putting more meat on the table in developing countries. Among industrialized countries, the average person consumes around twice the maximum amount recommended by health experts. In the United States, it's three times as much.

Beefbooster: Not Just About the Bulls
Western Producer (subscription) | January 3, 2016
Beefbooster CEO Jennifer Stewart-Smith says emotion doesn't belong in the process of selecting a bull. "While the pedigree is important, the data available for Beefbooster bulls simplifies selection decisions. We have reliable data that allows producers to select bulls that meet the specific needs of their ranch, and suits their management style."

This is how Beefbooster began. Ranchers were looking for a way to use the data they had started to collect to improve results and predictability in their herds.

Just a Bad Patch? Or Is the Cattle Sector in Denial?  
Alexis Kienlen, Alberta Farmer Express | January 3, 2017
The cattle industry needs to stop patting itself on the back and face an uncomfortable truth — its grand plan to create a bright new future isn't yielding results.

That's the view of Charlie Gracey, one of Canada's most renowned experts on the beef industry. And all you have to do is look at the shrinking number of cattle and ranchers, said the former manager of Canadian Cattlemen's Association and Ontario Beef Producers.

Since 2009, the Canadian beef herd (total cows and calves) has declined by more than a million animals. It has also lost about 20 per cent of its producers in recent years."There's been an amazing cutback, and there's been very little comment about it," said Gracey. Every industry needs new blood and if the cattle sector wants to attract and retain young producers, it "has to create the conditions to make the industry profitable," he said.

Missing Facts in R–CALF, Tomi Lahren Videos  
Sean Cummins, ArgriLand | December 24, 2016
Social media is buzzing with a handful of videos featuring a popular, conservative news host interviewing the spokesman of a cattle organization in an effort to "make the American ranch community great again."

Tomi Lahren, a television host for the cable network TheBlaze, hosted Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) CEO Bill Bullard on her program to discuss issues important to American beef producers. An initial 15-minute interview netted more than a half million views, while a shorter wrap up called "Final Thoughts with Tomi" has almost 2.6 million views. The two talked about the increasing market consolidation within the beef industry in the first segment.