The BC Cattlemen’s Association is welcoming this week’s announcement of 12 million dollars in funding from the federal government.
General Manager Kevin Boone says it for valuable research and technology in the beef sector.
He says this money is very much focused on the climate and the environment to help reduce their carbon footprint, but Boone says it also helps them understand what that really is.
” For example, in the past we’ve seen research come out about how terrible our cows are because they burp and fart and get rid of methane. But most of that research was done in a different climate and what we find when we do it here at home is that our footprint here in Canada is much less than where a lot of these were done, so it shows that Canada is a really good environment to be able to be producing cattle.”
Boone says this is the fourth installment of funding that dates back about 15 years.
He says this funding has also allowed them to invest in new technologies in the past.
“We’ve got funding from this to work towards developing virtual fencing, so a collar that we can put on our cows that trains them similar to a dog collar where the perimeters are so we may not have to invest so much in fencing in the future, and we’ll be able to do exclusionary fencing where we’ll be able to keep them out of Riparian areas and things like that.”
Boone says it’s not necessarily these big things that are going to change the world, but they’re chipping away at the little things to make a big impact at the end.
He says the cattle industry makes a contribution as well.
“With this 12.1 million dollar investment by the federal government our industry will have to invest 9.6 million, so the total amount that will be invested in this science cluster and development is going to be about 21.7 million dollars over 5 years time, so it’s 4 or 5 million dollars a year that we will be putting towards research and science.”
Without federal help, Boone says they just wouldn’t be able to afford some of the bigger projects that they do.
He says most of this is applied research for the entire country, including ranchers in the Cariboo.
“Absolutely, and they could do research projects, in fact they may have applied for in the past. There are smaller institutions and groups, BC Cattlemen have applied, Cariboo Cattlemen could apply for something if they have a worthy research project that’s going on, and this one is a lot to do with climate and environment and adaptation to where our climate is headed and changing and stuff like that, so it is very much applicable and available to them in the Cariboo or anywhere else.”
Boone says about 47 percent of what we produce in Canada for beef ends up in some other country at some point.
He says if Canada becomes, and is, one of the leaders in environmental sustainability with cattle production, there will be more of a demand from other countries to use our beef.
Boone says that’s what this investment is all about.
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