The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) and the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) issued a formal statement about future research spending cuts announced last month.

Of the seven locations eventually slated for closure, three involve cattle and forage research. They are Lacombe, Alberta, as well as Quebec City and Nappan in Nova Scotia.

The CCA says over the past decade, beef producers have increased research contributions by over 600 per cent—viewing research as an investment in future economic growth and competitiveness. This is particularly important in the areas of food safety, carcass quality and grading, as well as forage breeding and management.

CCA President Tyler Fulton says when research capacity is lost, it is not quickly rebuilt. He warns cattle producers and the public will pay the price for years and even decades.

In Western Canada, extensive research work at the Lacombe Research Centre has been done on extended grazing practices to cut winter feeding costs. Lacombe is also home to the country’s meat science program. The BCRC says research developing instrument grading technology is currently in use world-wide. Dr. Oscar Lopez-Campos at Lacombe has examined methods to go beyond simple “yield grade” estimates and has developed ways to fabricate individual beef carcasses to optimize the value of the cuts in each carcass.

BCRC Chair Dean Manning says efficiency should mean smarter co-ordination of a national network, not the erosion of irreplaceable expertise.

The CCA the following needs to occur if the spending cuts remain as announced:

-That the national carcass quality and grading research programs be transferred from Lacombe to another institution such as the University of Guelph, which has a federally inspected abattoir.

-That the food safety research at Lacombe be transferred to the Ag Canada Lethbridge Research Centre.

-If Ag Canada chooses to cancel any projects midway through their complete, that all investments made by cattle producers be refunded.

The CCA and Beef Cattle Research Council says it will work with Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald to ensure critical research capacity is preserved.

You can view the entire CCA news release here.