Edmonton…Consumers expect quality and consistency when they order lamb at a restaurant or buy it at the grocery store. Ensuring that market demand is the backdrop for a Lamb Traceability Pilot, implemented with the assistance of $737,000 from the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA).
ALMA provided funding for the third year of the Lamb Traceability Pilot, an integral part of an industry plan to implement a working traceability system in Alberta.
“We would have never been able to complete year three of the pilot without funding from ALMA,” says Norine Moore, producer and Chair, Alberta Lamb Producers. “The pilot puts Alberta at the forefront and at least two years ahead of all the other provinces in traceability and the flock information management that comes as a result.”
Sue Hosford, project manager, agrees.
“The Lamb Traceability Pilot will advance the industry by electronically tracking the animals from birth to slaughter. This is the first time producers will be able to get back individual carcass information electronically so they can fine tune quality to what markets want.”
The pilot will help develop the capability of Alberta sheep farms and feedlots to implement and use radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems and technology. The pilot project focused on developing complete electronic management systems, on farms and at a key processor. The electronic system provides individual animal identification, animal recording and tracking, and management recording and reports (genetics, flock health, veterinary tracking and shipping). With production and carcass data producers can fine-tune lamb quality to meet specific market needs.
“Sunterra has set up software in the processing plant that sends carcass data to the SheepCentral website. Producers can go on website and retrieve the data,” says Moore. “The data will help producers know which ewes are producing the types of carcasses their markets want.”
“It’s important for ALMA to provide funding for a Lamb Traceability Pilot because industry needs to begin implementing the available resources and technology,” says Miles Driedger, lamb producer. “Implementation will help create the growth the industry needs to remain competitive and viable.”
Working traceability systems are based on a number of key components. Each component is essential, must work together, and must be developed in parallel to meet the national mandatory traceability target date of 2011.
The pilot provides industry with demonstrations and training to increase the capacity of the industry to incorporate new technology to implement traceability and develop flock management systems.
“The funding is important because we need to first find out how traceability is going to work properly at the farm level,” says Martin Kaiser, producer. “The process of implementing the technology and learning how it works costs money because it is a trial and error process.”
The first two years of the pilot project have been very well received by the lamb industry. The pilot is also a model for a national sheep traceability pilot conducted by the Canadian Sheep Federation.
“The pilot project raises the skill and technical level of those in the lamb industry, which raises the bar for the entire industry,” says Hosford.
Driedger agrees.
“The pilot provides a vast amount of data that can be applied to production practices. Producers can now track feed and production costs and change production practices accordingly which makes it possible to manage larger flocks more efficiently,” he said.
ALMA brings ideas, information and investment to the livestock and meat industry. It has a $30-million suite of programs aimed at helping move the industry forward. Its five programs include: international market development; value-added market development; automation and lean manufacturing; business and product development; research and development; industry development; and on-farm technology adaptation. For more information on ALMA, visit www.alma.alberta.ca.