Canadian Beef Breeds Council
The Canadian Beef Breeds Council’s (CBBC) mandate is to:
- support the Canadian seedstock sector by developing partnerships that advance genetic improvement, research extension services, information dissemination and our role in Canada’s National Beef Strategy;
- promote Canadian beef cattle genetics both domestically and internationally by identifying market opportunities and facilitating market development; and
- advocate on behalf of the Canadian seedstock sector for effective policy, meaningful market access and enhanced competitiveness
The awareness of the role that beef cattle genetics and CBBC’s members play in sustainable beef production has increased substantially in recent years. Throughout 2023 CBBC continued to focus on building collaborative partnerships both within the seedstock sector and across the entire beef production chain to advance our vision of being a world leader in developing profitable and sustainable beef cattle genetics.
Market Development for Beef Cattle Genetics
Over the past year, CBBC has seen its investment in increased industry engagement, communications and market development reap tangible results for our members and the sector. There is no doubt that Canadian beef cattle genetics are recognized as the best in the world and interest in Canadian genetics from buyers around the world continues to increase as a result but there definitely has been an increased awareness of the importance of genetic selection to beef production and interest better understanding genetic innovations and the role of data driven genetic decisions in the success of beef businesses.
CBBC is pleased to continue to be able to provide support to our members to undertake critical market development activities through the ongoing commitment and support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) through the AgriMarketing Program (AMP). This will ensure CBBC and our members can continue to capture and build upon the aggressive goals of our members and Canadian breeders to expand critical market opportunities for Canadian beef cattle genetics around the globe through March 2026.
Canadian Beef Improvement Network
One of the foremost ways that CBBC has worked to elevate the perception of the seedstock sector is through the development of the Canadian Beef Improvement Network (CBIN). The CBIN initiative remains a top priority for CBBC and our members are steadfast in their commitment to advancing the goals and vision of CBIN which have remain consistent. When we committed to lead this initiative as an organization, we recognized that this was a transformational undertaking for the Canadian beef industry and acknowledged how challenging it would be and that it required a long-term responsibility to truly advance collaboration, data sharing and the utilization of genetic data across the entire Canadian beef production chain. CBIN has advanced collaboration and the role of genetic data further than any initiative in the past but that being said there have been some unpredictable challenges that have tested the fortitude of all those involved. For CBBC and our members these challenges have only strengthened our commitment to delivering value to cattle producers in Canada through access to genetic data and analytics that can inform their decision making processes.
Through the considerable investments of our members and funding partners we have made considerable progress on the collaborative development of a “Made in Canada”, industry-owned, data registry portal which will be offered for use to members in 2024 and will connect to the larger data repository that links critical genetic data with production data to assist commercial cattle producers in their genetic selection decisions. These broader data linkages are essential to capture increased value for commercial cattle producers. Beta pilot projects are underway to demonstrate the value that can be created when access to genetic data is linked to performance information across the production chain. This is a monumental undertaking that has required steadfast commitment to the collaborative process but CBBC and our members are excited to begin to see the results of our hardwork and investments in the coming year.
Change is hard within any industry and especially so in a traditionally independent industry such as beef cattle production. The disruption that the leadership and partners of CBBC have created has not always been met with a warm reception but that has not deterred the leadership from continuing to work to achieve tangible outcomes for Canadian beef cattle breeders and producers. CBBC membership and collaborative partnerships continue to increase and we will remain focused on working with those who believe in the importance of collaboration and the value of data-driven genetic advancements in beef production to capture increased value.
The coming year represents 30 years since the creation of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council and as we enter our 30th year of operations we will not only be celebrating our past achievements but working with our members and partners to leverage collaborative resources to capture the substantial opportunities that we believe the future holds for Canadian beef cattle genetics both domestically and internationally. More than ever CBBC is looked to as a leader in the Canadian beef industry and we will continue to work to represent our members and partners as effectively and efficiently as possible to assist in securing a sustainable future for Canadian beef cattle breeders and producers.