Thank you.
Hello, I'm Andrea Brocklebank, the Executive Director of the Beef Cattle Research Council, Canada's national industry beef research funding agency. It is responsible for the successful delivery of the first and second beef science cluster. I am pleased to be here today to speak about the role of innovation in our industry.
In 2012 the Canadian cattle industry contributed approximately $26 billion to Canada's GDP. The industry has tremendous opportunities due to continued growth in global beef demand and record high beef and cattle prices. At the same time, our industry faces increased production costs and increased competition for land, water, and labour resources from other expanding agriculture sectors. These opportunities and challenges are expected to remain for the foreseeable future.
Innovation is crucial to ensure that Canada's beef industry successfully addresses these challenges. Innovation allows us to use limited resources more efficiently, while continuing to be a global leader in beef quality and safety. The benefits of research go far beyond simple productivity improvements. Research also supports the development of science-based regulations and trade agreements. It is critical to maintaining consumer confidence in our beef production system and the safety, quality, and nutritional attributes of the product we produce.
These additional benefits of research—that is, sound policy, regulation, consumer confidence, and international trade—provide broad benefits not only for industry, but also society as a whole. Consequently, research funding is viewed to be an essential industry and government investment that contributes to industry resiliency and reduced dependence on government's ad-hoc and business risk management programs.
Agriculture Canada has made considerable efforts to streamline and focus its research programs over the past several decades. Over the same time period, the beef industry has implemented a national check-off to support research and technology transfer programs. The industry has also developed and implemented a comprehensive national beef research strategy. The strategy informed the priority research outcomes targeted under the second beef science cluster and is working to guide and influence the funding decisions of other major research funding agencies across Canada. Significant industry effort has been placed on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of applied forage, cattle and beef research funding allocations with a focus on reducing duplication and facilitating co-operation among Canada's beef research funding community.
The industry has accepted the responsibility to develop and lead the beef science cluster and the national beef research strategy. This has and will continue to encourage greater industry investment in and adoption of research. By bringing together Canada's largest industry and public research funders, the science clusters program is significantly improving government-industry co-operation in research. The second beef science cluster is a $20 million investment, $15 million in government funding and $5 million in industry funding.
Investments under the second beef science cluster have increased substantially and not only include the national check-off, but also additional funding from five provincial organizations. We are convinced that the beef science cluster is a very co-ordinated and efficient research model. However, the system can be refined further, beyond administrative details that can be addressed elsewhere.
Allocating research funding in discrete five-year blocks creates challenges for long-term projects. Research in animal breeding, perennial forages, and environmental field studies requires a much longer time frame in order to achieve meaningful results. Enhanced industry-government collaboration could also make research programming even more effective. More direct engagement of industry in the federal government's planning processes would ensure that Agriculture Canada's internal research infrastructure, staffing, and other programming decisions were aligned with the outcomes identified in the national beef research strategy.
Industry engagement is particularly important to ensuring that Agriculture Canada research staffing decisions are aligned with both industry and government priorities, and cuts are not made by attrition. Cuts through attrition gradually erode research programs. There is also benefit in working to transition the new replacement scientists prior to the retirement of the older, retiring scientists, thereby providing an opportunity for mentorship and ensuring that research momentum is not lost.
To take full advantage of the potential that research promises, we need to emphasize a few additional points. First, stable and, ideally, increased funding for federal research facilities, together with staff and programs, is essential to maintain the integrity of Canada's internationally renowned agricultural research system. Second, the federal government has a clear responsibility to continue supporting long-term, basic, high-risk research. This is the knowledge pipeline that ultimately leads to applied research that benefits industry and broader society. The fire station analogy is apt here: Fostering innovation and maintaining core research programs ensures that we have the physical and scientific capacity to respond to issues as they emerge, not when they become emergencies.
Industry has made considerable investments in “public good” areas of research. Research supported by the beef science clusters is providing science-based information to inform the beef cattle code of practice, as well as the work under way at the global round table for sustainable beef, to confidently and factually address ongoing questions regarding antimicrobial resistance and food safety. However, this does not diminish the federal government role in these areas.
Social license issues, which pertain to the public's perception of industry, are increasingly important. In many cases, research generates the facts that can effectively address social licence issues. Environment, antimicrobial resistance, and animal welfare are prime examples. However, in order to be viewed as credible, relevant research data must be collected and evaluated by an independent, impartial body.
In closing, I would like to summarize our three main recommendations. First, continued federal government support of both basic and applied research programming is critical to supporting industry advancement in a sustainable manner. Second, further enhancing engagement of industry in Agriculture Canada's decision-making regarding critical research infrastructure, staffing, and programming will help to ensure the most efficient use of resources. Third, meaningful progress in both basic and applied research streams is contingent on long-term, predictable, meaningful funding commitments that are preferably 10 years in length.
I would be pleased to elaborate further on any of these points or to answer any questions you may have.