Industry committee  Thank you, Chair. Thank you to the House of Commons of Canada Standing Committee on Industry and Technology for the chance to speak on behalf of the Alberta Beef Producers today. My name is Melanie Wowk. I am a veterinarian and rancher from Beauvallon in Alberta. I am here toda

Industry committee  Thank you. Large grazing species are extremely important in maintaining the carbon. As I mentioned, if we break that land up, we lose 50% of the carbon and don't get it back. We need large grazing species on those pastures. The grazing and their production on the land maintain t

Industry committee  Yes, we do quite a bit of grazing where it's timed grazing. It's on small pieces of land and the cattle are moved every few days or however it works in that producer's system. That definitely increases the productivity of the land as well as the cattle. Mr. Chair, I'm going to a

Industry committee  Thank you. I believe Tyler answered that question very well. We have done it through improved genetics, improved feed efficiency, improved grazing management and forages. We really have increased the amount of beef that we produce. In the last 20 years, we've produced much more

Industry committee  Definitely. I think our point here is that the loss of the grasslands.... That's what those species rely on to survive. As those grasslands are shrinking, whether that be from farming, cultivating the land or urban spread, the amount of land that they are able to survive on has

Industry committee  There actually is an increase in demand for animal products and animal protein across the world. As I said, we are continually trying to improve the amount of beef that we can produce with less land and less water. The other thing is that the importance of having large grazing s

Industry committee  As far as grazing is concerned, we have to be careful with where we graze. We can't put our animals on rivers or lakes or things like that. The manure as well as the urine from cattle act as mineral.... Urine provides nitrogen to the soil and many different benefits for the soil.

Industry committee  The beef producers of this province are focused on continually improving the sustainability of our industry. That is why we are very happy to be part of this discussion today. We would like it to consider the environment, social responsibility and economic viability. I think Tyl

Industry committee  That's the difficult part for us. There isn't a whole lot of agriculture in the bill, but there's a lot related to forestry. I'm going to say that, right now, we're just trying to make sure we are at the table and able to give our input about how this bill could possibly work for

Industry committee  Yes, I would hope so. Any time we have this type of collaboration, that's what we need: We need all the different sectors to come together. Especially for us, in being here, it's about developing some understanding of our business and what we're doing for our part. It's very good

Industry committee  I just wanted to add that when being asked to do this, oftentimes we're put in a defensive position of the things people think we're doing. It's just been very refreshing to come here and be able to explain the good things that we do, the good things our cattle do, and how import

Industry committee  Definitely, we agree that we have to be a part of this conversation, but at the end of the day we have to remember that beef production in Canada represents 2.4% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Oftentimes we look at that, but we forget.... That's part of the reason why w

Industry committee  Transportation is a nightmare for us right now, whether it's getting our cattle around or whether it's getting feed to cattle. I don't know if everybody remembers the potential rail strike we faced last December. That really scared us. Definitely, transportation is something th

Industry committee  It's total Canadian greenhouse gas emissions.

Industry committee  Yes.