Advantage Traceability Profile: Bear Creek FarmOn the Leading Edge of Small-Farm Beef ProductionMurray and Sandi Shaw both come from farm families. They operate the farm where Murray was born and raised. However they have been expanding and updating since they purchased it from his father, and are currently working with a 40-head cow-calf to finish operation. The couple raises pure-bred Limousin cattle and have implemented a farm-gate project for freezer beef which is becoming very popular with increasing numbers of customers. Until participating in the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' (OMAFRA) Traceability Pilot Project, Shaw, his brother Allan and their father managed all the farming tasks, including breeding, tagging, vaccinating and sorting. He kept all the farm records for each activity in a book or on paper but if he was away from the farm, record keeping or getting information on a particular animal came to a halt. The couple was looking for a more efficient method of record keeping as well as a safer method of handling the cattle. 
Figure
1: Murray and Sandi Shaw, Owners
of Bear Creek Farm.
Bear Creek Farm Installed:
Traceability is a system designed to help people in every branch of agriculture collect, retain and share information with customers. For Bear Creek Farm this meant collecting information about all inputs onto the farm, such as feed, vaccines, animals, their production activities, like insemination, animal health events, and sharing information about their finished products relating to animals and cuts of beef. Shaw and his wife became very interested after he learned about
the Traceability Pilot Project at an Ontario Cattlemen's Association
meeting. They felt that an electronic traceability system would
be a great help to their small operation. It meant that Sandi could
participate in the farm operation more fully since she could maintain
records as well. Assisted by consultants from OMAFRA, they set about working with their local abattoir to develop a procedure that would track individual cuts of beef, increase brand recognition and ultimately sales of their freezer beef. In addition it would give them and their customers, the comfort of knowing that if a recall was ever necessary, it was easy to accomplish and all records relating to it were readily available. The solution they developed for traceability is simple - every cut of beef is stamped with the last nine digits of the CCIA (Canadian Cattle Identification Agency) RFID (radio frequency identification) animal ear tag number. Customers see the name Bear Creek Farm and the nine digit code stamped on the outside of each package of meat. "This way if a customer likes a particular cut we can make sure that they get a similar one every time," says Sandi Shaw. "The new traceability system really helps with that. And also I can do some of the record keeping for the farm. It makes us much more efficient and it's helped us improve customer service. We can show a customer everything that happened to that animal from the time it was born - what it was fed, what vaccinations it had - everything." The Shaw's purchased CattleMax™, a cattle management software program, as the foundation of their data collection. This program tracks information through their Allflex hand held RFID reader and also downloads data from their Tru-Test weigh scale attached to a TUFF handling system which the Shaw's purchased to improve safety in handling their cattle. "Now even our oldest son Clayton who is 9 years old can use the RFID reader. He can help because of computerization and the new safer handling system," says Sandi. "Being able to have information at our fingertips and regularly update it is much more efficient. I can look up all records on any one of the cows or calves at any time." Murray Shaw is just as pleased. "It took a lot of work but
the consultants were excellent with their answers and suggestions.
We have a system that is custom made for us and we can track the
animals from 'birth to beef' which is an advantage particularly
when it comes to making breeding decisions for the end product.
I can research and improve genetics easily for the best possible
product. He and his wife plan to expand their freezer beef sales by promoting their new system which gives customers the assurance that the products they buy from Bear Creek Farm are high quality and every cut is traceable back to its beginning. Traceability Can Help your businessWhat Bear Creek Farm has implemented since it began the Traceability Pilot Project:
"We have a system that is custom made
for us and we can track the animals from 'birth to beef' which is
an advantage particularly when it comes to making breeding decisions
for the end product."
- Murray Shaw, Co-owner, Bear Creek Farm
Funding for the Food Safety Initiative Traceability Grant Program and Pilot Project was provided under the Agriculture Policy framework, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. For more information: |
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