Reading Time: 2 minutes Cattle producers will be able to access basic data from the now privatized Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS), but may have to pay for some types of information, says the head of the company. “BIXS is totally voluntary, just like the Internet,” said Hubert Lau, president and CEO of BIXSco. “You can use the Internet and […] Read more
Basic info from cattle database will remain free
But new owners of BIXS also need to create revenue now that government funding has dried up
New BIXS boss wants beef industry to help revamp — and fund — database
Hubert Lau says he hopes industry partners will help ‘build models where everybody wins’
Reading Time: 2 minutes The new operators of BIXS aren’t interested in reinventing the wheel, but want to partner with industry to take the livestock database to the next level. And while funding for the latest revamp of the Beef InfoXchange System is still being worked out, the money likely won’t come out of farmers’ pockets, said Hubert Lau, […] Read more
Beef leaders aim high with new national strategy
Goals include boosting production efficiency by 15 per cent and increasing carcass cut-out value by 15 per cent in just five years
Reading Time: 4 minutes Business gurus call them Big Hairy Audacious Goals — and now Canadian beef leaders have to figure out how to achieve the ones they’ve set for their industry. “You have to pick a place to get to,” said Trevor Atchison, co-chair of the National Beef Strategic Planning Group. “You can’t make every goal in life, […] Read more
New national beef strategy is on the right track
The goals are ambitious, but what’s key is that the cattle sector is coalescing around a common vision
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beef industry leaders have outlined some gutsy goals for their sector to meet with their recently released National Beef Strategy. Boosting production efficiency by 15 per cent, increasing carcass cut-out value by 15 per cent and reducing cost disadvantage relative to global competitors by seven per cent by 2020 won’t be easy. But much of […] Read more
Big Data is coming to the cattle business — and that’s a good thing
Reading Time: 2 minutes The future is about collecting and mining data. And beef producers who don’t get on board run the risk of being left behind, says an industry expert. “Information and data gathering will become increasingly important,” said Thomas Lynch-Staunton, Livestock Gentec’s director of industry relations. Lynch-Staunton is involved with what’s called a “life cycle analysis” — […] Read more
Canada picked for ‘sustainable beef pilot’
Five to Remember: The country’s largest beef buyer wants to establish its sustainability credentials, and that means big things for the cattle sector
Reading Time: 2 minutes It was anything but a conspiracy of silence. After all, McDonald’s announced to the world a year ago that it would start sourcing “verified sustainable beef” from some country on the planet beginning in 2016. But there was no big announcement when it decided Canada would be that country — although the fast-food giant told […] Read more
Is this the one? Latest BIXS revamp aims to boost bottom line
CCA is partnering with an IT company with the goal of creating a calf-to-carcass system that will benefit everyone in the beef chain
Reading Time: 4 minutes BIXS is getting another overhaul — but this revamp could make the beef database a lot more attractive to cattle producers. The Beef InfoXchange System has struggled since its creation four years ago to attract producers, but the company taking it over says it will be expanded and enhanced to bring in all players — […] Read more
New company set up to deliver BIXS livestock data system
A new company — a partnership between the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) and livestock technology company ViewTrak — plans to bring the newborn unsteadiness of an information exchange network to a full gallop for all Canadian livestock sectors. The as-yet unnamed private company was formed to bring the CCA’s beef information exchange system, BIXS, to […] Read more
Will BIXS be part of the new sustainable beef system?
The Beef InfoXchange System has struggled to attract producers
Reading Time: 2 minutes In order for McDonald’s to sell “verified sustainable beef,” someone will have to do the verifying — but questions remain about whether the favoured candidate is up to the job. “One of the reasons that McDonald’s chose to do the (pilot) project in Canada was because of the foundations like BIXS, the environmental farm plans, […] Read more
Questions and answers on sustainable beef
Reading Time: 2 minutes Just what exactly does “sustainable beef” mean and who is deciding on the definition? The who is the members of the Global Roundtable on Sustainable Beef. There are now several hundred but the key players are companies such as Walmart, JBS, and Cargill, the World Wildlife Fund, and producer groups, including the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. […] Read more
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