AB Livestock Insert English 2 - Albertadepartment/deptdocs.nsf/ba3468a2a8681f... · The combination...
Transcript of AB Livestock Insert English 2 - Albertadepartment/deptdocs.nsf/ba3468a2a8681f... · The combination...
Livestock, Meat, andAnimal Genetics Industry
Alberta's
Proud Heritage of Farming and RanchingAlberta's agriculture and food sector is an important cornerstone of life and
culture in the province. Most of Alberta's rural communities come from a
longstanding heritage of farming and ranching.
Alberta TodayAlberta continues to build on this proud heritage and is a
recognized and reliable supplier of safe, high quality agriculture
and food products to consumers around the world.
Alberta's effective industry food safety
programs, along with vigilant oversight by
federal and provincial governments, are vital
to protecting public health, maintaining
consumer confidence and enabling market
access. These strong partnerships and
collaboration across our agriculture and food
industry contribute to the excellent
reputation of Alberta and Canada's
agriculture and food sector.
Meat Sector Starts With HighQuality GeneticsAlberta's livestock and meat industry is
founded on high quality genetics. Alberta
has established itself as a reputable supplier
of beef, dairy cattle and swine genetics.
Alberta also has experience exporting sheep
and goat genetics to various international
markets.
Alberta's livestock genetics industry focuses
on providing high quality live animals,
semen, embryos and related products and
services to customers around the world.
Alberta is a source of high-quality disease
free livestock, and world-renowned genetics.
Supplier of Safe Food ProductsCanada's reputation for animal health is
built upon the practices of bio-security and
monitoring at all levels. Monitoring takes
place from farms to high technology
laboratories through veterinarians and
government inspectors. Producers receive
on-farm food safety training and both
producers and processors comply with
government regulations.
The purpose of Alberta's
and its regulations is to enhance public
health, animal health, and food safety in
Alberta and enhance market access through
effective animal disease control measures.
The Act focuses on the rapid and effective
response to an animal disease occurrence
by authorizing control measures, animal
disease surveillance, traceability, and
carcass disposal provisions. It also
authorizes livestock market inspection and
licensing, and control over the sale of
production animal medicines by retail
outlets.
Animal Health Act
Alberta Beef
Alberta has a
reputation for
producing great
tasting beef.
Alberta leads the
country in beef
processing
accounting for more
than two-thirds of
Canadian beef
processing.
Alberta is Canada's
largest cattle
producing province
with nearly 40
percent of the
national herd.
Safe and Nutritious PorkAlberta has a natural advantage for pork
production with plentiful supplies of barley,
wheat and canola for feed. With access to
superior genetics and a commitment to using
the highest traceability practices, Alberta pork
is unique in texture and quality.
Lean Alberta pork
is a highly nutritious
product in demand
around the world.
Alberta is a
committed leader
in value-added and
safe pork.
Alberta has the most
accessible pork for
Pacific Rim markets.
Alberta Pork
Great Tasting Alberta BeefAlberta has a reputation for producing great
tasting beef. Grain-fed Alberta beef is
delicious and contains 14 essential nutrients
including iron and protein.
Canadian beef is graded based on national
regulations. The regulations provide greater
consistency and predictability in the quality of
specific grades of beef. The minimum
marbling standards applied to Canadian beef
are used to segregate the beef cuts into
Canada Prime (slightly abundant), Canada
AAA (small) and Canada AA (slight). Canada
A beef has some traces but less than slight
marbling and comes from young animals.
Grass and forage are the foundation of our
cow calf industry, but feed for finishing cattle
in Alberta is grain-based (barley, corn and
wheat) with the feed ration containing a high
percentage of grain, augmented by silage.
Major breed combinations in the province
include Black Angus, Hereford, Red Angus,
Simmental, Charolais and Limousin, which
provide optimum marbling and high yielding
carcasses.
Our clean environment, excellent water
quality, favourable climate and relatively
young animals used for meat production
equate to high-quality, tender, juicy and great
tasting beef that is a trademark of Alberta.
The combination of very low pig density and
a prime environment enables the industry to
maintain an excellent health status, leading
to better pig performance and lower use of
medications.
To demonstrate our industry's commitment,
the Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA) ®
on-farm food safety program was developed
to validate producers' daily farm operations.
The science-based program uses HACCP
(Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point)
principles and requires engaged producers
to meet a very strict set of standards
supported by extensive record keeping.
An auditor then reviews these documents
and examines the farm facilities to ensure
that all program standards are being met.
Alberta pork producers are committed to
maintaining product quality and consumer
satisfaction.
Horse and Horse ProductsAlberta's horse owners place great value on
their animals. Careful breeding, precise
feeding, attentive handling, effective
vaccination are all measures used to help
safeguard the health of their animals and
ultimately contribute to the protection of the
equine industry. Alberta exports live horses,
genetics and meat.
Canada's export program ensures that only
healthy animals and animal products and
by-products which meet the import health
requirements of an importing country are
exported, and that live animals are
transported in a humane manner. In Alberta,
regulations requiring premises identification
are part of the Animal Health Act. Premises
registration is a valuable tool to include in an
overall animal health management program.
These requirements for equine enhance food
safety as well as the ability to trace back
equine meat products in response to
international customer requests.Poultry Products that MeetCustomer DemandsAlberta's poultry industry production consists
primarily of chicken, turkey, ducks and eggs.
Alberta also produces ratites, including
ostriches, emus and rheas for their extremely
lean meat and for their hides, feather and oils.
Alberta's poultry products are low in fats and
high in protein, and contain amino acids,
niacin, vitamin B6, iron, zinc and many other
essential nutrients.
Alberta's industry is equipped
to provide halal-certified and kosher poultry
as well as a range of organic products.
To meet the requirements of different cultures
and countries,
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Flavourful and TenderBison MeatAlberta bison has a full, rich flavour and is
a nutritious, lean meat with high protein
content. Grading of bison according to
national regulations provides greater
consistency and predictability in the eating
quality of the specific grades.
Alberta bison are raised without the use of
growth stimulants or sub-therapeutic
antibiotics. Bison are handled much less
frequently than other livestock, allowing
them to range on pasture lands the same
way they did historically.
Due to preservation efforts of ranchers and
the benefits of raising bison, Canada now
has 125,000 bison on private ranches and
farms. Bison ranching has significant
ecological benefits and often involves the
return of farmland to grassland, which
eliminates the need for chemical pesticides
and herbicides.
Meat products from registered facilities in
Canada are produced and inspected to
ensure they meet current requirements and
safety standards. Canada has procedures in
place to detect and control potential residue
issues in the meat supply. All facilities in
Canada that process equines destined for
export markets for edible purposes must
have complete records for all animals
(domestic and imported) presented. In 2010,
Canada released the world's first welfare
standards for handling slaughter horses
“Recommended Handling Guidelines and
Animal Welfare Assessment Tool for
Horses”.
Natural and Delicious LambAlberta lamb is in high demand by Canadian
consumers. To meet consumer
specifications for consistent quality and fine
taste, lamb producers raise lambs on
forages and finish them with grains.
Consumers enjoy the resulting excellent
flavour, tenderness, and quality of Alberta
lamb.
Canada's Sheep and Lamb Food-Safe Farm
Practices program facilitates an effective
recording of good production practices to
address potential on-farm food safety risks
and meet consumer expectations for safe
high quality product. This program is
complemented by the mandatory Canadian
Sheep Identification Program where every
lamb is identified as it leaves its farm of
origin.
A Valuable Trade PartnerAlberta has developed a coordinated
approach to system integrity based on federal
and provincial legislation, world class animal
health protocols, food safety practices and
emergency response and preparedness.
Our focus is on high standards and continual
improvement to better meet the needs of our
customers at home and abroad.
Alberta is an experienced exporter of genetics
from a variety of livestock species. These
genetics include semen, embryos and
breeding stock. Alberta suppliers are able to
produce meat products based on customer
specifications, such as organic, Halal and
hormone-free.
Alberta is a reliable and trustworthy provider
of high quality agriculture and food products.
Our goal is to provide our industry customers
and consumers worldwide, with safe,
consistent, high quality products – and we will
continue to work hard to earn and keep your
business.
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development
E-mail: [email protected]
www.agrifoodalberta.ca
A Culinary Treat or MedicinalIngredient - ElkAlberta represents nearly half of Canada's
total farmed elk. Alberta's elk meat and
velvet antler are exported internationally.
Elk meat is tender and healthy with a mild,
distinctive delicious flavour. It is very low in
cholesterol and calories and can be
included in many cooking styles and
cuisines.
Tasty Goat Meat and QualityProductsGoat meat and dairy products, cashmere
and mohair, fine leather and sleek hides,
and bath and beauty products have been
valued agricultural products for thousands
of years.
Alberta exports live goats for breeding and
meat production.
Alberta …The Alberta lamb supply chain is
collaborating on projects developing models
for sustainable lamb production, for
consistent lamb quality and for national
traceability for sheep. Alberta also has a
thriving international sheep genetics industry
supplying the global industry with
reproductive expertise, services as well as
genetics.