Industry Development Fund

The Industry Development Fund (IDF) is the result of several abattoirs having fulfilled their obligations to repay a portion of the grants they received under the $7 million Mature Animal Abattoir Fund from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. OCA was established as the administrator of the IDF under the direction of the IDF Committee.

To the ruminant meat livestock industry, the IDF supports valueadded, sustainable, Ontario-based, producer/processor partnerships that increase access to markets on a regional or provincial basis. The objective of the fund is to finance initiatives undertaken between ruminant meat producers and Ontario abattoir/processor operators and/or other value chain partners (to capitalize on regional or local markets) and to help increase demand and create a competitive market for Ontario ruminants and ruminant meat products.

The priorities of the IDF include:

• Supporting ruminant meat producer initiatives in conjunction with Ontario abattoirs and/or processors setting forth long term plans for marketing meat in regional or local markets

• Increasing demand and competitiveness in Ontario’s market for ruminant meat products

• Supporting initiatives that help bring greater value directly to producers and Ontario abattoirs and/or processors

• Supporting initiatives that benefit the overall ruminant industry

A Request for Proposals was released in May 2009, and after applications were reviewed by the IDF Committee, a total of 11 projects were allocated $567,158. Last year (2009) was the final year for the IDF Program, and all projects must be completed by March of 2010.

OCA-OMAFRA $4 Million Memorandum of Agreement

In July 2007, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) agreed to deliver $4 million to OCA to develop and deliver programs targeted to assist the Ontario beef industry adjust to the long-term impacts on our markets which were caused by BSE border closures. As per the Memorandum of Agreement with OMAFRA, the following objectives will be met in the delivery of the $4 million.

1. Infrastructure gaps will be addressed by increasing slaughter capacity by at least 1000 head per year, thereby providing additional local marketing options (i.e. fresh and freezer beef retail sales) for beef cattle producers in under-serviced areas of Ontario. This objective was allocated $1.1 million. The OCA Abattoir Expansion Program was developed to satisfy this part of the agreement and a request for proposals was released in January of 2008. The OCA Abattoir Expansion Program Committee was struck in mid-2008 to review applications to the program. Although three applicants were allocated funding, only two have successfully moved forward with their projects. The remaining funding will be re-allocated to other priorities in early 2010, as deemed necessary by the OCA Board of Directors.

2. Five to ten producer/processor partnerships will be supported in their development of a gate to plate or value chain strategy at a provincial, regional or local level to develop markets for locally-raised beef, resulting in product being sold that will be equivalent to at least 100 head of cattle, annually. This objective was allocated $1.1 million. $900,000 over three years has been allocated to the Ontario Corn-Fed Beef Program. The remainder was allocated to the OCA Market Development Committee to fund projects under such programs as the Market Development Partnership Program.

3. The number of age-verified calves in Ontario will be increased by 15% per year for 3 years, thereby increasing product eligible for international markets by 50%. This objective was allocated $1.1 million. The OCA Age Verification Program was unveiled at the 2008 OCA Annual General Meeting and wrapped up in June of 2009. A total of 124,498 calves were age-verified under the OCA program. Producers who age-verified 2008 and 2009 calves received $5 per head, and age-verified 2007 calves were eligible to receive $3 per head. Program criteria included age verification, attendance at a Verified Beef Production workshop, and a verifiable vaccination protocol implemented on-farm.

4. Information-sharing between stakeholders will be improved by increasing the ability to capture Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tag numbers in Ontario by 20% and increasing carcass data feedback to producers along the value chain by 100%. This objective was allocated $700,000. In late 2007, the RFID Reader Program was developed to facilitate the reading of RFID tags for commercial purposes including identifying age-verified cattle, printing transport manifests, and electronic management of livestock on-farm. Auction markets, large feedlots, packers and licenced cattle dealers were encouraged to apply.

 This program provided funding to offset the cost of installing RFID readers and related hardware and software. Phase II of the program was approved in February of 2009, allowing large cow/calf producers and cow/calf clubs to apply for funding. This program has provided most auction facilities, large feedlots, some licenced dealers, one export service provider and large cow/calf operators with RFID reader equipment and software, capable of reading RFID information. In July of 2008, the OCA Board of Directors approved a re-allocation of $300,000 from the RFID Reader Program to Beef Improvement Opportunities (BIO) to develop an IT infrastructure, database, and software programming for value chain development and implementation. Upon completion of their value-chain project, BIO will be able to provide information flow up and down the value chains. The program is expected to wrap up in early 2010.

The OCA-OMAFRA $4 million Memorandum of Agreement ends in August of 2010, at which time all programs must be finished and all funding must be spent.