From the Editor: December 2010
In his monthly Canadian Poultry Research Council update (page 12), Gord
Speksnijder rightly points out that the Canadian poultry sector is
fortunate to have access to a wide range of scientific expertise that
can help our industry confront new challenges and find solutions to the
problems we face.
In his monthly Canadian Poultry Research Council update (page 12), Gord Speksnijder rightly points out that the Canadian poultry sector is fortunate to have access to a wide range of scientific expertise that can help our industry confront new challenges and find solutions to the problems we face.
After attending the XXIII World’s Poultry Congress, in Brisbane, Australia, I wrote in our August 2008 issue that the Congress reaffirmed my belief that Canada is a leader with respect to research. We were extremely well represented at the Congress, with more than six members of the Alberta Poultry Research Centre presenting their research, as well as several from the University of Saskatchewan, the University of British Columbia, the University of Guelph, and the Université de Montréal. Eight Canadian students also presented their research.
Although the contributions researchers make to your business may not always be obvious, their passion and diligence behind the scenes need acknowledgment – and more importantly, support – from industry.
But this support seems to be waning, at least in Ontario. At its annual meeting in October, Ed McKinley, chairman of the Poultry Industry Council (PIC), noted that Canadian business invests, on average, 1.06 per cent of gross revenue in scientific research. However, poultry producers in Ontario invested 0.043 per cent of farm gate cash receipts through the PIC (via their marketing boards) in research and education (see “Declining Research Investment” on page 36).
This is not a huge amount – for a farm with $500,000 in farm gate receipts, this works out to be about $215 a year. Many people spend three or four times that amount buying coffee at Tim Hortons.
McKinley noted that this amount is just a “maintenance” ration for the PIC to support its research and education programs. It’s the future that has him most worried, as PIC funding has been on the decline recently.
He urged industry leaders to think “long and hard” about what reduced research investment might mean for the future of the industry, and reminded attendees that “research will ensure your children and grandchildren of a poultry industry they too can be proud of.”
There are many issues the poultry industry must face in order to prosper in the future, and these will be primarily consumer and energy driven. Consumers are much more demanding than they once were. Getting more out of a bird is something the industry has excelled at and will continue to excel at, but it just isn’t enough anymore. Consumers want welfare and environmentally responsible products. Competition from other sources (industry and other farm sectors) for resources such as energy, feed, and water, will only increase. In order to remain competitive and profitable, we need to have the research infrastructure in place to meet these challenges.
PIC executive director Tim Nelson asked poultry farmers to let him know how the PIC is doing. Is the organization doing a good job, or a lousy job?
I encourage you to let him, and other organizations such as the Poultry Research Centre in Alberta and the Atlantic Poultry Research Institute, know. Sometimes researchers and farmers don’t know how to talk to one another in the same language, and this is a significant issue for the sector. As a farmer, what do you want to know about the research that takes place? Is there a different way you would like research results to be presented? If so, be part of the conversation.
After attending the XXIII World’s Poultry Congress, in Brisbane, Australia, I wrote in our August 2008 issue that the Congress reaffirmed my belief that Canada is a leader with respect to research. We were extremely well represented at the Congress, with more than six members of the Alberta Poultry Research Centre presenting their research, as well as several from the University of Saskatchewan, the University of British Columbia, the University of Guelph, and the Université de Montréal. Eight Canadian students also presented their research.
Although the contributions researchers make to your business may not always be obvious, their passion and diligence behind the scenes need acknowledgment – and more importantly, support – from industry.
But this support seems to be waning, at least in Ontario. At its annual meeting in October, Ed McKinley, chairman of the Poultry Industry Council (PIC), noted that Canadian business invests, on average, 1.06 per cent of gross revenue in scientific research. However, poultry producers in Ontario invested 0.043 per cent of farm gate cash receipts through the PIC (via their marketing boards) in research and education (see “Declining Research Investment” on page 36).
This is not a huge amount – for a farm with $500,000 in farm gate receipts, this works out to be about $215 a year. Many people spend three or four times that amount buying coffee at Tim Hortons.
McKinley noted that this amount is just a “maintenance” ration for the PIC to support its research and education programs. It’s the future that has him most worried, as PIC funding has been on the decline recently.
He urged industry leaders to think “long and hard” about what reduced research investment might mean for the future of the industry, and reminded attendees that “research will ensure your children and grandchildren of a poultry industry they too can be proud of.”
There are many issues the poultry industry must face in order to prosper in the future, and these will be primarily consumer and energy driven. Consumers are much more demanding than they once were. Getting more out of a bird is something the industry has excelled at and will continue to excel at, but it just isn’t enough anymore. Consumers want welfare and environmentally responsible products. Competition from other sources (industry and other farm sectors) for resources such as energy, feed, and water, will only increase. In order to remain competitive and profitable, we need to have the research infrastructure in place to meet these challenges.
PIC executive director Tim Nelson asked poultry farmers to let him know how the PIC is doing. Is the organization doing a good job, or a lousy job?
I encourage you to let him, and other organizations such as the Poultry Research Centre in Alberta and the Atlantic Poultry Research Institute, know. Sometimes researchers and farmers don’t know how to talk to one another in the same language, and this is a significant issue for the sector. As a farmer, what do you want to know about the research that takes place? Is there a different way you would like research results to be presented? If so, be part of the conversation.