2030 Goals

• Reduce primary production GHG emissions intensity 33% by 2030.
• Safeguard 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon stored on land managed by beef producers.
• Sequester an additional 3.4 million tonnes of carbon every year.

Strategic Actions

Scientific research innovations and many collaborations are already underway in this
area. 

Key actions for the CRSB and its members include:

1. Encourage research and collaboration to optimize cattle diets.
2. Promote implementation of practices to enhance manure management.
3. Collaborate with initiatives that work to safeguard carbon storage ad increased carbon sequestration.
4. Collaborate with initiatives that support improvements in feed and forage production.
5. Collaborate with initiatives that develop genetic selection tools that reduce GHG emissions.
6. Measure and disseminate the Canadian beef sector’s GHG footprint and carbon stock.
7. Promote communication and knowledge transfer between the research community and producers to increase uptake of practices that reduce GHG emissions and improve carbon sequestration.

2030 Goals

• Reduce food loss and waste (from secondary processing to consumer) by 50% by 2030.
• Increase the value of AAA and Prime carcasses, to be equivalent with the US, by building demand for all cuts on the carcass.
• Support the development, regulatory approval and adoption of improved food safety interventions and technologies throughout the supply chain.

Strategic Actions 

Players across the beef supply chain from farm to fork are setting goals and targets for reducing food loss and waster, and all are committed to be part of the solution. This includes efficient use of resources, up-cycling food waste by beef producers, and reducing both food loss and food waste from the primary  processor all the way through to the consumer.

Research indicates that Canadian consumers (75%) believe that reducing waste is one of the ways they can contribute to improving sustainability in their own day-to-day lives, and the supply chain also plays a key role.

Key actions for the CRSB and its members include:

1. Encourage programs and projects that help food diversion efforts and reduce barriers to implementation.
2. Further enhance understanding of food loss and waste in the Canadian beef value chain.
3. Encourage research and adoption of packaging that enhances product life, and reduce food waste and environmental impact, while aligning with on-going national and global initiatives.
4. Support initiatives to improve carcass quality and utilization.

2030 Goals 

• Maintain the 35 million acres of native grassland in the care of beef producers by focusing on economic viability of producers and supporting programs that incentivize conservation in collaboration with Canadian crop groups.
  Maintain a network of natural landscapes and healthy functioning ecosystems through well-managed grazing systems that maintain sustainable plant communities and healthy rangelands:
  • Maintain and enhance the 68% of wildlife habitat capacity.
  • Enhance ecosystem services.
  • Encourage practices that build soil organic matter and enhance soil biodiversity.

Strategic Actions

There has been a strong focus on the role that Canadian beef producers play in improving and conserving land used for grazing cattle, and the critical habitat for wildlife and species at risk that these lands, particularly Canada’s native grasslands, play – much of which are managed by Canadian beef producers.

We are all working to collaborate on initiatives that support producers, to incentivize and reward their conservation efforts that provide key nature-based solutions to climate change mitigation, and to build trust through sharing these stories importance with the public.

Key actions for the CRSB and its members include:

1. Support the creation and adoption of ecosystem services payments, markets and producer incentives.
2. Facilitate collaboration across stakeholder groups to develop a shared understanding of the challenges and potential solutions to promote biodiversity.
3. Support work that builds understanding and enhances or restores habitat quality and quantity on beef [production] operations.
4. Build further awareness and use of range health assessments by producers.

2030 Goals

• Promote practices that maximize water quality and retention, to deliver healthier landscapes, resilience to drought and flood events, and groundwater recharge as appropriate to the region’s precipitation.
• Improve water use efficiency in the beef value chain.
• Build recognition by the public and policymakers of the benefits provided by grassland ecosystems, including:
  • Protection of wetlands
  • The role of wetlands as important carbon sinks
  • Filtration of nutrients that protect water quality and reduce non-point source pollution
  • Resilience to drought and flood events
  • Support groundwater recharge and future water supplies

Strategic Actions

Key actions for the CRSB and its members include:

1. Build further beef producer understanding, awareness and use of riparian health assessments by supporting organizations that are enhancing awareness and promoting adoption of tools.
2. Collaborate with stakeholders to further measure the relationship between beef production and wetland conservation, and the associated ecosystem services being provided.
3. Partner with organizations that deliver producer extension to encourage uptake of practices to preserve wetlands.
4. Build awareness about the limitations in water risk assessments and the importance of local context when interpreting the results, both nationally and internationally.
5. Support innovation that increases water use efficiency within the processing and packaging sectors. 
6. Support improvement in feed yields/productivity, drought resistance and irrigation practices to reduce the blue water footprint of feed.