BEEF CATTLE INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT FUND EVALUATIONS

Evaluation (2006) 

The Beef Cattle Industry Development Fund is financed out of resources generated by a $9.347 million dollar trust fund established in 1994. Periodic evaluations are important to making sure that projects are meeting the goal of the fund. The complete report of the evaluation team is available on request or on our website. This is a summary of the 2002-2006 evaluation. The 2006 Evaluation Team conducted a four year review of eighty-nine BCIDF projects completed from April 2002 to July 2006. This review included twenty-one projects conducted by the provincial cattle associations that utilized check-off funds to trigger matching funding from the BCIDF Trust since 2000. Evaluation team members include: Walter Goerzen (Chilliwack), John Farrow (Kamloops), Peter Fofonoff (Williams Lake) and Jim Tingle (Prince George). Observations The Cattle Industry Development Council (CIDC) has done an excellent job in supporting applicants for BCIDF projects in many facets of the BC beef industry. An expenditure of $2,691,508 from BCIDF for eighty-nine projects resulted in a total expenditure of $7,641,516 in the beef industry. Excluding the provincial association category, BCIDF brought in $3.15 for every dollar spent. There was an excellent response by CIDC to fund projects that assisted the beef industry to cope with the BSE event. A total of seventeen projects were funded in the market expansion category that achieved the best leveraged BCIDF funding at 18.6%. Project Scoring The eighty-nine projects were assigned to best fit the seven priority activities identified in a 2002 Review. The eighth category was the provincial cattle association projects. The average score for each category was Animal Care 7.2, Association Development 8.6, Environmental Issues 8.3, Land Issues 7.8, Market Expansion 8.7, Production Improvement Practices 8.7, Quality Standards 6.2 and Provincial Cattle Associations at 8.8. Project Highlights The highest scoring project at 9.5 (out of 10) was the “Advanced Silage Corn Management” publication by the Pacific Field Corn Association which can be viewed on the www.farmwest.com website. Money provided by BCIDF and other agencies allowed the Association to realize a profit on sales from this high quality publication that has been recognized across North America. Five projects achieved a score of 9.4: Fraser Nechako Riparian Project by the BC Conservation Foundation Forage Beef Seminar Series 2004 – Prince George Cattlemen’s Association BCFC Field Days 2005 – BC Forage Council BC Breeders and Feeders Association 2002-2003 BC Cattlemen’s Association Projects 2004-2005 Other highlights within the review were the health protocols developed by the BC Breeders and Feeders Association (located on their website at www.bcbfa.ca), and the project conducted by the BC Junior Hereford Association using BCIDF funds to host a national show, improve management skills of juniors, and to return a profit to the association. Many applicants sought projects to support the beef industry following the onset of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crisis in May 2003. Five projects were restaurant partnerships to improve current market sales and to enhance sales of secondary cuts of beef. Thanks are due to Milestones Restaurants, Panago Pizza, Quizno’s Canada and abc Country Restaurants for their participation. Two abattoir feasibility studies were funded for Cranbrook and Telkwa area applicants.

Click here to view:

• Complete Evaluation Report (2MB  PDF)
• Evaluation Summary (376KB  PDF)