We were excited to meet with Thomas Brandstetter, Evan Chaffe, Jordan Miller, and Darby Wheeler of Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO), one of OLIP’s generous partners. As the voice of cattle farmers, BFO represents over 19,000 farmers across the province and advocates on several issues that impact the beef industry. For example, our guests discussed a range of issues including market development, sustainability, animal health and care, and increasing domestic and international recognition of Ontario farmers’ high-quality beef.
During our discussion, we were interested to hear about BFO’s recent innovations to grow the beef industry and better support Ontario cattle farmers, particularly in northern regions of the province. For instance, BFO recently supported the development of tele-veterinarian services to deliver medical services and resources to farmers, even those in remote areas. Coming into this meeting with little prior knowledge of the beef industry, we were interested to hear that BFO is also committed to supporting innovation that improves the environmental sustainability of beef production. Through innovation in water management and new grazing and feeding methods, as well as improving meat processing capacity, BFO is helping to improve the sustainability of Ontario’s beef.
Lastly, we were interested to hear about BFO’s other priorities, including supporting a shift in consumer preferences towards locally-produced agricultural products. Since many beef farmers in Ontario are smaller-scale, local producers, this shift is creating advantageous opportunities for these farmers across the province.
Thank you to Messrs. Brandstetter, Chaffe, Miller, and Wheeler for an engaging and informative conversation, and to BFO for their support of OLIP!