Agricultural News
Industry Has High Expectations for Integrity Beef Project to Improve and Strengthen Relationships
Thu, 09 Mar 2017 12:09:27 CST
Several years ago the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation created the Integrity Beef Alliance among the different players of the beef supply chain. Today, that group has grown into its own nonprofit organization and has launched recently a two-year pilot project that will follow beef cattle from the cow/calf operation, through the feeder and packing phases and eventually the end consumer with Tyson and McDonald's. The hope is that the program, being called the Integrity Beef Sustainable Beef Project, will help the supply chain connect the dots of where increased efficiencies can be made. One of the leaders of this pilot, John Butler of the Beef Marketing Group, spoke to Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays about his hopes, going into this project.
"First of all, we're really excited that we have the chance to connect, to participate with the Integrity Beef Program," Butler said, enthusiastic about the insights he'll learn from the standpoint of a packer working in tandem with representatives of the other segments of the supply chain. "Those cattle will come to us with some history, with some information that should allow us to do a better job in our piece of the supply chain managing those cattle through the feeding phase and making a more efficient product for the packer."
Butler says this project will not only streamline the beef chain, but should also build trust between the segments of the supply chain as well and help them learn to better communicate. He says this should strengthen relationships within an industry that has been known to hold mistrust.
"Traditionally, yeah, there has been," Butler agreed "because they don't see things with a common vision and I think what we're seeing now is that changing to where we're looking at this as partners and truly like a supply chain. That kind of opportunity is driving some of these barriers to be broken down and allowing us to get more transparent and more trusting from segment to segment."
Listen to Hays' interview with Butler speaking on the opportunities associated with the Integrity Beef sustainability project, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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