Beef Cattle Code of Practice - Progress Updates

February 2025

The beef cattle Code Committee (CC) had a productive, two-day meeting in January. Thanks to the diligent work by the subcommittees who met (online) throughout the fall, the CC was able to essentially come to consensus on three chapters of the updated Code of Practice:  

• Animal Environment (e.g. protection from extreme weather, handling facilities)  
• Feed and Water (e.g. body condition, feed management) 
• On-Farm Euthanasia (e.g. criteria for euthanasia, acceptable methods).  

Building on initial discussions on transport at the previous meetings, the committee also made good progress on the updated transport chapter and will continue those discussions in the winter/spring with emphasis on recommended practices for that chapter.   

The Scientific Committee (SC) has also made great progress having now completed two chapters of their report (End-of-Life Management and Pain Control for Pain and Painful Procedures). The Chair of the Scientific Committee presented both chapters to the CC, and the research served as a key point of departure for the committee’s discussions on how to approach those topics in the updated Code. The SC is now working on the remaining chapters of their research report on priority welfare issues.  

In addition to detailed consideration of the content in each section of the Code, the CC is also in a good routine of taking an important step back to consider the topics more broadly, identify content that may need to be addressed consistently across the Code of Practice, and ensure they are giving due consideration to priorities identified at the outset of the project, including those from the top-of-mind survey.  

The next in-person meeting for the Code Committee has been scheduled for May 2025. 

October 2024

This fall, subgroups of the Code Committee are meeting (virtually) to discuss draft updates to three chapters of the beef cattle Code of Practice: Animal Environment, Feed and Water, and Transport. This work will allow them to consider, in greater detail, some of the main themes that were identified through the top-of-mind survey notably ensuring cattle receive sufficient feed and water, protection from the elements, and proper care and handling in preparation for loading and transport. One focus of their work on the transport chapter will be to further update it to align with the 2019 federal animal transport regulations.

In keeping with the Code process, other Canadian and international standards or assessment tools that may have implications for Canadian beef producers are being reviewed. The Code Committee has worked to ensure it considers a broad range of relevant standards covering all facets of beef production and any production type applicable to the Canadian context. 

Lastly, in-person and online meetings of the full Code Committee have been scheduled for January and May, and work on the Scientific Committee’s report on Priority Welfare Issues is also underway. Two chapters of this report will be prepared in advance of the January Code meetings and, after that research has been presented, the Code Committee will begin deliberating on specific ways to incorporate the research findings into the updated Code of Practice.

August 2024

First meeting – June 5 and 6, 2024 

Prior to this inaugural meeting, the Code Committee attended an online webinar covering the main aspects of the Code Development Process. The June face-to-face meeting followed soon after and was attended by both the Code Committee and Scientific Committee. This busy, two-day meeting had a varied format including roundtable discussions, presentations, and small-group breakout sessions. Committee members got to know each other through detailed introductions and discussed the main themes from a recent online survey that captured top-of-mind welfare topics for beef cattle (a summary of the survey input is available here).

Other highlights of the meeting included an overview of the beef cattle industry today along with the main strategies to ensure uptake and awareness of the current beef cattle Code of Practice. Building on a review of the principles of consensus, participants developed a shared purpose statement that will serve to guide their work together. Lastly, a list of priority welfare issues was agreed to (available here). These topics will form the basis of the Scientific Committee’s research report (the 2012 report is available here).

In advance of the next face-to-face meeting, the Code Committee (and subgroups of that committee) will have a series of online meetings to begin working on updated draft sections of the Code. The Scientific Committee will begin its review of research on the priority welfare issues.