Beef certification program launches incentive
Beef producers who are Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef certified will receive $400 in October 2026 as part of the recently launched CRSB Certified Producer Incentive.
Certified producers, those who maintain and update certification and who earn certification before June 30, 2026, are currently eligible for the incentive payment as long as they’ve completed related eligibility requirements, including:
Read Also
Iran conflict drives up urea prices
The war in Iran is already driving up urea prices in North American and will likely impact phosphate as well, say analysts.
- Agreeing to share information with the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) for chain of custody purposes.
- Submitting cattle birth dates into the Canadian Livestock Tracking System (CLTS) if they’re a cow-calf operation.
- Submitting move-in events on the CLTS if they’re a backgrounding or feedlot operation.
This incentive program is entirely funded by CRSB and replaces the previous Cargill Recognition Credit.
That credit was a “top up” payment to fill the gap between $400, the maximum for the Recognition Credit, and the amount that the operation earned via Cargill Qualifying Cattle Credits for cattle that qualified for a CRSB Claim processed by Cargill.
The CRSB incentive will provide the full $400 for all eligible producers in 2026, regardless of where cattle are processed.
Payment amounts will shift going forward because they will be calculated based on available funds from beef sold and then evenly distributed to eligible beef producers. CRSB payment dollars are from the three cents per pound contributed from every certified sustainable beef sold.
According to the CRSB website, 1,243 Canadian farms and ranches are currently CRSB certified, which totals 4.8 million acres of grazing land. Approximately 48 per cent of these are cow-calf operations, 10 per cent are feedlots and 42 per cent are combinations of cow-calf, feedlots and backgrounding operations as self-reported by the certified producers. These numbers have stayed steady throughout the years, but hasn’t increased by much.
“Most of the people that are part of CRSB are a little bit disappointed that we haven’t been able to grow that number,” said CRSB chair Ryan Beierbach.
“So I guess part of the hope with this incentive is it will help address some of the producer concerns, to help grow the number of farms and ranches that are certified.”
There’s currently a slight “bottleneck” at the cow-calf level in the CRSB certification chain. Most feedlots and packing plants are certified because if they’re Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) certified, they’re also CRSB, making the cow-calf operations a CRSB priority.
A cattle producer himself, Beierbach certified his 700 head cow-calf operation with CRSB eight years ago. For him, joining the program and being a part of CRSB is a way to show that Canadian beef is environmentally conscious and sustainable.
“Ten years ago, we’d hear people talking about how cattle are bad for the environment,” he said.
“And as ranchers, we knew that it wasn’t true, but there wasn’t really a way for us to tell our story. The CRSB is a way that I can help tell my story and show that in Canada, we do a really good job of raising cattle.”
The new certification incentive is intended to show appreciation to producers for taking the time and effort to become and maintain being certified.
While the payment does provide an incentive, Beierbach said he mainly sees it as a “thank you” and a chance to share the positive actions of farms and ranches.
The certification process is typically only a few months from beginning to end, depending on the availability of the certification body and its auditors.
There is a combination of on-site and off-site verifications, including risk assessments, records audits and operation assessment. Certification criteria areestablished by the CRSB but carried out by the certification body, either VBP+ or Where Food Comes From.
“The biggest part is when they do the on-farm verification,” Beierbach said.
“Somebody came to my place and probably took maybe four or five hours. They kind of went through and asked me a bunch of questions about what we do.”
The main focus was on animal management, including medication withdrawal times and records, as well as worker safety and environmental practices. The on-site assessment is a pass-fail, with the minimum standard required to continue.
“I passed the first time, so there wasn’t anything that I needed to correct,” he said.
“But the way I understand is, if there’s some things that you don’t meet the minimum standard on, they’ll tell you what you need to correct. Then you do that, and then you can complete the certification once you’ve corrected those things.”
Producers interested in becoming certified must also have at least six months worth of records with which to be assessed, including animal health records, deaths, birth dates and shipping dates.
Once a farm is certified, annual record audits are conducted to maintain certification. An on-site assessment is required every five years.
To reap the biggest reward, animals must maintain certification throughout the entire custody chain until they get to a Cargill processing plant, in which case each handler of the animal from producer to feedlot will receive $20 per head as part of the Cargill animal qualifying payment.
The custody chain doesn’t need to be upheld for a producer to receive the new incentive payment, which is good news for Beierbach, who said he “believes in the auction system.”
“Usually, I sell them on a video sale, and I’ll put on the description that they’re CRSB certified and eligible for that program,” he said.
“And then I just kind of hope that a feedlot will want to buy those cattle because they see value in that.”
He could also go to the VBP+ website to find certified feelots and sell to them directly.
Source: producer.com