Discovering the realities of the 2023 Canadian calf crop

The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) is asking cow-calf producers to share insight into their on-farm management practices and production methods.

The 2023 Canadian Cow-Calf Survey is an online questionnaire that will collect data to help understand trends in production practices and efficiencies over time.

Collecting credible information directly from beef cattle producers helps the BCRC identify research priorities and information gaps, develop provincial benchmarks, and examine changes over time that impact farms and ranches.

It will take approximately 30-60 minutes to complete the questions, which relate to 2023 calf crops, starting with breeding in Summer 2022 and ending with weaning in Fall 2023.

Individuals’ identity and information will remain anonymous and in the strictest of confidence. Information will be pooled with other respondents before being published in aggregate. Information collected will be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. Results will be published on BeefResearch.ca in 2024.

Results of past cow-calf production surveys have found, for example, an upward trend in preg-checking over time. The most recent survey, nearly five years ago, reported that approximately half of producers in Atlantic Canada and two-thirds of producers in Central and Western Canada regularly preg-check.

Previous cow-calf production surveys were conducted provincially and regionally between 2013 and 2017 in Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. The 2023 Canadian Cow-Calf Survey is an abbreviated and amalgamated replacement, and was developed in collaboration with the following regional expertise:

• Kathy Larson, Saskatchewan;
• Katie Wood, Ontario;
• Nathalie Cote, Quebec;
• Maxime d’Almeida, Quebec
• Amy Higgins, Maritimes

The BCRC is an industry-funded council comprised of beer producers from across Canada. The council allocates a portion of the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off to advance research, extension, and innovation for beef and forage producers.

The first 200 producers to answer all the survey questions are eligible to receive a BCRC toque and a pair of cotton gloves.