Beef Producer Attitudes to Farm Assurance Schemes in Canada and the UK

Meat quality and safety systems around the world are experiencing unprecedented change. In many cases this is leading to closer vertical coordination along the supply chain, including participation by producers in farm assurance schemes. This paper reports the results of a survey of beef producers in the UK and Canada regarding their attitudes towards farm assurance schemes. Both British and Canadian beef producers indicated that closer vertical and horizontal coordination were important to the future prosperity of the beef industry. In the UK, the severe food contamination crises of recent years and the pressure from retailer 'channel captains' have had a noticeable impact, with UK producers more likely to be members of a farm quality assurance scheme. The drivers for change in Canada have been weaker and as such, movement towards closer vertical coordination has been slower.