Superior livestock traceability fundamental to Canadian export market diversification

In the item “Countdown begins for traceability” by "Miranda Leybourne" in the 2025-07-02 Western Producer Rick Wright, Chief Executive Officer of the Livestock Markets Association of Canada (LMAC), was quoted:

The new regulations will position Canada ahead of the United States in livestock traceability, according to Wright, who recently returned from the Livestock Marketing Association convention in the U.S.

“They are way behind us on traceability and the understanding of traceability, the understanding of the need for a better traceability system,” he said.

“We certainly will be positioning ourselves for a better position in the global market by getting this done.”

The timing is particularly relevant given current trade considerations. Having a robust traceability system provides advantages in international markets, especially as Canada looks to diversify its export destinations, Wright said.

“One of the mainstays that we’ve talked about since the Trump administration has come back into play is being less reliant on the U.S. for our export markets, and certainly having a robust traceability system will give us a little bit of a foot up over some of our other competitors when it comes to trading internationally.”

We concur. Universal and reliable livestock animal traceability, which Canada will offers after implementation of the proposed regulation, currently anticipated for early 2027, will provide unique and sustainable competitive advantage for Canadian beef exporters.

By adopting the only digitization solution built by Ranchers for Ranchers, offering unconstrained and accurate digital data collection from the animals side, ranchers adopting Flokk will be able to easily and affordably adopt demanding EU traceability requirements when opportune to do so.

Looking forward, with adoption of RFID identifiers for inter-state transfers in November 2024 the US began implementation of universal livestock animal traceability similar to Canadian practice. Flokk, proven at scale in Canada, will be ideally positioned to enter and dominate digitization of US commercial cow/calf traceability reporting.