The Canadian Cattlemen's Association

It is strongly recommended that participating producers acquire an official Premise ID from the CLTS or through their provincial traceability program.

Additional data and information producers may wish to include on their animals, and share and include for searching functions publicly, is strictly optional.

4. As a feedlot operator/owner - what information do I have to submit?

Feedlots wishing to become members in BIXS are required to submit:

The RFID/CCIA tag numbers of BIXS cattle entering their feedlot
The in-date of those BIXS cattle entering the feedlot
The in-weight of the BIXS cattle entering the feedlot
Whether the feedlot is a Verified Beef Production operation
The animal’s 1 to 5 health score upon Move-out (see feedlot section)

It is strongly recommended that participating producers acquire an official Premise ID from the CLTS or through their provincial traceability program.

It is highly recommended that if you are a feedlot operator who will be enrolling in BIXS at a later date to start collecting and storing the required individual animal data upon the animals entering the feedlot and at move-out and linking the data to the individual animal’s RFID/CCIA tag identifier.

5. As a packer/processor - what information do I have to submit?

Packers/processors, as members of BIXS, are required to submit:

Their premise ID
Animal’s RFID/CCIA tag number
Slaughter date
Hot carcass weight
Quality grade
Yield grade
Grade fat measures

As a packer/processor, you have a variety of optional additional information you can choose to enter - including electronic carcass data and actual yield percentage.

6. What are the computer requirements for me to access BIXS and start my registration process?

BIXS will function for those systems with at least 256 megs RAM utilizing XP, Vista Operating Systems, or Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0 as well as the newest Firefox browser versions. Other browsers such as the newest versions of Google Chrome and Safari may work but are not officially supported at this time.

We anticipate support for Internet Explorer 9.0 as well when released later this year.

Testing is underway for the Mac Operating System using the Safari web browser. Testing results to date have not revealed any issues but users should be aware that use of Mac is not officially supported at this time. We will provide further updates for Mac users as they become available.

At a minimum, a dial-up connection that allows you to connect to the Internet via a local server using a standard 56k modem will be required to access the BIXS system. However, we highly recommend a high speed internet connection when accessing BIXS to take advantage of all the features.

7. Is it complicated to upload data and access the BIXS program?

The registration, login and data upload process for BIXS is designed to be as simple, quick and easy to use as possible.

Getting “hooked-up” does require a basic understanding of web-based Internet functions. However, if you prefer to have someone undertake this process and upload your data for you, BIXS has enabled a process for requesting and implementing third-party authorization (see “Click here to Access BIXS via a Third Party” icon on the BIXS home page). The process requires your authorization and confirmation for someone to manage your information on your behalf.

8. Can I participate if my farm Internet connection is dial-up?

Yes, the BIXS program will be designed to accommodate low band width (dial-up) connections but with a caveat. If your dial-up connection is slow or intermittent, access to BIXS may be problematic. User feedback will be evaluated but at this time it’s felt that a minimum dial-up connection rate of 56.6 baud uninterrupted will be the baseline. If you are on dial-up and access is problematic then accessing through a third party may be the best approach.

9. As a high-speed internet user, do I need to do anything special to access BIXS?

No – if you have a high-speed Internet connection you can access the BIXS portal directly via the BIXS website (see register/login manager right side of Home page).

10. Do I have to upload traceability data to BIXS and CCIA separately?

No - this is not a requirement for BIXS. However if you want to set this up, it can be done at your request and confirmation.

CCA and the CCIA have entered into an information sharing agreement. This means if BIXS member participants upload their traceability and age data to BIXS then the BIXS will upload that information on your behalf to CCIA. For the early launch period all access to BIXS must come direct and not via CCIA. In time if BIXS participants wish to continue to deal strictly with the CCIA they would indicate they are BIXS members and the necessary value data, including age verification data, and traceability information on their animals will be seamlessly streamed from the CCIA system to BIXS. At this time though, data stream access to BIXS via CCIA is not an option.

This information sharing allows BIXS to offer a one-stop solution for those producers seeking to become members.

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Security/Privacy/Technical Help

11. Who built and manages BIXS?

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association oversees the design and operation of BIXS. The CCA has contracted the IT firm FooldLogiQ Canada to develop and deliver the BIXS program under the Canadian Beef Advantage (CBA).

12. Is my data secure?

Absolutely. Confidentiality and security is paramount to BIXS, which uses a standards-based approach to assure superior security.

For example, BIXS utilizes Sun Open SSO identity management, where all access is governed by security rules within the system. Only those approved to do so can access qualified data.

13. Where is the database housed?

The database is housed in Alberta, Canada.

14. Who has access to the data housed within the database?

Authorized users via the security model in BIXS will have access to the database. FoodLogiQ Canada support staff will also have access to the database to help maintain the system.

15. Who oversees the security of the BIXS program, ensuring privacy, preventing abuse and providing technical support?

The Program Administrator will have the ability and responsibility for all functions of the BIXS program as they relate to program registration, access, security, searches, member communications, data analysis and reporting.

The Program Administrator is legally bound to confidentiality through an agreement with CCA.

To participate, BIXS users must agree to conditions associated with the absolute authority of the Program Administrator.

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Benefits of participating in the BIXS program

16. Will I automatically get a premium for my cattle if I enroll in BIXS?

Not necessarily. The main purpose of BIXS is to create a means whereby individual animal and carcass performance, health, genetic and other information can be captured, uploaded and exchanged across the beef chain according to the animal’s CCIA tag number.

BIXS enables better communication between the cow-calf, feedlot and packing sectors on an individual animal basis and offers a way for producers to develop business relationships. As those business relationships form, premiums may indeed come. The search function built into BIXS will spur the development of these business relationships and may well pave the way to premiums being paid for animals meeting a certain spec BIXS member feedlots, buyers or packer/processors are seeking.

But at the beginning, the value in BIXS is in the sharing of specific data and information on individual animals and their carcasses up and down the chain.

17. How can I use the individual animal and carcass data I get back?

A vast amount of the individual animal/carcass data and information you get back through BIXS can be scrutinized to identify opportunities or shortcomings in cow-calf and feedlot management, performance and profitability, which can help assess and possibly make culling decisions make production and management decisions on trends identified. Beef software and IT companies, some of which are partnered with BIXS, can take the analysis much deeper and evaluate trends and possibilities that may otherwise be missed were the data not captured and exchanged via BIXS. BIXS is also in a gate-to-plate pilot study to see if a system linking retail cuts back to cow-calf source, sire/dam, can be developed. If so, this presents a huge potential for cow-calf producers to make profitable breeding decisions with confidence based on solid retail market signals.

18. How are my cattle and carcass data shared?

The member submitting data and information dictates how it will be shared.

The primary business rule of BIXS states that anyone who registers an animal’s CCIA tag number to their BIXS account number and enacts an event on that tag number has access to the basic required information as well as any optional information other member participants have submitted and agreed to share on that specific animal.

Some participants may choose not to share their optional data, but, instead, share the data once business relationships develop, or share it as a means to foster those relationships. Anyway you cut it the decision is the participant’s.

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Benefits of uploading optional production and management information

19. Why would I choose to upload optional production and management information on my cattle?

It enables you to add further description of your cattle to potential buyers, differentiating unique aspects of your animals featuring specific information on your cattle, breeding program, animal health protocols, management, feedlot performance and much more. In time, the negotiated settlement of cattle trade up and down the chain is based on good hard data on performance, health, genetics, carcass quality and more.

Capturing and uploading optional data enables this information to be showcased as well as tracked and reported on by BIXS.

Accurate descriptors of your cattle will be essential, as this provides potential buyers with information that will help them determine how to feed or use your cattle to the best advantage.

According to the data sharing conditions members consent to, uploading optional data enables packers, feedlots and buyers up the chain to connect to your cow-calf or feedlot animals that fit a specification they require to access a target market.

20. Am I obliged to contact a person or company if I’m notified that some or all of my cattle meet the search criteria of a feedlot, packer or buyer within BIXS?

No - the decision whether to make contact with a BIXS participant who has launched a search through the Program Administrator is solely up to you. However, you can decide to release contact information for release to participants via reports to those who register your animal’s CCIA tag number to their BIXS account under the primary business rule of BIXS.

You will be provided with the contact information of the searcher and it’s up to you as to if you respond to that search query.

Searchers will not be informed of the outcome of a search nor the contact information of any BIXS participants the PA has identified through a database search report. Confidentiality of the cow-calf BIXS member participant is maintained.

21. Why would I want to contact a searcher when I’m notified that my cattle match the search criteria of a potential feedlot, packer or buyer?

The primary reason to make contact with a searcher would be to initiate the sale of your cattle or sourcing animals that match their requirements. Business relationships develop over time and often lead to improved information flow-back and potentially bolstered prices for certain cattle characteristics.

In time, trust builds between suppliers and buyers, which enable them to more effectively, find the cattle that work for them and perhaps modify their programs to fit certain demand.

Most importantly for the long term is knowing where your cattle are fed, how they performed and graded and this enables you to make changes to improve profitability at the farm and/or feedlot segments.

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Additional advantages of participating in BIXS

22. Will the CCA and BIXS run analyses on the data I submit to the BIXS database?

BIXS will provide a limited and basic amount of data reporting and benchmarking for member participants. BIXS encourages producers and feedlots to tap the expertise of existing IT firms who offer a much broader range of data analyses options for interpretation of data provided through BIXS. Some of these companies will partner with BIXS.

23. How will the reports BIXS generates on my cattle and the overall BIXS population data help my operation?

The reports provided by BIXS will have the ability to highlight obvious problems or advantages. These include analyses of the top 10 and bottom 10 per cent of your herd against the general BIXS population for such variables as average daily gain in the feedlot; weaning weights; quality and yield grades.

The program will also provide a comparative analysis on variables like animal health score in the feedlot. The information provided back could enable more strategic breeding and management practices.

24. Will the BIXS program be validated for data integrity?

Yes - initially BIXS will conduct a limited internal validation (audit) function that will evolve over a short time period to a more robust standardized process. The system will have error checks built into it and the program administrator will have access to validate data that is out-of-range, or may appear as a data-entry error or statistical anomaly.

BIXS founding members are the Canadian Cattlemen's Association and the Canadian Beef Breeds Council.