Livestock Innovation

LRIC in the news

Ontario Beef, May 2022: Reporting on what matters – the need for balance in the livestock sector

Canadian Poultry, June 2022: Bringing a balanced GHG story to the table

News release, June 13, 2022: LRIC names Early Career Research Award recipients

Funding opportunities

Please visit LRIC's website for more information on currently open funding opportunities.

Sector-specific innovation highlights

Poultry: RFID smooths the path to progress in turkey breeding

RFID technology is helping to improve sustainability in turkey breeding. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has long been used to track and trace animals, but Hybrid Turkeys has adapted and integrated the technology into its breeding program, improving the rate, accuracy and sustainability of genetic progress.

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Swine: Crickets to replace fish and soybean meal in piglet rations, study says

Partially replacing either fish or soybean meal in weaner pig rations with full-fat field cricket meal has been shown to promote growth performance and gut health, according to the results of a new study. Crickets are a promising, widely available protein source for pigs with the potential to solve cost and availability issues plaguing other proteins.

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Beef: Satellite tracking of cows still a work in progress

An Alberta cow-calf operation is trialing GPS-enabled smart tags from Australia in its herd in an effort to track location data, ambient animal temperature and animal activity levels. Although the tags are chunkier and a bit more delicate than conventional tags, the biggest barrier to entry at this point is cost. 

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Dairy: Software can boost accuracy of antibiotic use tracking on farms

Research on UK dairy farms has found that farmers need to use digital tools in a more sophisticated manner to record information around their use of antibiotics on the farm. Led by the Royal Veterinary College, the study found that farmers’ perceptions on recording accuracy does not match reality and software is more accurate than paper in capturing antibiotic use data.

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Small ruminants: Climate tax on sheep and cattle

New Zealand is set to become the first country in the world to tax farmers for the methane emissions of their sheep and cattle. It's part of the island nation's efforts to tackle one of its largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2020, New Zealand was home to 36 million sheep, beef and dairy cattle. 

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Cross-sector innovation highlights

Cultured meat: Funding to speed up cultivated meat commercialization

Food tech company SuperMeat has received funding from the Israeli Innovation Authority to set up a new open source system for cellular meat ingredients. It's expected this will significantly lower production costs and speed up the process - two barriers that have been inhibiting growth and development of this new industry. 

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Livestock feed: Protein alternatives for livestock rations

Insects are continuing to attract attention as an interesting and cost-effective new protein source for livestock feed, particularly to offset soybeans. In fact, insect genetics company Beta Bugs believes feeding insect protein to poultry will be a normal choice for UK producers in the next five years. 

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On the horizon

Agriculture is the Achilles' heel of Europe's methane strategy

More action is needed from the meat and dairy sectors in Europe if the European Union is hoping to meet the targets of its own Climate Target Plan, as well as those of the Global Methane Pledge. Notably, this means reducing livestock numbers, says a new report.

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How conscientious consumption is driving sustainable nutrition

The environmental and health impacts of food need to be considered in tandem if food and beverage brands are to deliver on the promise of sustainable nutrition, food industry voices say. That doesn't mean it's necessary to choose between the two. 

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Thanks for reading. We'd love to hear your feedback about LRIC - both about what we're doing and what you think we should be doing! Please contact us at info@livestockresearch.ca with any questions or comments.