Livestock Innovation

LRIC in the news

Coming events

April 19, 2023: Getting Research into Practice event, Elora ON

More details here

May 17, 2023: Poultry Industry Council Research Impact Day, Elora ON

Register here

June 1, 2023: LRIC annual general meeting, Elora ON. 

Recordings from past LRIC events

Livestock and data use Horizon Series webinar with Martin Gooch and Karen Hand

Livestock and plastic use Horizon Series webinar with Dr. Erica Pensini

More to food than composition - comparing the A&W Beyond burger to real hamburger with Dr. Michael Rogers

Funding opportunities

Please visit LRIC's website for more information on upcoming and currently open funding opportunities, including: 

• Beef Researcher Mentorship Program 2023-24
• Rapid Response for Business Development

Sector-specific innovation highlights

Poultry: Enriched environment helps birds manage stress

Chickens raised in an enriched environment are better able to cope with stressful situations, according to new research from Linkoping University in Sweden. In the study, birds exposed to stressors like unpredictable movement and irregular noise and light intervals.

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Swine: Precision tech better than humans at detecting health issues

A visual precision-livestock technology has outperformed expert humans in identifying behavioural signs of illness in pigs. This is according to a study from Kansas State University, where researchers used camera technology and machine learning-based software they found to have a consistently-higher rate of diagnostic accuracy than a veterinarian and trained technician when faced with pigs showing sickness symptoms.

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Beef: Does feeding cattle hemp influence what's in the meat?

Scientists from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service and North Dakota State University have found that very low levels of cannabinoids were found in beef muscle, liver, kidney and fat tissues when cattle were fed hempseed cake, an industry hemp byproduct. However, the concentrations of these compounds in meat products contributed only a small fraction of the total amount global regulatory organizations consider safe for consumers.

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Dairy: Tackling methane emissions in Africa

Scotland’s Rural College and International Livestock Research Institute have received funding to help develop a selection index for breeding more envrionmentally-friendly dairy cows for smallholder farms in Africa. The goal is to breed a smallholder dairy ‘enviro-cow’ – an animal which has less impact on the environment, is better at utilising feed, and is altogether more productive and efficient.

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Cross-sector innovation highlights

Reproduction: New research facility looks to boost livestock repro

The new Animal Reproduciton and Biotechnology Centre at Texas A&M University is hoping to increase understanding of animal reproduction at a molecular, cellular and whole animal level to improve reproduction. Reproductive failure in livestock species results in millions of dollars of profits lost annually, according to the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

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Climate change: Increased costs could decimate livestock profitability

The UK-based environmental, social and governance (ESG) investor network FAIRR says that higher costs related to climate change - such as higher feed prices and expected carbon taxes - could eliminate profitability for half of the world's largest livestock producers if they don't take steps to mitigate  risk. So far, only 11 of the top 40 companies on FAIRR's list publicly shared how they plan to do that.

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Cellular agriculture: Italy bans lab-grown foods, cites need to protect its traditions

The Italian government has approved a bill banning the use of cellular food and animal feed as a way of protecting its agricultural heritage. The country's government has also renamed its agriculture ministry the "ministry for agriculture and food sovereignty", and is looking to introduce labelling for foods containing insects or insect-derived products, like cricket flour. 

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On the horizon

Innovation: Meet five top promising livestock ag tech start-ups

Livestock technology innovators made their pitches to investors at the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit last months. Five of the most innovative start-ups included:

BovIQ (USA): mobile app for farmers and ranchers to certify calves and optimize pastures.

Hoofprint Biome (USA): engineered probiotics that eliminate methane production in cattle

Organicin Scientific (USA): bacteriocins to treat and prevent bacterial disease.

TurboCow (Latvia): precision real-time remote mastitis diagnostic system

Volur (Norway): cloud based artificial intelligence software to maximize carcass value.

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Eating for the environment: "planet-friendly" diet leaves nutrition gap

New research by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) suggests the highly touted EAT-Lancet diet released in 2019 doesn't provide enough essential vitamins and minerals to nourish the global population due to its low amount of animal source foods. The so-called planetary health diet recommended a 50% decrease in the global consumption of red meat and sugar, and a more than two-fold increase in consumption of nuts, fruits, legumes and vegetables. 

Note: LRIC's 2019 annual general meeting featured a presentation on the EAT-Lancet reference diet by Claire Gleason of Virginia Tech and her research into its feasibility and impacts. 

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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.