Livestock Innovation

LRIC in the news 

Funding opportunities

• Ontario Pork open call for research letters of intent: closing date October 13, 2023
• Beef Cattle Research Council proof of concept proposals: closing date September 5, 2023
• Rapid Response for Business Development: ongoing

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

Mentorship Program

The 2023/24 Mentorship Program which works to quickly and positively connect early career faculty with the livestock industry is planning for the 4th class.  Applications are being accepted prior to September 26, 2024

Learn more about the program and apply by clicking here.

Sector-specific innovation highlights*

Poultry: Teaming up to tackle avian influenza

A new national consortium of researchers and government in the UK has come together to develop strategies to deal with avian influenza. The UK has experienced a record number of AI cases, and the collaboration will work on understanding how current strains are spreading, how they enter poultry facilities and the connections between the virus, wild birds and farmed poultry. 

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Swine: Reducing post-weaning diarrhea with sugar beets 

Supplementing the diets of newly weaned pigs with dietary fibre is one strategy to boost piglet health and performance. Finnish research has shown that a feed ingredient made of sugar beet pulp improves piglet growth, reduces diarrhea, influences gut health and increases the production of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acide that supports digestive health.  

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Beef: New technology to help control semen quality

A Scottish company has developed a new tool to better monitor bull fertility. Their system enables greater analysis of semen quality, which is important as semen motility varies dramatically based on how long semen has been stored and how much it has been processed. 

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Dairy: Daffodils as a methane reducer

Researchers from Scotland's Rural College have extracted a chemical from daffodils that in a lab, has shown it can reduce dairy cow methane emissions by up to 96%. In a commercial farm setting, researchers are expecting a reduction of approximately 30%.

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Cross-sector innovation highlights*

Grazing: Virtual fencing could make grazing more sustainable

Virtual fencing systems for livestock have the potential to make grazing less labour intensive for farmers - and in turn, more adaptable, suggest researchers from Poznan University of Life Sciences. The precision technology, which is being brought to market by various companies around the world, would also open up new grazing opportunities for available land where conventional fencing isn't possible. 

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Emergency preparedness: Getting ready for Foot and Mouth Disease

The Canadian government has announced funding for a vaccine bank and preparedness plans to protect the country's livestock against the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the event of an outbreak. FMD is an internationally reportable disease with global trade implications, particularly for heavily export-dependent livestock producing countries like Canada. 

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Insect protein: Black Soldier Fly could replace soy in livestock rations

Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark are working to replace soy in swine, cattle and poultry rations with protein from Black Solider Fly. Their hope is to ultimately make Black Soldier Fly production circular by feeding the fly larvae with agri-food wastes that currently have to be disposed of. Much of the soy currently used in European livestock feed production is imported from Brazil. 

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On the horizon*

"Sustainable" diets come with nutrition deficiency risks, professor says

A professor at the University of Surrey in the UK believes plant-focused diets could place consumers at risk of micronutrient deficiences. According to Prof. Sarah Bath, the findings of a systematic review of 141 global studies found an overall decrease in the intake and status of vitamins B12 and D, iron, iodine, zinc and calcium in people following a predominantly plant-based diet. At least two billion people globally are affected by at least one micronutrient deficiency. 

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Regenerative agriculture doesn't have to be contentious

According to Canadian agronomist Shane Thomas, many Canadian farmers are already practicing the five component principles of regenerative agriculture. On the farm, what should matter, he says, is focusing on the outcomes rather than the label - optimising profitability and productivity with the least environmental impact. The practices and principles that are considered to make up regenerative agricuture are: minimizing soil disturbance, crop diverstity, keeping soil covered year round, grazing animals on land, and reducing synthetic fertilizer and crop protection use. 

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*Articles in this newsletter are selected for relevance and interest to the livestock sector. LRIC does not verify claims made by the article authors and we recognize that not all data is specific to Ontario. The intent is to select articles that will expose readers to issues, perceptions and developments that have the potential to impact livestock production. 

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.

The Livestock Innovation Corporation is funded in part by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.