Livestock Innovation

LRIC in the news 

Funding opportunities

• Ontario Pork open call for research letters of intent: closing date October 13, 2023
• Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance call for proposals:  deadline 1 pm ET, November 7, 2023
• Beef Cattle Research Council pilot funding initiative for regional extension/GRIP/KTT activities: ongoing
• 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: Mosquitos a nutritous feed source?

Greek researchers have analyzed the nutritional profile of three mosquito species and found they are high in protein and rich in antioxidants and minerals. Based on their observations, they suggested the insects might have potential as a feed source for poultry. A next step would be evaluating the performance and safety of feedng mosquitos to poultry.

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Swine: Boosting gut health with fermented bamboo

New research from China has shown that fermented bamboo fibre can alleviate intestinal and systemic inflammation in sows and piglets. In the study, sows fed four per cent fermented bamboo fibre from day 80 to the end of lactation showed less backfat loss, higher average daily feed intake, and yield and quality improvements in their milk. China is the world's largest producer of bamboo.

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Beef: Establishing flavour profiles for beef

Although beef quality has traditionally been measured mostly by tenderness, that's no longer enough in a world where consumers consider that characteristic a given. A sensory scientist and flavour chemist at the University of Queensland suggests the beef industry should be highlighting the unique flavour qualities stemming from the envrionment, genetics and the way cattle are managed and treated - similar to the way the wine industry defines and promotes its qualities.

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Dairy: Minor changes can have big impacts on water use

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher Andrew VanderZaag says monitoring dairy cows' water use has many different benefits. This includes direct impacts on animal health and production but also minimizing costs for water system maintenance, reducing liquid manure storage capacity needs, and improving environmental sustainability.

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Small ruminants: Breeding low carbon footprint sheep

In the UK, the sheep sector has launched an industry-wide project to breed low methane sheep. The three-year project will measure methane emissions from a total of 13,500 sheep in 45 flocks, collect data and build and develop tools to genetically reduce methane emissions and improve the efficiency of the national flock.

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Cross-sector innovation highlights*

Animal health: UK research to tackle endemic livestock diseases

The Endemic Livestock Research Initiative in the UK has provided funding to 14 new projects in the beef, sheep, poultry, dairy and swine sectors. Nine of the projects focus on technologies to advance disease monitoring, diagnosis and prevention, such as lameness prevention in dairy cattle, preventing production drops in free-range laying hen flocks and rapid diagnostic testing for infected sheep and cattle.

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Climate change: Helping livestock deal with heat stress

In developed countries, farmers are turning to technology to help livestock deal with heat stress, from fans and misters for cattle to cooling pads for pigs. According to the Lancet Planetary Health study, farmers in less developed countries will also need access to technologies that can keep livestock productive in extreme heat.

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Cybersecurity: Activists targeting farms with cyberterror

University of Guelph cybersecurity expert Dr. Ali Gehghantanha says the ag industry should be paying more attention to cybersecurity threats following a ransomware attack on an Ontario hog farm. Although most ransomware threats come with demands for payment, some cyberterrorists are more focused on disrupting the food system.

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On the horizon*

Creating food out of thin air

A new alternative protein is emerging - creating food from captured carbon dioxide. CO2 protein is produced in bioreactors using fermentation, a process that generates a protein flour that can be used to make everything from alternative chicken nuggets to protein pastas.

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Can artificial intelligence help feed the planet?

A professor at Australia's University of Queensland suggests that artificial intelligence can help breeders more quickly develop high performing animals and plants that will improve farm sustainability and profitability. Researchers at Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation have identified four uses for AI in crop and livestock breeding: deciding what to breed based on consumer preference, analyzing images to capture genetic variations, making predictions about breeding potential based on genetic markets, and shifting the approach to breeding from individual genetic lines to thinking about collections of DNA that support specific traits.

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Is it ethical to hold back the promise of gene editing in livestock?

Gene editing offers potential solutions to devastating animal diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease, Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever. The UK signed the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 into law earlier this year and although research is progrssing rapidly, the UK government is now delaying implementation of the Act until at least 2026 in repsonse to pressure from activist organizations. Dr. Craig Lewis, chair of the European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders, asks whether such a delay is ethical given the widespread benefits the technology could yield for people, animals and the environment.

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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 five-year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative.