Livestock Innovation

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https://www.livestockresearch.ca/article/grip_a_team_sport_for_livestock_innovation 

LRIC in the news 

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https://www.livestockresearch.ca/article/reducing_your_farms_cybersecurity_risks

Funding opportunities

• Rapid Response for Business Development: Grand River Agricultural Society, closing December 31, 2024
  Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, closing January 13, 2025
  Cybersecurity Preparedness Initiative: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, closing January 20, 2025

Visit LRIC's website for more information on the funding opportunities:
https://livestockresearch.ca/call_for_research_proposals 

Sector-specific innovation highlights*

Poultry: Transforming poultry care with artificial intelligence

Dr. Suresh Neethirajan at Dalhousie University is working on innovative ways artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) can reshaping the poultry industry. His research highlights the significant potential of AI and machine learning in understanding the vocalizations of chickens – tech advances that can offer valuable insights into poultry behavior and welfare.

Read more: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/agriculture/news-events/news/2024/06/26/transforming_poultry_care_with_artificial_intelligence.html 

Swine: Controlling the pork industry’s indoor environments 

Researchers at North Carolina State University are using a $1.15 million grant from the National Institute of Farming and Agriculture to study how farmers can better control the indoor environments in pig barns.  A team of 12 researchers hailing from a broad range of specialties across three universities, are embarking on the Proactive Pig Project (P3) to take advantage of artificial intelligence to glean pig data that can help manage barn conditions proactively instead of reactively.

Read more: https://cals.ncsu.edu/news/new-grant-gets-proactive-with-pigs/ 

Beef: Technology changing how cattle herds are managed

Various emerging technologies are reshaping the beef cattle industry from the packer to the processor, giving farmers and ranchers new methods to monitor and manage their herds. These include precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies, that use data collected through sensors, wearables and monitoring systems to track the health and behavior of individual animals. Combined with AI, this data enables real-time feedback that informs daily management decisions based on more significant insights into animal health and productivity than ever before. 

Read more: https://www.agproud.com/articles/60432-silicon-valleys-grassy-plains-and-the-ag-tech-revolution 

Dairy: Dairy beef calves can meet industry needs, study says 

Research from Penn State University suggests breeding dairy cows with beef genetics is a sound investment for dairy operations and that these cattle are meeting beef industry requirements. Analysis suggests that incidences of difficult births, health problems after calving and early culling decisions were not impacted by sire breed. As well, dairy cows that delivered a beef-on-dairy calf showed no production losses in the following lactation. Researchers also noted that in the U.S., beef-on-dairy calves are worth several hundred dollars more per head to the dairy as young calves at auction than their purebred dairy counterparts. 

Read more: https://www.agproud.com/articles/60392-beef-on-dairy-research-from-penn-state-supply-must-match-demand 

????Small ruminants: TMR offers benefits to sheep producers

A mixer for total mixed rations (TMR) is both a major investment and a major mindset change for sheep farmers, but it can pay off in financial and flock health benefits. The technology was demonstrated daily at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, where participants noted a short return on investment timeline in addition to other benefits.  

Read more: https://farmtario.com/livestock/tmrs-offer-benefits-to-sheep-producers/ 

Cross-sector innovation highlights*

Animal health: Address the veterinary shortage

The North American veterinary shortage is dire and predicted to become worse. To help find solutions, Oklahoma State University is one of 10 schools participating in the Veterinary Workforce Solutions Program, joining a new pilot program from Farm Journal Foundation (FJF) to support veterinary students and early career veterinary graduates. The program supports veterinary students across a number of areas, including tackling student debt and financial planning, developing business management skills, and learning how to engage with rural communities.  

Read more: https://www.porkbusiness.com/news/industry/oklahoma-initiatives-address-rural-veterinary-issues 

Animal welfare: Flex Air Stall wins EuroTier welfare award 

Reducing heat stress on livestock is increasingly becoming important as temperatures become more volatile. A Danish innovation that helps keep cows cool through air circulation has won the 2024 Animal Welfare Award at the EuroTier livestock trade show in Germany. A continuous stream of fresh air from outside is directed straight into a stall and distributed in the lying area at a 45-degree angle. This ensures an optimal fresh air supply, resulting in a significant improvement in cow comfort.

Read more: https://www.eurotier.com/en/awards/animal-welfare-award/winner-2024  

Emissions reduction: Canada’ announces semi-finalists in methane reduction challenge

Thirteen semi-finalists have been chosen in the $12 million Agricultural Methane Reduction Challenge launched last year by Impact Canada, a federal government challenge platform, that will fund organizations with innovations to lower methane emissions from the beef and dairy sectors. Selected from a pool of 86 applicants, the semi-finalists will each receive up to $153,846 to move their innovation to the prototype development stage.

Read more: https://sustainablebiz.ca/canada-announces-semi-finalists-for-agricultural-methane-challenge 

On the horizon*

Opinion: Canada is vulnerable to future pandemics without a One Health plan 

Canada needs a One Health plan now to better face worsening climate change, accelerating biodiversity loss, pandemic threats, and threats from superbugs resistant to antibiotics, suggest two leading authorities on the issue at University of Guelph. Canada’s actions on these issues are reactive rather than preventive, and aren’t well co-ordinated or funded, undermining the country’s readiness and response.
One Health brings all parts of society and governments together to tackle joint problems of human, animal, plant and ecosystem health.
 

Read more: https://news.uoguelph.ca/2024/11/commentary-without-a-one-health-plan-canada-is-vulnerable-to-future-pandemics/ 

*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 5-year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative.