Grant: Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grants

Lakeland College has served the needs of the Canadian agriculture industry for over 110 years. Located in an intensive livestock production region of Alberta, the college focuses on applied research outcomes related to livestock production with its state-of-the-art livestock production and animal health facilities, unique animal resources (purebred or commercial beef cattle, dairy cattle, and bison) and forage/grazing site. The main research areas for the college include production efficiency profiling (i.e. feed/growth/reproductive efficiencies), supplement/feed-additive research and forage/grazing research. Performance assessments of replacement bulls and heifers by the college enables livestock producers and breed associations to identify better candidates for breeding. Beef cattle make a significant contribution ($51.6B) to Canada’s economy. However, cattle produce methane, which has about 27 times the warming potential of CO2; this has attracted negative publicity to the beef industry. Reducing methane emissions from cattle is a priority for the industry. Up to 80% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the beef production cycle come from the cow-calf sector. Methane production is heritable and can be improved by breeding and low residual feed intake (RFI) animals also have a lower methane footprint. Directly measuring feed intake and methane production will facilitate the phenotyping of replacement candidates, leading to a lower environmental footprint. Lakeland can help the livestock industry be productive, profitable and environmentally sustainable through comprehensive production (including RFI), reproductive and GHG efficiency evaluations. The College currently conducts research trials that measure individual-animal GHG production using one GreenFeed Emissions Monitoring System (GEMS). A second system is requested. This will facilitate research trials involving simultaneous comparisons of two groups of cattle and support Lakeland to fully address the growing industry need for our expertise in this area. The equipment will support the research scientists in livestock applied research activities, and ensure that we provide objective information on individual animal performance to cattle producers and breed associations, and to small and medium companies on the efficacy of emerging anti-methanogenic supplements.