Grant: Industrial Research Chairs

UBC proudly partners with the Dairy Farmers of Canada and a team of other industrial sponsors working within Canada's dairy sector to support five more years (Years 20 to 25 in total) of research on dairy cattle welfare. UBC's Animal Welfare Program was created as an NSERC Industrial Research Chair in 1997 and has since grown to become the world's leading research group working on dairy cattle welfare. The current proposal builds upon these strong foundations to produce science-based recommendations that dairy producers can use to promote the health, welfare, and productivity of their cattle. Our planned research will focus on important welfare concerns of practical interest to the dairy industry. The proposed work will fall under four themes: 1) Calf and Heifer Rearing, 2) Cow Health and Lameness, 3) Housing Facilities and Management, and 4) Painful procedures. In each of these themes, our research group already has an international reputation, and we have piloted much of the foundational work in the area. Building upon this foundation, we have identified areas where there is an urgent need for new applied research. Studies will continue to be conducted on commercial dairy farms and at the state-of-the-art UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre in Agassiz, British Columbia, recognized as one of the leading dairy research facilities in the world. This facility is a fully operational dairy farm, managed and designed to support dairy research and technology transfer.