Livestock Innovation

LRIC's articles in the news 

Funding opportunities

Please visit LRIC's website for more information on upcoming and currently open funding opportunities.

Sector-specific innovation highlights*

Poultry: Poop analysis for better disease diagnosis

A smartphone app called KUKU can identify and classify chicken diseases by analyzing images of the birds' manure. It is powered by an algorithm that has been trained to distinguish manure from birds with Salmonella, Newcastle disease or coccidiosis. Its classification accuracy is 98.7%.

Read more

Swine: Diet can boost pig growth in less than ideal housing

Researchers at Wageningen Livestock Research in the Netherlands have found that changing pigs' diet can overcome challenges posed by low sanitary conditions. Increasing dietary energy (and amino acids was found to improve growth rates of animals being raised in sub-optimal conditions.

Read more

Beef: Curbing losses from a major cattle pest

The invasive Asian Blue Tick causes billions of dollars in losses to farmers worldwide, affecting mostly cattle but also  buffalo, goats and horses. Scientists at the Roslin Institute are developing a modified self-limiting Asian blue tick which carries a gene that prevents young ticks from growing to adulthood. This approach is expected to be a highly effective alternative to pesticides in treating the pest.

Read more

Dairy: Wood feed additive reduces methane production

Scientists from Russia's Volga Research Medical University have developed a feed additive for dairy cows made from wood waste generated during logging. Field trials have shown a 30% drop in methane emissions from dairy cows and a 12% rise in milk yields. The developed feed additive contributes to a shift in the rumen's fermentation structure, researchers say. 

 Read more

Cross-sector innovation highlights*

Food security: Meat, milk, eggs key to meeting global nutrition targets

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations says that meat, milk and eggs play a vital role in healthy human diets and helping the world meet nutrition targets. The UN report says these products offer crucial sources of critical nutrients that can't be easily obtained from plant-based foods - nutrients that help reduce stunting, wasting and obesity in childred, for example.

Read more

Sustainable plastics: Easier said than done

Researchers from Wageningen University are analyzing complex waste streams, changing policies and new approaches as the European Union continues down its path of reducing single use plastics. Their work concludes that reducing plastic is difficult and complex; replacing plastic with traditional food packaging like glass, cans or cardboard has a much larger carbon footprint than plastic, for example - and policies banning single use plastics are likely to lead to increased food waste until more clear legislative direction is given.

Read more

Animal health: Taking a global approach to disease

A new five year project will see the development of decision-making tools and improve communication on the economic impacts of animal disease. A professor from Kansas Statue University is leading the Americas region of the Collaborating Centre for the Economics of Animal Health, a project supported by the World Organization for Animal Health.

Read more

On the horizon*

Is consumer food waste affecting industry emissions levels?

New research points to food loss and waste being the source of about half of the global emissions from the food system - and about one third of the emissions coming from food waste stem from the consumer level. If food waste were a country, it would be the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter being the United States and China. Researchers suggest that simple steps to reducing consumer food waste would significantly reduce the overall impact the food system has on the environment.

Read more

Construction of world's largest cultivated beef protein facility begins

Protein multi-national JBS has begun building what wll be the world's largest cellular beef protein plant in Spain. The first commercial scale industrial plant of BioTech Foods, which lists JBS as its majority shareholder, will be able to produce more than 1,000 tones of cultivated beef protein once it opens in 2024.

Read more

*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.