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CEO Commentary: Bringing the international perspective to Ontario
CEO commentary: LRIC’s International Research Advisory Committee (IRAC) gathered in Guelph for two days of meetings on September 25 and 26. This was my first in-person IRAC meeting and I was struck with the vast experience and breadth of knowledge the committee members brought with them.
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Engineering a Better Farm
Better Pork, October 2024: The issues facing livestock now are bigger and more complex than ever before. We need to involve experts from automation, engineering, computer science and other fields and use their skills and knowledge to support the livestock sector.
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Coming events
November 14, Elora ON: Join LRIC on a journey to improve Getting Research Into Practice
Learn more here: https://www.livestockresearch.ca/events
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Funding opportunities
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Rapid Response for Business Development: Grand River Agricultural Society, closing December 31, 2024
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Cyber Security Preparedness Initiative: Governments of Canada and Ontario, closing January 20, 2025
Visit LRIC's website for more information on the funding opportunities:
https://livestockresearch.ca/call_for_research_proposals
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Sector-specific innovation highlights*
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Poultry: Cannabis shows chicken feed promise
A study from Thailand has found that waste from the cannabis industry could be a cost-effective dietary supplement for broiler chicken rations. The research showed that birds fed 2% hemp stalks and leaves (known as Cannabis sativa residues) consumed less feed overall but without impacting their body weights and carcass yields.
Read more:
https://farmingfuturefood.com/cannabis-residue-could-be-sustainable-supplement-in-poultry-production/
Swine: Innovation could transform pork industry, speakers say
Speakers at this year’s World Pork Expo highlighted the potential benefits of innovation in the pork industry. Featured technologies included precision animal management to identify health challenges before they’re visible, gene editing technology to boost disease resistance, and new ways to enforce biosecurity to keep animals healthy. However, to be successful, the cost of new technologies must be in sync with the benefits they can offer.
Read more:
https://www.porkbusiness.com/news/hog-production/innovations-have-potential-transform-industry
Beef: Studying the future of herding by drone
Researchers at the University of Kentucky have received funding from the United States Department of Agriculture to study how drones can be used as a herding tool in the beef industry. Through the project, the team will develop a control system for drones to let them work semi-autonomously near cattle, and study how different breeds respond to unmanned aircraft.
Read more: https://www.agriculturedive.com/news/agtech-seedlings-cattle-drones-s2g-rural-broadband-cropx-nitrogen-fertilizer/727657/
Dairy: Can fried and cooked potato waste boost milk production?
Researchers in Iran have found that milk production in dairy cattle increased when their traditional barley grain feed was replaced by potato processing by-products. This included high energy, low fibre heated potato slice waste and French fry waste.
Read more: https://www.feednavigator.com/Article/2024/09/06/Study-Potato-waste-boosts-milk-production-in-dairy-cows??????
Small ruminants: Breeding for wool quality
Chinese researchers have identified 32 genes associated with wool fineness in sheep, which could form the basis of a molecular breeding program around wood quality. There is global demand for higher quality wool, but this has been a challenging target for sheep breeding programs to date. More research is needed to determine exactly which genes have a specific impact on wool fineness, which is the main characteristic that determines the market value of wool.
Read more: https://farmingfuturefood.com/scientists-find-the-molecular-roots-of-sheep-wool-qualities/
Aquaculture: Canadian start-up says nutritional data the key to industry success
Data collection in aquaculture has traditionally been slow, manual and tedious, but Canadian start-up Wittaya is changing the game by integrating different streams of information from farmers, feed mills and ingredient suppliers into a single platform. The insights it derives around nutrition can have significant impact on the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of aquaculture farms as feed makes up 60% of a farm’s costs.
Read more: https://www.agtechnavigator.com/Article/2024/08/21/nutrition-is-key-to-aquaculture-innovation-says-insights-start-up-wittaya-aqua
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Cross-sector innovation highlights*
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Animal feed: Turning food into feed
Countries like Japan are upcycling and recycling more than 70% of their food waste into animal feed. Comparatively, the United States, many European Union members and others repurpose only a small fraction of their food waste – which is among the highest in the world – into animal feeds. Authorities in the U.S. and the E.U need to re-evaluate their existing laws and regulations to allow greater re-use of food waste into animal feed, says University of Minnesota animal science professor Dr. Jerry Shurson.
Read more: https://www.feednavigator.com/Article/2024/04/17/Maximizing-surplus-food-for-feed-production
Alternative proteins: Non-animal meat and dairy getting a boost from artificial intelligence
A vegan blue cheese that won the Good Food Foundation for Good Food Award last January got its competitive edge from artificial intelligence. More specifically, it was the AI that identified kokum butter, a fat derived from the seeds of the tropical fruit tree kokum, as a suitable ingredient for the plant-based cheese. Artificial Intelligence is also helping other non-animal based food companies identify new combinations of plant-based ingredients to develop new products.
Read more: https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/26156-meat-dairy-startups-on-the-cutting-edge
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A new training centre for predictive breeding
A new training centre for predictive breeding has been launched at the University of Queensland in Australia. Its focus is working with industry to fill training gaps with the next generation of plant and animal breeders. This will include placements with agricultural industry partners, customized training and face-to-face work shops on plant and animal breeding.
Read more: https://qaafi.uq.edu.au/article/2024/09/growing-talent-feed-world-new-arc-training-centre-predictive-breeding
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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.
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The Livestock Innovation Corporation is funded in part by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), a five-year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

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