The Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) has awarded a $945,000 grant to a livestock research project headed by Olds College, the University of Alberta, and various industry partners.
The grant was given under the new College-University Idea to Innovation federal program.
“The program was launched with the idea that colleges and universities would partner together with industry to solve issues in industry,” said Tanya McDonald, Olds College School of Agriculture dean.
The research project will have scientists use tools to improve feed efficiency in purebred Hereford cattle.
“This project would involve conducting residual feed intake testing, using a GrowSafe system here at Olds College, and combining that data with genomic data that would come from the University of Alberta and Livestock Gentech, as well the phenotypic data, or the information about what that bull looks like,” said McDonald.
“(Our partners) want to identify which bulls can be the most efficient early on, because that will improve profits for the livestock producers and improve their competitiveness in the industry.”
The research project has just started. This fall, scientists will begin testing 300 bulls per year.
Olds College will work in collaboration with the University of Alberta, Livestock Gentec, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, the Canadian Hereford Association, and Cattleland's Integrated Beef Research Station.
“We are very excited. It's a three-year research program and it will just be a huge benefit, a huge win for Olds College and our students,” said McDonald.
Olds College teachers, staff, and students will each play a part in the project.
“There will be about eight staff members at Olds College that will be involved, and also a number of students, because of course we will integrate that into our livestock courses here at the college,” said McDonald.
For Olds College, testing beef feed-efficiency is nothing new. They have been conducting similar tests for the past 10 years.
“We have been quietly doing this research for a long time,” said McDonald.
The grant and the partnership will also allow the college to expand its GrowSafe testing capacity by buying new equipment.
