Researchers discover antibiotic-eating soil bacteria
Agriculture Canada researchers, in collaboration with scientists in France, have found soil bacteria that can break down and consume a commonly used veterinary antibiotic. Agriculture and Agri-Food...
View ArticleNorth American researchers and pork industry wage war on PRRS
Livestock producers, researchers, and others in the industry are forever battling diseases that sicken animals and cost producers. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is always near...
View ArticleResearchers developing low cost, effective genotyping tools for cattle
Researchers with the Canadian Cattle Genome Project are developing low cost genotyping tools to help cattle producers pick breeding animals with desirable, but difficult to select for, traits. Cattle...
View ArticleCalf Twinning from Double Trouble to Doubled Profits
Beef producers have historically not been fond of twin births. This seems counterintuitive to some who would think the bonus calf a good thing. But there are reasons twin births give pause to a farmer...
View ArticleColostrum consumption linked to reproductive development in piglets
United States researchers are working to link data on piglet colostrum consumption to regions on the pig genome responsible for nursing and colostrum production. As any livestock producer knows,...
View ArticleResearchers and ag sector need to keep consumers in the know
Genome Canada projects looking at pig and cattle genomics focus not only on DNA, but also public perceptions around such science. And though that may seem strange to some of us at first glance, it’s a...
View ArticleCanadian Livestock Genetics Association receives funding to build demand for...
Last Friday the federal government announced they were investing over $1 million to help the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association build demand for Canadian livestock genetics internationally. The...
View ArticleWhole Genome Sequencing Shows MRSA is Transmitted from Animals to Humans
The question of whether or not antibiotic use in livestock leads to antibiotic resistant infections in humans led to a dust-up that has lasted for decades. Until this year the issue was clouded by a...
View ArticleChallenges to adopting genomics in beef industry
Genomics has fundamentally changed the dairy industry, and will eventually transform other livestock industries, says a genetics specialist. But when it comes to beef, “it’s more of a challenge to...
View ArticleU.K. livestock producers battle snow, Schmallenberg virus, and bovine...
As I write this week’s blog post, I am distracted by the view from my picture window– fluffy snowflakes falling–and I am resigning myself to several more days of winter (the long-term forecast is...
View ArticleResearchers developing genetically modified livestock around the world
Researchers in the U.K. are using genetic engineering to develop resistance to African Swine Fever in domestic pigs. African Swine Fever is found in wild pigs in Africa, but they have developed...
View ArticleScientists Aim to Protect Farmers, Animals by Designing Hornless Dairy Cows
Dairy cows with horns have long been a safety hazard to farmers and walkers which is why so many farmers burn off the horn buds on calves. That procedure is difficult and unpleasant for the farmers and...
View ArticlePinpointing dairy cows with high immune responses benefits producers
Disease cuts into dairy producers’ profit margins and, of course, makes life unpleasant for dairy cows. For example, mastitis is thought to affect as many as 50 per cent of dairy cattle in the United...
View ArticleGenome Canada seeking DNA from influential Angus sires
A research project sequencing DNA from influential beef bulls is a tremendous opportunity for the industry, says a beef producer. “Basically at very little or no cost to (breed) associations, very...
View ArticlePicking the right sows for group housing
The pork industry is under pressure to move to group housing systems, but a successful transition hinges on the right system and the right sows. The Retail Council of Canada recently announced they...
View ArticleFarmers Go Green: Using Genetics to Deflate Cow Gas
Environmental groups have long complained about the effects of methane gas from cattle polluting the environment. Indeed, methane is a greenhouse gas packing both a noxious smell and a 25 times larger...
View ArticleAdopting genomics at the ranch level
Earlier this spring I talked to Sean McGrath, a rancher from the Vermilion area, about a project sequencing DNA from influential Angus sires. We also spoke about the benefits of, and challenges around,...
View ArticleIndustry targets top three feedlot diseases
Researchers, veterinarians, and feedlot operators are working on a chute-side tool that would detect common bovine diseases in the early stages, allowing feedlot operators to treat and contain sick...
View ArticlePost BSE, researchers working to understand and detect disease
Just over ten years ago a six-year-old cow from a Wanham-area ranch tested positive for BSE. Over 30 countries barred their borders to Canadian beef, costing the beef industry over $4 billion between...
View ArticleBreaking News from a 700,000-Year-Old Horse
For years now, the evolution of the horse to the domesticated animal it is today was thought to be a fairly straightforward path. So straightforward, in fact, that the steps from ancient to modern...
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