26 livestock-related research projects: $3,493,549
Breakdown by Commodity
Beef ...............................................................................$1,292,988
Swine................................................................................$749,022
Forage...............................................................................$565,036
Poultry...............................................................................$392,000
Other/General..................................................................$494,503
Breakdown by Organization
University of Saskatchewan.......................................$1,649,804
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization............$795,009
Western Beef Development Centre-PAMI.................$413,699
Prairie Swine Centre.......................................................$374,013
Saskatchewan Forage Council......................................$205,560
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.................................$55,464
Beef
Determine the optimum level of Vitamin A inclusion in finishing rations
Objective:
- Determine the optimum level of Vitamin A used in finishing rations which in combination with certain genotypes would maximize feedlot profits through marker-assisted management for intramuscular fat deposition.
Funding: $255,250
Contact: Fiona Buchanan, Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan (306) 966-4160
Investigation of necrosis in feedlot cattle
Objectives:
- Describe epidemiology of animals affected by necrosis.
- Map and describe the location of the lesions, which will provide insight into the possible cause(s) and pathogenesis.
- Determine bacteria's role in the creation of this disease.
Funding: $40,000
Contact: Murray Jelinski, Large Animal Clinic Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-7166
Sulfur induced polioencephalomalacia in cattle
Objectives:
- Use chemical imaging and traditional toxicological approaches to compare healthy and affected cattle with clinical and experimental polioencephalomalacia.
- Determine serum protein profile changes in heifers exposed to low and high concentrations of dietary sulfur.
Funding: $55,000
Contact: Elemir Simko, Veterinary Pathology, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-7307
Nutritional importance and economics of good pellet quality
Objectives:
- Determine how to best use pellet quality for different dietary formulations.
- Establish whether pellet size and/or durability influences feed sorting behavour.
- Assess the effect of pellet quality on the estimated intake and waste of supplemented low quality forage diets.
Funding: $275,690
Contact: Tom Scott, Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-4279
Prenatal detection and treatment of calves infected with the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV)
Objective:
- Develop methods for prenatal detection and treatment of calves persistently infected with BVDV.
Funding: $210,349
Contact: Sylvia Van Den Hurk, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, (306) 966-1559
Prevention and diagnosis of stress‑induced respiratory disease in feedlot calves
Objectives:
- Determine the physiological effects of stress that significantly increase susceptibility to fatal Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) in feedlot calves.
Funding: $258,000
Contact: Philip Griebel, School of Public Health, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, (306) 966-1542
Improving retention of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for cattle
Objective:
- Investigate the potential of improved tag design, placement, or tag application protocols to improve RFID tag retention in cattle.
Funding: $148,699
Contact: Troy Lucyshyn, Western Beef Development Centre - PAMI, (306) 682-5033 ext 225
Testing for Tritrichomonas Fetus
Objective:
- Develop and evaluate a new testing strategy for Tritrichomonas Fetus by pooling samples collected into a cost-effective phosphate buffered saline solution.
Funding: $50,000
Contact: Cheryl Waldner, Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-7168
Swine
Universal vaccine for swine influenza
Objectives:
- Develop and evaluate a universal vaccine for swine influenza.
- Generation and characterization of a recombinant swine influenza virus carrying both H1 and H3 subtype.
- Determine the pathogenecity of this vaccine in pigs.
- Evaluate the immunogenicity of this vaccine in pigs.
Funding: $180,000
Contact: Yan Zhou, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, (306) 966-7716
Strategies to improve post‑weaning feed intake and growth of piglets
Objective:
- Determine, in a commercial like-setting, which piglets in the farrowing room consume creep feed, and encourage nursery phase one starter consumption with creep feed, through reducing competition and manipulating photoperiod.
Funding: $61,065
|Contact: Denise Beaulieu, Prairie Swine Centre, (306) 667-7441
Oral vaccine for piglets: a platform technology
Objective:
- Develop a safe and effective vaccine to fight against Lawsonia Intracellularis in neonatal piglets.
Funding: $195,009
Contact: Heather Wilson, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, (306) 966-1537
Feeding value of cull lentils for growing swine
Objectives:
- Characterize the nutritive composition of feed-grade lentils for growing pigs.
- Compare the nutritive composition of cleaned and uncleaned lentils to allow the economics of cleaning to be accessed.
- Provide a tool to be used by pork producers to place a monetary value on cull lentils relative to other feeds used in pork production.
Funding: $53,986
Contact: Denise Beaulieu, Prairie Swine Centre, (306) 667-7441
Growth and transmission of disease‑causing micro-organisms in livestock operations
Objective:
- Control the growth and spread of disease-causing micro-organisms in swine barns using commercially available nanoparticles.
Funding: $129,182
Contact: Bernardo Predicala, Prairie Swine Centre, (306) 667-7444
Evaluation of a geothermal system for swine production
Objective:
- Evaluate the applicability of a geothermal system in swine production to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions while improving animal production efficiency, profitability and competitiveness.
Funding: $129,780
Contact: Yaomin Jin, Engineering, Prairie Swine Centre, (306) 667-7446
Forages
Forage legumes in soil phosphorus fertility
Objective:
- Determine how rotating forage alfalfa, clover and pea for two years will affect phosphorus in the soil, focusing on the effects of phosphorus to the following annual crops.
Funding: $39,012
Contact: Jeff Schoenau, Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-6844
Genetic improvement of white prairie clover
Objectives:
- Evaluate various white prairie clover collections for stand establishment, forage bio-mass, forage quality, and seed yield under semi-arid climate of Saskatchewan.
- Evaluate effectiveness of different commercial inoculants on stand establishment, forage bio-mass, and seed production of white prairie clover in the greenhouse and in the field trial.
Funding: $55,464
Contact: Michael Schellenberg, Research Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, (306) 778-7247
Evaluation of grazing corn varieties
Objective:
- Study detailed economic and grazing production data from low-heat unit grazing corn varieties for cow-calf and back grounding producers in Western Canada.
Funding: $250,000
Contact: Bart Lardner, Western Beef Development Centre - PAMI, (306) 682-3139
The economics of grain versus grass
Objectives:
- Determine potential returns on forage land throughout the soil zones of Saskatchewan.
- Determine potential returns on annual cropland throughout the soil zones of Saskatchewan.
- Compare and contrast the cost/benefit return for cropland versus perennial forages grown in the same soil zone.
- Determine a link between land use statistics for various census years to the potential net returns for forages versus cropland.
- Determine link between hay yield and potential net returns for forages.
- Use census data to measure the changes in land use from 2001 through 2011 and compare the changes with the returns in livestock production and grain/oilseed production.
Funding: $15,000
Contact: Kathy Larson, Western Beef Development Centre - PAMI, (306) 764-3929
Trace mineral status of Saskatchewan pastures
Objective:
- Sample and analyze forage plants for trace mineral levels from Saskatchewan pastures (sites located within provincial and federal community pastures) located in the four soil zones of the province (brown, dark brown, black, and gray). This data will provide trace mineral profiles of the pastures and allow for an assessment of trace mineral supplementation programs on each pasture.
Funding: $205,560
Contact: Janice Bruynooghe, Saskatchewan Forage Council, (306) 867-8126
Poultry
Controlling Inclusion Body Hepatitis (IBH) in the broiler chicken industry
Objectives:
- Optimize the live Fowl Adenoviral vaccine to immunize broiler breeders in order to control IBH in the broiler chicken industry.
Funding: $230,000
Contact: Susantha Gomis, Veterinary Pathology, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-7299
Vaccines directed against Salmonella Enteritidis in poultry
Objective:
- Development of subunit vaccines to fight against Salmonella Enteritidis in order to prevent colonization and infection of poultry.
Funding: $162,000
Contact: Wolfgang Köster, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, (306) 966-7479
Other/General
Replacing fish oil in aquaculture diets
Objectives:
- Determine the best way to maximize the digestibility of algae/canola oil in diets fed to rainbow trout in fresh water and Atlantic salmon in seawater.
Funding: $76,720
Contact: Murray Drew, Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-2367
Enhanced processing of manure using catalytic reaction
Objective:
- Develop a framework for large scale application for catalytic treatment of manure.
Funding: $41,000
Contact: Bernard Laarveld, Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-4972
Nutritional relevance of feed
Objectives:
- Gain more knowledge of the nutritional relevance of feeds in order to understand the relationship between feed inherent structure and nutrient availability.
- Apply this information to the production of high quality feeding programs and to aid feed crop breeding programs.
Funding: $145,500
Contact: Peiqiang Yu, Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-4132
Diet changes in ruminal function: a comparison between bison and cattle
Objectives:
- Compare the ruminal pH profiles, short-chain fatty acid absorption for bison and cattle fed diets (low forage versus moderate forage).
- Evaluate the dominant ruminal microbial species in bison and cattle.
Funding: $93,395
Contact: Gregory Penner, Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-4219
The priming effect associated with long-term manure applications
Objective:
- Assess the magnitude and duration of the priming effect in soils receiving long-term manure applications.
Funding: $137,888
Contact: Richard Farrell, Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan, (306) 966-2772
