U of S researcher given millions in funding for beef cattle health and productivity research

SASKATOON -- The federal government, Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) and the University of Saskatchewan are funding a research project to advance beef cattle health and productivity.

Dr. Cheryl Waldner, a veterinary researcher at the U of S, is being given $2.35 million for a five-year research program. She said her key priorities include managing diseases like Johne’s Disease in cow-calf herds and Bovine Respiratory Disease in feedlots. Both bacterial infections are often fatal.

"Providing tools for the beef industry and for veterinarians to help them use existing data and to identify new sources of data that will inform decision-making for some of the issues that are most critical to the industry, namely any antimicrobial resistance and production limiting diseases," Waldner said.

Waldner adds that another pressing issue is antimicrobial use and resistance. Antimicrobials are used for treatment or control of bacterial infections, and to prevent diseases in beef cattle.

“One of the immediate projects that we’re working on is the development of genomics tools that will allow us to identify the right drug, at the right time, in the right animals,” Waldner said.

The announcement was made Thursday at the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference in Saskatoon. Canada is one of the largest exporters of red meat in the world, with 38 per cent of domestic beef exported. More than 80 per cent of the cattle are raised in western Canada.

Ryan Beierbach, chair of the BCRC and a local beef producer, said this research will give producers the ability to efficiently raise cattle in Saskatchewan and across Canada.

“Research that helps us make better decisions on when to use antimicrobials, that makes it so that we can compete with producers in the United States and Australia and make sure that our beef is safer than the rest and make sure that we produce it at a level where we can still make some money and stay in business,” Beierbach said.

The U of S and the BCRC said the goal is to help sustain profitability and competitiveness of Canada’s $17 billion-a-year beef industry.