2023 Annual Report: Beef Cattle Research Council

Beef Producer National Check-Off Investments in Research  

The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) is Canada’s industry-led funding agency for beef, cattle and forage research and extension. The BCRC is directed by a committee of 16 beef producers from across the country including six members from Alberta and one member at large. It is funded primarily through the research allocation of the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off. 

In 2022/23, the BCRC received on average $0.67 (unaudited) of every $2.50 of the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off collected by the provinces.  

This funding was leveraged under the Beef Science Cluster program with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Canadian Agricultural Partnership funding, where industry contributed 28% ($666,494) and AAFC contributed 72% ($1.67 million) in 2022/23.  

In addition, the BCRC leveraged the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off for an additional $3.7 million in research funding and $250,000 in-kind from government and industry partners through initiatives outside of the Beef Science Cluster.  

Beef Science Cluster IV  

Cluster III ended March 2023. Cluster IV was announced at the 2023 Calgary Stampede. Canada’s Beef and Forage AgriScience Cluster under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership – AgriScience Program, totals $21.7 million, with $12.1 million in federal investment and industry contributing $9.6 million primarily through the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off.  

Funding will be allocated to 23 projects from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2028. All projects are focused on three centralized themes: climate change and environment, economic growth and development, and sector resilience and societal challenge. 

Cluster IV project objectives include:  

• improved diagnostics and vaccines to manage production-limiting diseases in cattle,  
• development of new forages that have the potential to thrive across Canada,  
• improvement of food safety technologies in beef processing facilities to reduce the use of water and energy, and  
• development of practical, science-based resources and economic decision-making tools to support the Canadian beef industry.  

Producer resources and engagement  

The BCRC developed several new resources in 2022 including 68 timely posts, 108 research summary factsheets, 12 monthly e-newsletters, 12 articles for the Canadian Cattlemen– The Beef Magazine, an interactive decision-making tool, 11 infographics, five videos, record-keeping courses, and seven webinars. Three new topic webpages were developed covering Calving Seasons, Heifer Development, and Bull Management. BCRC is also proud to share content featured on the new BeefResearch.ca to more than 6,500 email subscribers and over 23,900 combined followers on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.  

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Proof of Concept Projects Inform Research Investment  

The BCRC funds short-term projects in a proof-of-concept or clinical trial format to validate the feasibility of pursuing larger, more defined projects in that area. Proof of Concept (POC) projects are funded by the Canadian Cattle Beef Check-Off with some leveraged with government and/or industry partner funding.  

A POC project led by Dr. Trevor Alexander at AAFC Lethbridge evaluated the potential to use water-bowls for pen-level surveillance of antimicrobial-resistant bovine respiratory pathogens. The team found that water bowls serve as a reservoir for BRD pathogens and could be an important point of BRD mitigation.  

Project Spotlight: Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network Guides Priorities  

Surveillance is important to benchmark and set industry goals and track progress overtime which is a specific challenge for cow-calf herds where there is notoriously limited record keeping and a lot of regional and management diversity. The Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network (C3SN) works with veterinary schools, private veterinarians and 181 cow-calf producers across Canada. The network was funded from 2018 to 2023 through Cluster III and yielded insights regarding antibiotic use, animal health, mineral interactions and deficiencies among other metrics with the goal not of identifying a one-size-fits all management strategy but understand how various factors influence animal health and welfare indicators.  

Over the five-year span, the network found producers treat less than 5% with antibiotics, mostly for neonatal scours, BRC in calves and lameness in adults. Vaccination rate for the core vaccines (IBR, BVDV, PI3 and BRSV) has risen to 92% of the beef cow and heifer replacements and 72% of bulls. The survey and reference herds also showed that copper deficiency was most common in SE Saskatchewan but overall, 64% of cattle in the West and 60% of cattle are deficient in copper. It was also revealed that despite most producers offering free-choice mineral cow intake is variable and only 61% currently test their feed.  

C3SN has secured funding for another five years through Cluster IV and will study herds of varying sizes across Canada to understand the affect calving seasons and winter management have on pregnancy rates, calf survival, calving percentage, and weaning rates.  

View the full Beef Cattle Research Council 2022-2023 Annual Stakeholder Report.

This message was originally posted in Alberta Beef Producers’ 2023 Annual Report. You can find the PDF of the report here.