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Author Archives Reynold Bergen

Cattle may be a uniquely efficient solution to some of the problems we see around food loss.
Livestock, Research

Waste not want not

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By
When I was a kid, “no dessert if you don’t finish your supper” encouraged us to eat everything on our plates. Others grew up with the guilt-based “children are starving in the Third World” approach. There are more than twice as many people on earth today as there were 40 years ago, so issues such […] Read more
(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)
Livestock, Research

On the road again

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced significant changes to Canada’s livestock transportation regulations in 2019. Previously, truckers could haul cattle for 48 hours before a mandatory five-hour feed, water and rest stop (unless they were within four hours of their final destination). The new regulations require an eight-hour feed, water and rest stop after […] Read more
cattleman on a horse
Livestock, Research

We have questions. You, as a cattle producer, have the answers

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By
This column usually tells you about a research project that the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) has supported using Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off funds paid by producers like yourself. Sometimes you may ask yourself “why on earth did they fund that?” , “why don’t they do research on this?” or “do they ask producers what […] Read more
A 2019 report highlighted a few tweaks to common calving management practices that could significantly improve calf survival from difficult births.
Livestock, Research

Get ’em out, get ’em up, get ’em fed, write ’em down…Rawhide!

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By
It’s called calving difficulty for a reason. They’re difficult to deliver, it’s difficult for the calf to survive, it’s difficult to watch it die, and it’s difficult to lose the $1,250 the calf could have sold for in the fall. The Beef Cattle Research Council’s 2019 Adoption Rates of Recommended Practices by Cow-Calf Operators in […] Read more
E. coli bacteria.
Livestock, Research

Are E. coli really becoming more heat resistant?

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

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The past few columns have talked about how antibiotic use contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The same survival-of-the-fittest principle applies to environmental stresses such as heat. Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC, including E. coli O157:H7) are the main food safety concerns in Canadian beef processing facilities. High temperatures kill E. coli, so for many years large beef […] Read more
E. coli bacteria.
Livestock, Research

Do cattle bacteria contribute to antibiotic resistance in human medicine?

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By
E. coli live in the digestive tracts of warm-blooded animals and birds. Most are harmless, some are beneficial and some (such as E. coli O157:H7) can be very dangerous. E. coli are also involved in antibiotic resistance. “Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing” (or ESBL) E. coli are a major concern in human medicine. These bacteria are resistant […] Read more
Cattle need nearly three times as much oxygen as a similar-sized horse just to stay awake and lie around.
Livestock, Research

Everything old is new again – treating chronic mycoplasma

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

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Cattle were ideally created (or evolved) to consume and digest high fibre diets. Whoever (or whatever) was responsible for designing the rumen so elegantly probably should have paid more attention to the respiratory tract. The design of the bovine respiratory tract makes it easy for BRD bacteria such as Mannheimia, Pasteurella, Histophilus and Mycoplasma to […] Read more
As beef producers gained more appreciation for the value of industry-funded research, some provincial groups began allocating more checkoff dollars to the BCRC.
Livestock, Research

The evolution of the Beef Cattle Research Council

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

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This column usually features research projects funded by the BCRC. This month is a bit of a higher-level view of some of the BCRC’s other activities. Canada’s cattle and beef producers pay the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-off that supports the Beef Cattle Research Council, Canada Beef’s domestic and international marketing activities and the Canadian Cattlemen’s […] Read more
Vaccines are an important part of a preventative herd health program, but they aren’t a silver bullet.
Livestock, Research

An(other) ounce of prevention

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

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My first fire drill in Grade 1 was absolute chaos, screaming and panic as we all circled the teacher, who was likely wondering how our parents had managed to keep us alive this long. By Grade 3, we yawned and strolled to the nearest door. Fire drills teach kids what to do when there’s no […] Read more
Beef is a good fit in Canadian diets. It may even qualify as a superfood.
Livestock, Research

Will the real superfood please stand up?

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By
“Superfood” is a marketing (not medical or scientific) term used to describe foods with perceived health benefits because of exceptional nutritional properties. Google “superfood” and you’ll see numerous lists claiming health benefits for foods such as broccoli, legumes, nuts, salmon, eggs, kale, beans, spinach, and trendy new things like acai or goji berries that marketers […] Read more

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