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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

By
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

By
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

By
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

By
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
Livestock, Research

Corn silage in backgrounding diets for cattle

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By
Recent columns indicated that corn’s potential to produce 50 per cent higher silage (and starch) yields than barley may offset its 30 per cent higher growing costs, provided the right corn hybrid is selected for the local growing conditions, and provided growing conditions co-operate. The higher starch content of corn silage also means that feedlot […] Read more
Crops, Research

Where does short-season corn fit?

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By
Statistics Canada reports that Western Canada’s silage corn acreage has grown significantly in recent years. Nearly 30 per cent of seeded corn silage acres aren’t harvested, suggesting it’s likely being used for grazing. The potential for a 50 per cent higher yield compared to barley may offset corn’s 30 per cent higher input costs, but […] Read more
Silage corn acres on the Prairies is on the rise.
Corn, Livestock, Research

Warm season crops and cool climates

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By
According to Statistics Canada, silage corn acreage was 26 per cent higher in 2015-19 than in 2010-14. Most of this increase occurred in the Prairies. Achieving corn’s potential will depend on whether plant breeders can successfully adapt this warm-season plant to Canada’s cooler climate. Plants contain two kinds of carbohydrates. Non-structural carbohydrates are starches and […] Read more

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