Intestinal lesions caused by Johne's disease.

Johne’s disease: Cheap to buy, costly to live with

“Biosecurity” often conjures up images of poultry or hog operations with truckers-report-at-the-gate signs, shower-in-and-out rules and workers dressed in hazmat suits. The point of biosecurity practices is obviously to reduce the risk that disease-causing microbes will enter or spread within high-health status herds or flocks. It is much harder to implement high levels of bio­security […] Read more

It’s not necessarily that forage quality is in decline, but that other crops are advancing faster.

Maintaining momentum in forages

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

Canada’s pasture and rangelands have drier, colder, and shorter growing seasons than many other beef-producing areas in the world. The forage varieties that perform best in Canada are generally the ones that have been bred, selected and developed to germinate, grow, survive and thrive here. Forage varieties developed in foreign countries are sometimes marketed in […] Read more


Bovine respiratory disease from the farm to the feedlot

Bovine respiratory disease from the farm to the feedlot

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

Weed seeds and invasive species may be present even in well-managed pastures and rangelands, but it is hard for them to germinate, establish and spread in healthy, competitive forage stands. Stresses like severe drought, overgrazing, heavy traffic or excavation can weaken forage stands and create opportunities for unwanted plants to take root. Researchers are now […] Read more

In the study, the cows were fed barley silage, barley grain, barley straw and hay in confinement, or swath grazed on triticale (seen here) or corn for 120 days.

Another look at the costs and benefits of swath grazing

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

Well-managed swath grazing has well-known economic benefits for producers. But research results from a study funded by the Beef Science Cluster showed that it can have environmental benefits as well. Dr. Vern Baron and coworkers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lacombe Research Station recently published Swath grazing triticale and corn compared to barley and a […] Read more


Deciding what beef research and innovation to fund

Deciding what beef research and innovation to fund

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

This column usually features Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) projects supported by Canada’s national checkoff, mainly through Canada’s Beef Science Cluster. The current Beef Cluster involves the BCRC, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Beef Producers, the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association, Manitoba Beef Producers, Beef Farmers of Ontario, the Quebec Beef Producers Federation, DuPont Pioneer, the […] Read more

Non-O157 Shiga toxigenic E. coli (STEC)

Non-O157 Shiga toxigenic E. coli (STEC)

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

There are between 50,000 and 100,000 different serotypes (strains) of E. coli. Most are harmless, some may be beneficial, but some produce a very dangerous Shiga toxin. Shiga toxigenic E. coli (STEC) can cause vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain in people. E. coli O157:H7 is the most well-known STEC, but it is not the only […] Read more


Upgrading beef grading research

Upgrading beef grading research

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

Youthful carcasses that meet A, AA, AAA or Canada Prime quality grades are also assigned a yield grade. Yield grades estimate the red meat percentage of the entire carcass based on the thickness of the backfat and size of the rib-eye muscle between the 12th and 13th ribs. The method that the Canadian Beef Grading […] Read more

The Beef Cattle Research Council will present Bov-Innovation on Wednesday, August 10.

Bov-Innovation: Putting Theory into Practice

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

There is no shortage of beef industry conferences, workshops and meetings for Canadian beef producers to attend throughout the year. These have included the Canfax forum, the Canada Beef forum, Cattlemen’s Young Leaders forums, industry golf tournaments, tours, national, provincial and breed association meetings, the International Livestock Congress, and many more. Although they are valuable […] Read more


Animal Health: Be skeptical about linking BLV with cancer in humans

News Roundup from the December 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Bovine leukemia virus (BLV or leukosis) is a bovine retrovirus that targets lymphocytes (white blood cells). It is present in many parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, and Eastern Europe. Infection with the virus usually doesn’t present with clinical signs, but around 30 per cent of the infected animals experience an abnormal […] Read more

rain bubbles

Blame it on the rain, not the beef industry

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

This summer has seen unusual rainfall patterns, low river levels and drought in large parts of Western Canada and the Western States. Some people blame water shortages on the beef industry and are ready to answer the question, “how much water does beef production use?” Unfortunately, these answers are often wrong, highly misleading and based […] Read more