Dr. Digvir Jayas, currently on sabbatical as professor and vice-president (research and international) at the University of Manitoba, will become president and vice-chancellor at the University of Lethbridge effective July 1 this year.

Dean Gallimore, who chairs Lethbridge’s board of governors and the board’s search committee, said in a recent release that throughout the search process, “it became readily apparent that Dr. Jayas is an outstanding relationship builder who has an innate ability to bring people together, whether it be as a professor, researcher or administrator.”

The fact that Jayas “also conducts a research program of vital importance to the southern Alberta region and has continually gravitated to leadership roles within a comprehensive research university as well as external national agencies made him the ideal person to be at the forefront of the next era of the University of Lethbridge.”

READ MORE: Farming, poetry and math carved path for agricultural researcher

Jayas was born and raised on a farm in India, studied ag engineering there and completed his grad degree and PhD at the Universities of Manitoba and Saskatchewan respectively. He began teaching at the U of M in 1985, becoming an internationally known authority and researcher on drying, handling and storing of grains and oilseeds, and digital image processing for grading and processing operations in agri-food.

Jayas has served as U of M’s vice-president of research for the past 13 years, the past decade of which corresponded with nearly 50 per cent growth in research funding there, the university noted in a separate release.

As a professor, U of L noted, Jayas has authored or co-authored over 1,000 technical articles in scientific journals, conference proceedings and books dealing with issues of storing, drying, handling and quality monitoring of grains and foods.

On top of multiple awards and honours for his research, Jayas is also an inductee in the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and an officer of the Order of Canada.

In a recent separate article about his sabbatical, the U of M quoted Jayas as saying his plans included graduating his eight current grad students, writing a book and organizing the next International Conference on Controlled Atmospheres and Fumigation in Stored Products, held every four years in different locations worldwide and next set for Aug. 18-23, 2024 in Winnipeg.

As U of L president, Jayas replaces Dr. Mike Mahon, a professor specializing in physical education and disability studies, who had held the head office post since 2010.

Jayas is scheduled to take part in a community welcome event at U of L on Tuesday (Feb. 7); his official installation as president will take place at the school’s fall convocation in October.

In a U of L release, Jayas said he sees his background aligning with the school’s strategic directives. “Firstly, when I look at the University of Lethbridge, I see values that align with my values. This is a place that is committed to liberal education, committed to creating a respectful work environment for students, faculty and staff, and committed to the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion,” he said.

“I also see a desire to continue to grow research and further impact society through this valuable work, enhancing opportunities for researchers and the undergraduate and graduate students they mentor.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The governments of Canada and Manitoba are investing $98,970 through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to upgrade the University of Manitoba’s horticulture storage facility so it can conduct potato research.

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and provincial Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson made the announcement Thursday in a media release.

“Ensuring that our scientists have the tools they need to conduct their research is essential to support the resilience and competitiveness of the agricultural sector,” Bibeau said in the release.

“Potatoes are the fourth most valuable crop in Manitoba and are estimated to generate $1 billion per year for the provincial economy,” Johnson said in the same release. “Research and innovation are critical to developing new approaches that improve the potato sector.”

The investment will allow researchers to conduct post-harvest potato storage research that will be representative of on-farm storage at producer operations. The upgraded storage facility will be able to control environmental conditions, including carbon dioxide levels, temperature and humidity.

It will also align with other international research facilities and will be able to create more training and capacity-building opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students as the university strengthens partnerships with producers and processers in the potato sector.

“This much-needed infrastructure renewal will help our researchers solve real-world challenges in the storage and management of potatoes,” said Martin Scanlon, agricultural and food sciences dean.

“Equally important is the training and development of highly qualified professionals that this facility will provide to benefit the future of the potato industry in Manitoba and beyond.” — Manitoba Co-operator staff

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Tylosin, a member of the macrolide family of antimicrobials, is widely used in beef cattle and is administered through the diet to reduce the incidence of liver abscesses. Antimicrobials that belong to this same family are also used in humans (e.g. erythromycin). According to Health Canada’s categorization of antimicrobial drugs based on importance in human medicine, this antimicrobial family is within the second-highest category. That’s because it’s considered to be highly important for treating and preventing bacterial infections in humans.

Tylosin is usually fed continuously throughout the finishing period at a concentration of 11 ppm in the diet. There is no withdrawal period required before sending cattle to the abattoir.

It has been just over a year since Health Canada fully implemented new regulations involving medically important antimicrobials in livestock feed. This new directive mirrors efforts in the United States, as well as similar initiatives in the European Union, aimed at enhancing the stewardship of antimicrobial use. In Canada, new regulations require that all in-feed use of medically important antimicrobials occurs under veterinary oversight by a licensed veterinarian operating under a veterinary-client-patient relationship.

In addition, all growth promotion claims have been removed from medically important antimicrobials, with these products now only approved for disease prevention, control and treatment. It is almost certain that pressure to reduce the use of antimicrobials in livestock production will increase. Judicious use of antimicrobials to maintain health and welfare in livestock production must continue to be a priority. Consequently, there is merit in assessing points where antimicrobial use can be reduced or eliminated without compromising animal health and welfare.

One possible approach may be to reduce the duration that in-feed antimicrobials are administered during the feeding period. With this possibility in mind, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Feedlot Health Management Services collaborated to determine if including tylosin in the diet for a shorter period would reduce antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, without increasing the prevalence or severity of liver abscesses, other health issues, or compromising the growth performance of feedlot cattle.

What they did: Just over 7,500 feedlot cattle were included in this study and fed an 86 per cent concentrate diet for a 161-day finishing period. Tylosin was included in feed for three different durations over the finishing period:

1. FIRST-78 per cent; from day 0 to day 125
2. LAST-75 per cent; from day 41 to 161, or
3. Continuously for the entire 161-day feeding period.

Researchers collected fresh pen-floor fecal samples throughout the study to test bacteria (i.e. enterococci) for their type and level of antimicrobial resistance. They also assessed cattle for growth performance as well as incidences of morbidity and mortality during the feeding period. Carcass traits, prevalence and severity of liver abscesses were also recorded at harvest.

What they learned: There were no differences in the types or level of antimicrobial resistance with duration of tylosin administration. The overall occurrence of liver abscess was over 60 per cent, regardless of duration of tylosin administration, with about 20 per cent of the abscesses considered to be severe.

The incidence of liver abscesses did not differ with duration of tylosin administration. But while there was a tendency for more severe abscesses to occur in cattle administered tylosin for a shorter duration, this did not affect the growth performance of feedlot cattle.

There was also no difference in finishing weight, average daily gain or feed efficiency associated with the duration of tylosin administration.

What it means: Reducing the duration that tylosin is administered during the feeding period did not lower the antimicrobial resistance in the indicator bacteria measured. However, reducing tylosin administration during the feeding period might come at the cost of more severe liver abscesses in some cattle.

Interestingly, feeding tylosin for a shorter duration (which tended to produce more severe liver abscesses) did not result in adverse impacts on growth performance or carcass traits. Therefore, it could be possible to reduce the use of this antimicrobial by 25 per cent during the finishing period.

It is important to note that the incidence of liver abscesses was high in all cattle, even in those that continuously received tylosin throughout the feeding period. This may have been a result of the cattle being backgrounded or on feed for an extended period over the winter and spring months before the start of the trial.

Although some of the bacteria that cause liver abscesses are known, there may also be some contributing bacteria that have yet to be identified. While high incidences of liver abscesses have been attributed to the use of high-grain finishing diets, little is known about when liver abscesses develop during the feeding period or why some cattle develop liver abscesses while others do not. Advancements in genomics could shed some light on these unknowns as it may allow for the full characterization of all the bacteria that contribute to liver abscesses and may help define why some cattle are susceptible and others are not.

Regardless, it is clear that given the high prevalence of this disease in feedlot cattle, finding alternative strategies to reduce the occurrence of liver abscesses in cattle has considerable merit.

Dr. Tim McAllister is a principal research scientist who has been investigating aspects of antimicrobial resistance in beef cattle production for almost 20 years. Taylor Davedow is a recent M. Sc. graduate from the faculty of food and human nutritional sciences, University of Manitoba.

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Researchers at the University of Manitoba are undertaking a three-year survey on the number of acres in cover crops, the types of farmers growing cover crops and the range of cover crop species grown in Manitoba.

Those who grew fall cover crops, full-season cover crops or cover crops for grazing are asked to contact Dr. Yvonne Lawley by calling 204-474-6504, emailing Yvonne.lawley@umanitoba.ca or on Twitter at @YvonneLawley_UM.

Producers can also contact Bernard Jungreithmeier at 204-296-9384 or bernard.jungreithmeier@umanitoba.ca.

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Crop surveys by University of Manitoba Ph.D. student Nazanin Ghavami with soil science professor Mario Tenuta and his students have turned up soybean cyst nematode at “extremely low” levels on soybean plant roots in one field in each of four south-central municipalities: Norfolk-Treherne, Rhineland, Emerson-Franklin and Montcalm.

According to Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers in a statement Monday, the pest, a microscopic-sized roundworm, was identified by visual and molecular DNA methods in four out of 106 sampled fields across 18 municipalities. Select fields have been sampled and surveyed in Manitoba’s soy-growing regions since 2012.

Tenuta, in a paper released Monday, noted economical levels of crop damage weren’t observed in any of the four fields with the pest. The low levels are consistent with “recent establishment” rather than a long-undetected problem.

Already confirmed in soy-growing areas of Ontario, Quebec, North Dakota and Minnesota, soybean cyst nematode feeds on soybean roots, causing yellowed leaves, stunted plants and yield loss. Once established in a field, it can remain in the soil for many years.

Cysts were found in the four fields in question during the 2017 survey and later confirmed by DNA tests to be those of the soybean cyst nematode, at “extremely low” levels of two, one, 14, and 14 cysts per five pounds of soil.

Positive fields were resampled in May this year and two were confirmed as having cysts, at levels of two and 20 per five pounds of soil. The field with cysts at the higher level, which was planted to soybeans this year, was visited again in August and found to have cysts on roots consistent in appearance with soybean cyst nematode, Tenuta wrote.

To put the Manitoba cases in perspective, cyst levels in areas of Ontario and the U.S. Midwest where the nematode has been present for “many decades” can be as high as 3,000 to 4,000 per five pounds of soil.

That said, given the “large gap” between the host municipalities with positive identification, “there is a possibility that (the nematode) may be present in fields that were not included in the survey, or may have established since sampling of a field has occurred.”

The Manitoba field in question had “no visible disease symptoms indicating damage from the nematode” such as stunting, poor canopy closure or chlorosis, Tenuta wrote.

The pest’s arrival in Manitoba fields can “still be avoided by preventing the spread of soil from one field to another,” MPSG said in its statement.

Furthermore, soybean growers should consider rotating with non-host crops for two to three years — and, in municipalities with positive cases, using resistant soybean varieties.

Populations of soybean cyst nematode can also be “minimized” by rotating growing cover crops, reducing tillage and controlling host weed species, the grower group said. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Melissa Van Sickle’s interest in cattle started early and grew with her participation in 4-H. Van Sickle earned a bachelor of science in animal science from the University of Saskatchewan and then visited Australia. She then returned home to work for her family’s business, Genetic Ventures, which specializes in artificial insemination and synchronization of cattle. Van Sickle currently lives near Pigeon Lake, Alta., with her significant other. They own a herd of Red Angus/Simmental cross, and recently bought a provincially inspected poultry processing facility. Van Sickle’s mentor is John Crowley.

Raina Syrnyk was born on a mixed farm near Ethelbert, Man. While in the 4-H program, Syrnyk began building a herd of purebred Black and Red Angus females. Today the herd is approximately 100 females. Syrnyk also served four years as the Manitoba director and two years as president in the Canadian Junior Angus program. Syrnyk intends to establish a career in the financial industry, with a focus on agriculture. Farrah Williams is her mentor.

Manitoba Beef Producers has hired Carson Callum as the organization’s general manager. Callum grew up on a mixed grain and beef cattle farm south of Miami, Man. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in agriculture and a master’s of science from the University of Manitoba where he majored in animal science. Most recently he was the market manager of grains and oils with Corteva Agriscience (formerly Dow AgroSciences).

The Canadian Agri-Business Education Foundation has awarded six $2,500 scholarships to students entering or currently pursuing an agricultural or agri-food-related program at a Canadian college, university or technical institution. The scholarship recipients include: Marcus Grymonpre, Chilliwack, B.C.; Emily Gross, Bow Island, Alta.; Shaylyn Novak, St. Walburg, Sask.; Alice Rooke, Alexander, Man.; Faith Emiry, Massey, Ont.; and Isaac Ayer, Sackville, N.B.

Congratulations to Caylee Dorval (photo at top), winner of the 2019 Saskatchewan Agriculture Student Scholarship. Dorval hails from a beef operation near Glaslyn, Sask. The $4,000 scholarship will go towards her tuition at Lakeland College, where she will study animal science technology.

Congratulations as well to the runners-up, including Kaitlyn Sauser of Churchbridge, Madison McNeil of Alameda and Morgan Davey of Deslile.

Congratulations to the most recently announced winners of the regional Environmental Stewardship Awards (TESA). The national winner will be announced at the Beef Industry Conference in Calgary this month.

Randy and Terry Stokke of Willow Creek Ranch from Govenlock, Sask., received the Saskatchewan Environmental Stew­­ardship Award at the Saskatchewan Stock Growers’ Association AGM in Moose Jaw this spring. The Stokkes are long-time advocates for prairie conservation and preservation of species at risk. They have implemented far-sighted conservation practices to preserve their native grass pastures.

Clifton Ranch is the 2019 Ranch Sustainability Award recipient for the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association. The Clifton family ranches in Similkameen Valley, where they practice rotational pasture grazing, facilitated by about 100 water troughs, range fencing and thousands of feet of pipe. The Clifton family includes Wade, his wife Sandra and their children Cassie, Trisha and Megan; Wade’s sister-in-law Dianne Clifton and her late husband Brad, and their children John Ross and Maria; and Brad’s and Wade’s parents, Wilson and June.

Congratulations to the winners of the Alberta Beef Producers’ Young Guns contest. Youth aged eight to 21 who are involved in Alberta’s beef industry are eligible to enter. Participants explain how beef production has affected their lives and their futures.

First place went to Paytten Fankhanel of New Norway, Alta. Fankhanel is working towards a degree in animal science. Shanea Sinke from Picture Butte, Alta. took second place, and Addison Nolette from Longview, Alta., placed third.

Fankhanel was awarded $1,000, Sinke $500 and Nolette $250.

The Saskatchewan Forage Council recognized Aaron Ivey with its Forage Industry Innovation Award in June. As a former director and president of the council, Ivey has helped increase the profile of forage production in the province. He also helped create the Saskatchewan Forage Network and the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence.

The Manitoba Beef and Forages Initiative has announced its 2019-20 board of directors: Tracy Gilson (chair), University of Manitoba; Larry Wegner (vice-chair), Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) board member; Tyler Fulton (treasurer), MBP board member; Mary-Jane Orr (secretary), MBFI general manager (ex-officio); Kristine Tapley (appointee), Ducks Unlimited Canada; Darren Chapman (appointee), Manitoba Forage and Grasslands Association; Lawrence Knockaert, beef producer-at-large; and Don McIntyre, beef producer-at-large.

Congratulations to Tom and Margaret Towers of Tamara Ranch in Red Deer County, Alta. Tamara Ranch received the 2019 Dave Reid Award from ALUS Canada, which recognizes farms and ranches for innovation in ecosystem services. Runners-up were Jerremie and Rita Clyde, of Little Loaves Farm. Darren and Maria Smith, of Good Land Farms received an honourable mention.

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The intent of preconditioning for 30 to 45 days is to spread out the weaning, trucking, vaccination, dam separation, unfamiliar animals and environmental stressors that the calves face, so that the immune system is not overwhelmed. Shrinkage of calves weaned more than 30 days is accepted to be roughly three per cent in comparison to five to six per cent for calves weaned directly to the auction barn. A higher demand can be placed on them due to their feedlot conditioning regarding bunk and feed training plus adaptation to water bowls. Vaccination protocols assume the necessary time for a calf’s immunity to raise their level of resistance to viral and bacterial pathogens before being challenged by disease.

Beef Cattle Research Council studies show that once preconditioned calves enter the feedlots, they exhibit both a higher daily gain average and better feed efficiency, as well as lower treatment rates and death loss. This documented weight gain during the preconditioning period plus reduced shrinkage associated with transportation stress and the marketing process itself, will contribute to higher returns.

An eleven-year Purdue University study of Illinois farms showed that 63 per cent of weaned calf profits came from the added weight sold of preconditioned calves. They reported that steers diagnosed and treated for BRD-type diseases after reaching the feedlots were less profitable than those that were not, due to higher mortality and medicine costs.

J.G. Carlberg, associate dean and professor while at the University of Manitoba, demonstrated that two Alberta auction marts in 2011 and 2012 produced an average premium of just under $8/cwt on calves that had participated in a preconditioning program.

But Canada’s circumstances have changed. Canfax Research Services states that premiums on preconditioned calves in Canada appeared to be lower than the U.S., likely due to reduced confidence in their potential value and the lack of consensus on the definition of precondition.

In the 1980s when verifiable preconditioning programs existed, Alberta studies were completed over seven years that showed example herds produced premiums between $2.75 to $6.49/cwt for steers and $1.42 to $5.90/cwt for heifers. Recent research shows this type of premium is now non-existent. 2011-12 studies show virtually no preconditioning premium in southern Alberta livestock marts and only minimal premiums in central Alberta.

Across the border, Oklahoma price premiums for preconditioned calves in 2014 averaged US$19.20/cwt, which was more than double their premium of US$8.65 in 2013 and US$9.23 in 2012. Their Oklahoma Beef Quality Network puts forth a program laying out a set of preconditioning requirements plus the verifications in place to ensure they are being met.

F.A. Thrift of the department of animal and food sciences at the University of Kentucky indicated that buyers in the U.S. paid premiums of US$1.43 to US$6.15/cwt for preconditioned calves versus non-preconditioned calves in 2011 with the extent of the premium being varied by cattle appearance and seller reputation.

More standardized programs have been developed across the United States in recent years. Among others, Texas A & M University developed the VAC-45 program. This program compared auction mart-sourced cattle weighing less than 550 pounds to VAC-45-sourced cattle of similar weights procured at commercial feedlots. The results of this program over a 10-year period from 1990 to 2000 showed calves enrolled in the VAC-45 program had only one-third as many sick calves, less than half the dead calves, 0.3 pounds per day increased gain and 0.8 pounds per day better feed conversions.

Reducing the risk of sickness in calves has always been the primary goal of preconditioning programs in the cattle industry on both sides of the border. These practices are rewarded and justified in the marketplace but premiums for preconditioned cattle don’t always offset the costs. When times bring higher feed prices, cost-effective preconditioning of calves on the ranch of origin will likely focus on minimizing costs over adding weight during the preconditioning process.

Dr. Cody Creelman of Veterinary Agri-Health Services in Airdrie, Alta., has this to say about preconditioning and the recent years of higher calf prices: “When you’re making money without doing it — like what the industry has been experiencing over the last five years — that extra hard work isn’t seen as worth it.”

Canfax Research Services recently stated that while long-term seasonality can provide a baseline for price projection, recent years have shown more fluctuations in the fall calf price markets without following the typical seasonal tendency. They cite 2014 as an example when prices rose steadily throughout the entire year with only a minimal blip in late fall markets. Their recently published fact sheet indicates that feedlots are more apt to pay a premium for preconditioned calves when prices are highest, in a defence against risk of investment.

A concluding statement by Canfax Research Services reads, “For so-called preconditioning programs to affect the Canadian prices, the beef industry must create a clear and precise definition of preconditioned calves plus a validation system to build any confidence in possible perceived health benefits.”

In this, the U.S. is at least partially defining a course forward with their preconditioning programs, while Canada seems content to stay in a holding pattern.

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“Our members grow forage, many run livestock and most plant annual crops too,” says MacLeod, executive director of the Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association (CFGA). “Mostly, our producers choose to farm the way they do and are providing much more to Canada than simply cow bellies full of forages.”

If it seems to you like MacLeod is a tad sparky, you’d be correct. The 40-year-old New Brunswicker has been at the helm of the CFGA for three years now and he knows the timing has never been better for forages and grasslands to burst through the Canadian ag hierarchy champagne tower once and for all as the largest agriculture land use sector in the nation. Add to that sense of timing and urgency with the fact that if the Tasmanian Devil of Warner Brothers cartoon fame was a person, it could be Cedric MacLeod, a whirlwind of old-fashioned spit and energy with a distinguished resumé of consultation and leadership on hay export, maritime beef and young farmer files that have all benefited from his master’s degree in soil sciences from University of Manitoba. On top of the hectic work days, MacLeod juggles his own farm operations while enjoying family life with wife Alanda and toddler son Kalen.

“Healthy soil, that’s our future,” says MacLeod. “If we don’t find ways to conserve, benefit from and enhance our soil resources across this great country, we are headed for a heap of trouble. It all starts with soil… healthy soil.”

Few would argue that point. The next visible step, though, is the now what— the how, where and what’s next in forage research that proves the value of healthy systems and the role of forages and grasslands in the mix, over and over and over again. And that’s why MacLeod is so enthused that the CFGA was able to secure funding for the CFGA’s High Performance Forage Management Systems project through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Program (AGGP).

The official purpose of the AGGP project is to develop a Forage Management Carbon Offset Protocol, and associated Best Management Practice Implementation Manual to support Canadian forage and grassland manager efforts to enhance soil carbon sequestration. Indeed, a welcome, lofty and ambitious end product that will certainly serve the managers immensely on their farms while booming positive societal benefits to their home municipality, province and, in fact, Canada as a whole when it comes to the provision of cleaner air, water and increased biodiversity among other values.

“The long-term intent for this initiative is to create momentum towards increased collaboration and information sharing across Canada in support of forage industry growth,” says MacLeod. “Our shorter-term goals are to strengthen forage industry leadership as we move into program discussions around the next Canadian Agricultural Partnership.”

That’s a fairly administrative-leaning soapbox, almost cautionary approach. For a guy with a forage-stoked grassland fire burning at his core, what’s the real play and benefit here for Canada’s forage and grassland producers?

“Simply put… it’s dollars in producers’ jeans,” says MacLeod. “I don’t care if you raise dairy, sheep, goats or beef, if you run out west, in central or Atlantic Canada, run a tame or native stand, produce annual or perennial crops, forages are the green ribbon that connect every farmer every day coast to coast.”

Karen Haugen-Kozyra has over 25 years of experience in agricultural greenhouse gas measurement and modeling and climate change/environmental policy development — spanning her tenure at the provincial Department of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Climate Change Central and now in the private sector where she currently operates as president of Viresco Solutions, a sustainability-focused consultancy out of Calgary. Haugen-Kozyra has been working with her team and with McLeod and his team on the CFGA AAGP project.

“There remains a lot of confusion everywhere around greenhouse gas offsets and accounting,” says Haugen-Kozyra. “That’s because of the different types of standards, provincial systems and national emission inventories and global protocols that everyone has to consider when developing these programs. What’s most interesting about the CFGA AGGP is the opportunity to draw the project around what is controlled by the farm or ranch and go forward from there. It is inventory-based and builds up from that.”

MacLeod concurs. The five-year AGGP will encompass all of Canada’s grasslands, and pilot projects will be active on the ground starting in 2019.

“Productive grasslands create healthy soils, store millions of tonnes of carbon, and directly support Canada’s multi-billion-dollar ruminant livestock industries,” says MacLeod. “This is an exceptionally big deal.”

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Biochar can be manufactured from any type of feedstock with a fibre component — wood waste from saw mills, coconut or other nut hulls, and even bio-wastes that typically go into composting systems are a few examples — says Alberta Agriculture beef and forage specialist Barry Yaremcio.

The pyrolysis process involves controlling the burning temperature and oxygen supply to prevent complete combustion of the feedstock. This produces raw biochar, which is further processed into a consistent product.

In May, InnoTech Alberta at Vegreville was close to finishing analyses of six types of biochar derived from nut or wood sources and submitted by the U.S. manufacturer, Cool Planet. Samples were tested to detect any toxic substances that could be harmful to animals, people or the environment, as well as the suitability of biochar as an animal feed supplement. This information will be needed to establish standards for biochar products and for Canadian Food Inspection Agency approval for its use as a cattle feed ingredient rather than simply as a colourant in minerals.

Another large part of this study will determine whether any reduction of methane or hydrogen emissions, or improvement in feed efficiency or average daily gain depends on the inclusion rate of biochar in the ration.

A team at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre will carry out a 200-head, 200-day trial involving three inclusion rates in the feeding program to take calves from approximately 500 pounds to finished weight.

Differences in methane and hydrogen production will be measured in metabolic chambers where individual animals can be housed and fed the three levels of biochar in their rations.

Manure and urine samples from cattle fed in the chambers and manure samples from the outdoor trial pens will be analyzed for methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions. They will also look at differences between the use of straw and shavings for bedding.

A University of Alberta team will be studying the effect on soil structure, nitrogen retention and water retention in plots where manure from the calves in the control and each of the three biochar groups has been spread.

Crops will be grown on the fertilized plots for three years because it takes approximately that long for nutrients to be released from manure. Quality and yield measurements will be collected to evaluate effects on nutrient cycling, microbial activity and carbon sequestration.

Likewise, a University of Manitoba team will carry out in vitro rumen studies to investigate why and how biochar affects concentrations of the various types of microbes in the rumen, overall rumen efficiency and methane emissions.

The final economic analysis will consider any differences in growth rates, days on feed, total yardage costs, feed costs and crop production efficiency.

Alberta Agriculture’s main role will be delivering project results to producers to put the findings into practice.

The University of Lethbridge is the co-ordinating body for all of the project components made possible with $1.75 million from the federal Agricultural Greenhouse Gasses Program.

Yaremcio says recent results from the Leng et al. feeding trials in Laos and Australia are very encouraging. The group reports a 20 per cent reduction in methane emissions corresponding with a 20 per cent improvement in average daily gain without an increase in feed consumption when biochar was included in the rations for growing steers.

The current Alberta study will tell if biochar proves out in the Canadian environment when fed with locally grown feedstuffs. If so, he sees this as the first research step in a real game changer for all sectors of the beef and dairy industries, not only as a way of reducing methane emissions and improving feed efficiency with the possibility of protocols for carbon credits, but for potential animal health benefits yet to be fully explored as well.

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For instance, many ducks need grasslands and wetlands to nest and raise their young. Grasslands and wetlands also act like a sponge that absorbs excess moisture in wet years. A lot of grassland has been cultivated and/or wetlands drained to grow crops. This may have contributed to overland flooding and crop losses in recent wet years. If producers had been paid to preserve these grasslands and wetlands in recognition of the EG&S they provide (i.e. wildlife habitat and flood mitigation), would there have been fewer flood compensation payments?

Before beef producers can be paid for the EG&S they provide, we need to be able to measure them and figure out what they’re worth. A BCRC–funded project led by the University of Manitoba’s Dr. Kim Ominski was published in 2015 (Challenges and Opportunities in Estimating the Value of Goods and Services in Temperate Grasslands – A Case Study of Prairie Grasslands in Manitoba, Canada).

What they did: The research team focused on Manitoba’s grasslands. In addition to forage value, they identified 20 potential EG&S, and estimated the value of eight of them (carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, water quality, soil erosion control, soil formation, water treatment, recreation and aesthetics, and wildlife habitat). Forage and seed yields and prices were relatively easy to measure and value. The EG&S weren’t. For example, carbon sequestration data was limited, so they used data from grasslands at similar latitudes elsewhere in the world, and applied a carbon price from the Chicago Climate Exchange (this pre-dated Canada’s carbon taxes). The amount of nitrogen fixed by forage legumes was estimated and priced the same as urea. Other EG&S were even harder to estimate and value. Water quality and benefits from reduced water and wind erosion were based on a previous study of the upper Assiniboine River basin in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The data on how well grasslands remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil wasn’t strong, so data from forests was used instead. The rate of soil formation in grasslands had been measured elsewhere in the world, and were assumed to be similar in Manitoba. Recreation and scenery values were estimated from hunting revenues. Wildlife habitat values came from a federal report about burrowing owl habitat in southern Alberta. Information from other international studies were used when no other estimates or values were available, and to supplement other data when appropriate.

What they learned: A few key points were apparent. First, only a third of the total value from Manitoba grasslands (33 per cent) came from forage; the rest came from the EG&S. The largest EG&S contribution (42 per cent) came from carbon sequestration. No other EG&S accounted for more than 10 per cent of the total. The main thing this study found was how much we don’t know. We don’t have enough Canadian data to accurately estimate how much EG&S grasslands provide, and we don’t know what most EG&S are worth to society.

What it means: Implementing an effective program to pay beef producers for EG&S will be challenging. Since existing national, regional and provincial level EG&S data is insufficient, how will EG&S be measured? If EG&S payments go to individuals, will EG&S be measured on each operation? Everyone knows someone whose operation isn’t as environmentally responsible as yours; should they be paid the same as you? What about producers who work hard to maintain habitat for burrowing owls or sage grouse but have fewer birds than last year? Will they be penalized because the birds haven’t stayed? Will producers be paid for carbon that was sequestered on native range a few million years before their grandparents immigrated, or just for newly seeded pastures?

Will EG&S payments come from public tax dollars? If they do, what expectations will accompany them? For example, will civilians be able to freely roam private property and enjoy the scenery their taxes helped protect, as they do in Europe?

Will EG&S be funded through the marketplace (e.g. consumer support for McDonald’s Sustainable Beef initiative), by paid hunting, or groups like Ducks Unlimited, who are supported by individuals who want to see duck populations’ habitats preserved?

To answer these questions, more research is needed to measure how forage and beef production practices have an impact on greenhouse gas production and sequestration, soil health, watersheds and cycles, and plant and wildlife habitat. Regardless of how or whether producers are paid for EG&S, more knowledge of the EG&S that Canada’s beef producers provide will help the public understand that beef producers and environmentalists are often on the same side, and that Canada’s beef industry is environmentally sustainable.

The Beef Research Cluster is funded by the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada with additional contributions from provincial beef industry groups and governments to advance research and technology transfer supporting the Canadian beef industry’s vision to be recognized as a preferred supplier of healthy, high-quality beef, cattle and genetics.

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