Resulting news stories tend to use simple metrics, such as greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross product, which can be misleading. Livestock have very positive impacts on local economies, human nutrition and soil health, all of which are lost when only simple metrics are used. Fortunately, there is a growing, more balanced approach developing.

The Dublin Declaration is a recent initiative that “gives voice to the many scientists around the world who research diligently, honestly and successfully in the various disciplines in order to achieve a balanced view of the future of animal agriculture”. It now has over 1,000 signatures from around the world, and we should all hope to see that number rise.

The declaration notes that the livestock industry is challenged to provide nutrition for a growing population, but also to meet the needs of the estimated three billion people around the world currently suffering from malnutrition, a key point made recently by Dr. Vaugh Holder of Alltech that is often overlooked.

This needs to happen while at the same time dealing with challenges regarding biodiversity, climate change, nutrient flows and animal health and welfare within a One Health perspective. Clearly, livestock fit within a huge picture.

More recently, a series of nine papers has been written through a joint effort of the American Society of Animal Science and Oxford University.

Published in Animal Frontiers, these deal with topics facing animal agriculture including: the societal role of meat; the role of meat in the human diet; meat and non-communicable diseases; ecosystem management using livestock; challenges for the balanced attribution of livestock’s environmental impact; cellular agriculture: current gaps between facts and claims; and challenges and opportunities for defining the role and value of meat in our global society and economy.

Canadian livestock sectors are becoming more proactive as well. Several have recently established targets regarding greenhouse gas emissions reduction. To meet these targets, industry will need to support increased research efforts as well as work to better get research into practice. Fortunately, in Ontario, we are well into a complete rebuild of the province’s livestock research facilities at Elora. Industry, government and the University of Guelph, which manages the facilities, must together attain maximum value from these world class centres.

The great research now and in the future will provide us more information to pass along to farmers and consumers. Pulling that into a cohesive story will be important. Such a story could have three chapters: economy, environment and food security. Each chapter would document the current state along with progress toward a defined target each having a specific date.

The economy chapter could include the contribution to Ontario’s GDP; number of jobs that are supported, both direct and indirect; number of new entrants by sector; effective business risk management; profitability; contribution to a circular economy using by-products, and disease avoidance and control, with particular attention to zoonoses.

Within the environment chapter could be greenhouse gas reductions based on a meaningful denominator, not simply gross product; industry adjustments made to adapt to climate change; level of antimicrobial use; water use and impact on water quality; impact on biodiversity; animal welfare; energy use and sources; and impact on soil health.

Food security could capture contribution to human nutritional needs; availability of Canadian product for Canadian consumers; and levels of exports that help to feed the world.

Having the outline of the story will help all parties (industry, government and researchers) to define gaps and research goals and help to define new ways for getting research into practice on farms as well as communicating research results more broadly.

Mike McMorris is Chief Executive Officer of the Livestock Research Innovation Corporation and has more than 35 years’ experience in the livestock sector working for government, producers, and industry organizations. Follow LRIC on X @LivestockInnov.

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It is also a good time to pause and think about where you want your organization to be in 10 to 30 years.

Those attending the annual meeting were asked to choose three words to describe AgSights of the future as they hope it will be. Responses included leader, innovation, etc.

The most intriguing answer was “disruptor”.

By definition, a disruptor can be a company or form of technology that causes radical change in an existing industry by means of innovation.

Ask people what they think of when they hear the word disruption, and you will get mixed reactions. Avian influenza has been a big disruptor; so, too, has the iPhone and in using those as examples, some people fear disruption while others welcome it.

Some disruptions come with a great promise of return and yet after significant time and expense, fall short. Though it varies greatly by sector, the implementation of traceability has certainly been disruptive, yet it is incomplete and has failed to live up to the promised return on investment for farmers.

These experiences make us wary of further proposed change.

A key to how change of any kind is perceived is whether or not those being disrupted have choice. No-one chose to have avian influenza wreak havoc across Canada. None of us chose to live through three years and counting of a global pandemic.

We all did, however, have choice with regards to buying a cell phone – although why we cling to the term “phone” is beyond me.

Most times, the only way to have choice is to actively engage in the disruption. It’s often said: “The best way to know the future is to create it.” Creating the future, or “orderly disruption”, as much as that is possible at least, requires some common ground amongst the key players, including producers, government, industry stakeholders and academia.

To help with planning, LRIC has been modelling a new A2B approach in which “A” is where your sector is now with regards to the big issues (e.g., use of antimicrobials), “B” is where you need to get to, and “2” is what needs to happen to move from A to B. Those actions will include research, innovation, policy, emergency management planning and so on.

Often this planning process will unveil needs in documenting where you are today and so benchmarking is a critical first step. The process also creates a common goal that all parties work toward, which is often not the case today.

Creating as well as preparing for disruptions feeds into an innovation system. That system has five components: funding, priorities, project management, GRIP (getting research into practice) and commercialization.

LRIC’s International Research Advisory Committee prepared a report on this system last year and this year it is focusing on collaboration in setting research priorities and improving GRIP in the livestock sector. The results of several recent initiatives suggest that a new model of GRIP is needed and one step toward that will be LRIC’s GRIP Roundtable on April 19.

It is a fact that the livestock industry will face multiple disruptions in the coming years. These will arise from the issues of climate change (reducing impact of production as well as adapting production to changes in weather); reducing the use of antimicrobials; water use and quality; more disease challenges; and from some sides we cannot yet imagine.

It is far better to be an active participant in those disruptions, creating some and mitigating the impact of others, than waiting and hoping that others, including Mother Nature, have your interests at heart as they disrupt your business.

Being a disruptor will cause blowback and so it will require a critical mass of people willing to change to drive toward orderly disruption. I’ve learned that the status quo carries tremendous inertia across organizations. The harder, but better way is to embrace orderly disruption.

Mike McMorris is Chief Executive Officer of the Livestock Research Innovation Corporation and has more than 30 years’ experience in the livestock sector working for government, producers, and industry organizations. Follow LRIC on Twitter at @LivestockInnov.

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That means faculty from disciplines outside of animal or plant science can be working on agricultural research, but even within those departments, many may have little familiarity with the sector.

Why it matters: Science can be more effective at solving industry problems if researchers have a good understanding of issues facing the sector and good working relationships with key players in each commodity.

That gap between farm and faculty is what led to an “ah-ha” moment about 18 months ago for Mike McMorris, chief executive officer of Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC), and ultimately resulted in a mentorship pilot program to connect early-stage faculty at the University of Guelph with the Ontario livestock industry.

“Innovation requires many things, including sound research rooted in industry needs, strong working relationships between university faculty and industry, and effective technology transfer involving many organizations,” says McMorris. “This pilot project gives early-stage faculty a chance to gain some of those insights and connections in our industry that will hopefully help them in their work.” 

The first cohort of nine participants from the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), and College of Engineering and Physical Sciences (CEPS) wrapped up this past spring. COVID-19 impacted both the program’s length and delivery format, but overall, it was deemed a success. 

The program is a welcome addition for OAC Dean Rene Van Acker, who sees value in ensuring faculty understand the goals and aspirations of industry organizations and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), both of which are significant funders of livestock research in the province. 

“We appreciate what LRIC has been doing in terms of providing leadership for newer faculty and building as much alignment as possible between industry partners, OMAFRA and faculty to understand what the possibilities for research and partnerships could be,” he notes. 

OVC Dean Jeff Wichtel, who didn’t grow up with a connection to agriculture, also sees value in the program and its ability to generate new research collaborations between faculty from different departments. 

“I think back to how much easier it would have been to have this when I started; it has proven to be valuable,” he says. “Collaboration is organic as people get to know each other and institutional attempts to generate collaboration aren’t as successful, it requires a human touch. We hope to keep this academy of mentees connected moving forward.”

With most of the programming delivered virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, in-person farm tours and meetings were largely not held, taking away valuable learning and networking opportunities. 

Still, LRIC was able to facilitate connections between faculty and producers that are already showing tangible results. OVC associate professor Heather Murphy, for example, changed the approach of one of her research proposals to include on-farm water quality work after getting feedback from producers. 

Environmental engineer professor Rafael Santos was able to secure an OMAFRA Highly Qualified Personnel scholarship for a student because it was addressing a real problem in the livestock sector – based on what Santos learned from people in the industry. 

Dave Renaud, a veterinary epidemiologist at OVC, already has a fairly extensive agricultural background. For him, the most valuable aspects of the program were discussions around how commodity boards make research funding decisions, and how to structure a funding proposal. 

“When taking funding proposals to the board level, it’s important to focus on why the research is important to the industry and what’s in it for producers,” he notes. 

LRIC commissioned Steven Roche of ACER Consulting to conduct in-depth interviews with the mentees and prepare a report of recommendations for LRIC to consider when planning for the next cohort. 

Overall, the program’s strengths included the small group size, content that provided a broad overview of the livestock industry and the different commodities, insights into how research is funded, and the opportunity to engage both with farmers and the LRIC team. 

“The program has helped mentees think about how their research programs can fit in the livestock sector. It has resulted in a newly funded project about how to improve knowledge transfer and several other proposals have now been submitted for funding that were stimulated out of this program,” Roche says. “That’s a positive outcome already.” 

Recommendations for enhancement included more emphasis on knowledge transfer and grant writing, more opportunities for facilitated discussions with presenters, the ability to receive feedback on draft grant proposals, and expanding eligibility to other colleges at the university to encourage more cross-collaboration between disciplines.

LRIC is already developing a more formal guide for the voluntary program to give new mentees a better idea of what they are committing themselves to and what they can expect in return. The next program will have a stronger focus on networking with presenters as well as opportunities for the mentees to get to know each other, and a return of the farm visit program, McMorris noted. 

“We also had exceptional industry participation,” he adds. “The key advice for researchers was around the importance of building a relationship with industry and a need for much improved technology transfer.” 

This article is provided by Livestock Research Innovation Corporation as part of its ongoing efforts to drive innovation in the livestock sector. 

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So what exactly is synthetic meat? It goes by various names like cultured or lab-grown meat but is also referred to as cellular agriculture. It’s the field of growing animal agriculture products – like meat – directly from cell cultures in a growing medium instead of using livestock. 

Primarily, this evolving field has focused on beef, pork, poultry and fish, as well as dairy and egg. Gates and others are promoting it as a way for people to be still able to enjoy these products without negative aspects of livestock farming like methane emissions. 

Why it matters: Younger consumers in particular are leading a shift towards more environmentally conscious living and eating, impacting purchasing behaviours. 

According to market research by Technavio, the cultured meat market will grow by $200 million US between 2020 and 2024, growing annually by almost 16 per cent. North America is estimated to be home to nearly half of that growth. 

Dr. Simon Somogyi is the Arrell Chair in the Business of Food and Director of the Longo’s Food Retail Laboratory at the University of Guelph’s School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management. 

Together with his research team, Caroline Reisiger, Deus Mugabe, and Sudhanshu Sudan, Somogyi is studying the impact cellular meat products would have on the meat industry. 

They want to hear from farmers, consumers, retailers and meat processors on the issue and have designed a series of surveys with help from non-profit partner Cellular Agriculture Canada. 

“To be successful, cellular agriculture should integrate, not compete, with traditional meat production,” Reisiger says. “However, there is currently little information available to guide product launch in this regard. We hope our study will help to fill this gap.”

Survey results will be used to help make recommendations for the cellular agriculture industry about how they can merge their technology with current food production and supply. The team hopes to hear from 100 dairy, livestock and poultry farmers, 100 representatives from the retail and meat processing sectors and 300 consumers Canada-wide. 

Cultured meat may not yet be as top of mind as plant-based proteins when it comes to meat alternatives, but that doesn’t mean the livestock industry shouldn’t be paying attention. That’s according to Mike McMorris, CEO of Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC), a Guelph-based organization focused on innovation in the livestock sector. 

“I think it (cellular agriculture) is an emerging competitor and livestock producers and sectors need to make sure they are addressing consumer needs and concerns to be well-positioned when the competitors emerge,” McMorris says. 

That includes doing a better job of telling the positive story of what livestock does to enhance soil as well as the human health aspects of consuming “real” animal products. And it means addressing nomenclature issues so consumers have a clear understanding of what they are buying and eating. 

For example, what happens to soil health without manure from livestock? And is milk grown from cultured cells still milk, or is it a dairy beverage the way oat, almond and soy-based drinks are? 

“The food system is pretty complex, and there is no silver bullet,” McMorris adds. “You have to think about all the implications not only for livestock but also for cellular agriculture.” 

Livestock farmers looking to participate in the survey can contact the research team at cellagsurveyteam@gmail.com or Caroline Reisiger directly at creisige@uoguelph.ca. The survey is open until March 15, with a final report expected before the summer. 

The project is funded by the University of Guelph, the Arrell Food Institute and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Highly Qualified Personnel program. 

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Professor Marcio Duarte is expected to soon join the University of Guelph’s Department of Animal Biosciences as assistant professor in meat science and muscle biology.

Duarte is currently an assistant professor in animal science at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa in Brazil.

Beef cattle are his main focus, although he also collaborates on swine research projects, and his specialization lies in improving meat quality through research in muscle biology, maternal nutrition, and fetal development.

“Skeletal development starts in the uterus and with a third of the animal’s life spent in-utero, we need to learn how we can manipulate the maternal diet to benefit fetal development,” he says. “What we do during pre-natal development has consequences later in life for the calf.”

He also hopes to partner with other researchers on projects related to feed efficiency.

“The main goal is to understand how selection for feed efficiency can influence changes in meat quality traits. We can look at tissue development at the cellular level to understand what the consequences are of feed efficiency selection, and maybe we can find a way to have some balance between the two,” he says.

The University of Guelph has been on Duarte’s radar since his days as an undergraduate student, and he had colleagues who came to Guelph for their graduate and post-graduate work.

He was also attracted by the investments that government, producers, and the university have made into livestock research, including the newly renovated and upgraded federally inspected on-campus abattoir and the new beef research facilities in Elora.

“Since I work with beef cattle and meat quality, I saw this as a great opportunity to be in the right place at the right time,” he says.

The investments and Duarte’s hiring are part of of a rebuilding effort for the Department of Animal Biosciences. In 2008, the department, then known as Animal and Poultry Science, lost eight faculty positions as part of a 40 per cent budget cut to the Ontario Agricultural College.

Today, faculty numbers are back up, facilities are undergoing renewal, and both research and teaching are expanding into new areas.

Faculty numbers back up

Department chair Jim Squires said so far, the department has hired 14, including eight women. “We’ve built back up to our previous levels, and at the same time our productivity has grown, and our number of graduate students has grown as well.”

According to Squires, all new faculty have received funding for two graduate students for two years in addition to funds to start their respective research programs. The department now has more than 150 graduate students across its 28 faculty members.

Guelph is home to the only federally licensed university abattoir in Canada. It recently underwent an approximately $2.5 million overhaul and re-opened two years ago as a completely modern meat science laboratory that focuses on teaching and research and also collaborates with industry partners on new product development.

The Elora Research Station is home to the new Ontario Dairy Research Centre and the new Ontario Beef Research Centre, both state-of-the-art facilities to support the research needs of the industry.

The new dairy facilities began operations in 2015, the new beef cow barn and some of the renovated pastures are already in use and construction of the new beef feedlot is underway. A new swine research centre was announced in 2019 that will also be built in Elora, and discussions about renewal of the poultry research facilities are ongoing.

New research specialty areas for the department include greater focus on big data, and ecosystem services that look at the broader impact of livestock farming on the environment. As well, new programs for students in the Ontario Agricultural College have been added to meet the evolving needs of the agricultural sector, including resource management, food industry management and environmental management, and a new program focused on technology and business is in development.

“That’s a nice niche; someone with a good understanding of agricultural technology on the plant and animal side combined with business could work almost anywhere,” Squires said.

This article is provided by Livestock Research Innovation Corporation as part of its ongoing efforts to drive innovation in the livestock sector.

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Most Canadians are not used to worrying about access to food. Despite a few short-term impacts resulting from adjustments in the supply chains, even COVID-19 left the shelves stocked.

According to recently released research by the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI), “the food system’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is highly praised by Canadians; nearly nine in 10 (87 per cent) trust that the food system will ensure the availability of healthy food for Canadians.”

Consumers trust us, which is good news for now, but what is ahead? What will trust involve?

A trusted food supply involves three factors: availability, authenticity, and accountability.

Availability comes to the fore during pandemic

Before COVID, most would not have had “available” in this list as we simply took that for granted. Consumers have had a wakeup call on that front. Although the industry passed the test by and large, there are issues that must be dealt with.

These include labour, working conditions to ensure good human health, automation, the fragility that comes with concentrated processing (the benefit of which is efficiency), and a greater nimbleness to adjust to conditions (like packaging for eggs when pulp mills closed).

Authenticity tied to food fraud perceptions

Authenticity means the buyer gets what they are paying for. In the CCFI report, 51 per cent of respondents indicated that food fraud is a high or medium priority for them. While this is significant, it ranks twelfth in a list of possible issues. Industry has a window of opportunity, while this issue is of relatively low priority to consumers, to address to clear areas of concern.

Food fraud is real, as documented by Dr. Robert Hanner with the University of Guelph. He has seen honey diluted with corn syrup, peppercorns swapped with papaya seeds and he notes that “…there’s four times more Italian extra-virgin olive oil sold in international markets than what’s actually produced in Italy.”

A Canadian study in 2017 found concerning levels of meat products in sausages that should not have been there (for example chicken in a beef sausage). This study led to enforcement actions by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and testing in 2019 indicated that the incidence of misrepresentation in sausage meat ingredients is down.

A further concern regarding food authenticity is the stability of value-added products. I know a meat processor that built such products, only to see his market eroded when his client found someone that “does the same,” but not really, at a lower price. Industry progress is stalled when the reward for innovation is simply to have it “stolen” via food fraud.

Accountability most impacts farmers

Accountability takes the issue of a trusted food supply right down to the farm. To many farmers, the actions that need to be taken to ensure accountability seem to have no reward. The common refrain is “pay me to do it,” but the real payoff is simply keeping your market to sell into.

The definition of accountability changes over time and is quite different in sectors of agriculture. On-farm programs vary from voluntary to mandatory and from relatively limited to quite comprehensive.

For example, the proAction program in the dairy sector has multiple components that have been phased in over a number of years. The overall goal is for “Canadian dairy farmers to demonstrate responsible stewardship of their animals and the environment, sustainably producing high-quality, safe and nutritious food for consumers.”

Implementing such a program is harder in the non-supply managed sectors but there has been growing recognition of the need in all sectors.

Of the three “A’s”, accountability is the one that goes beyond the consumer. Everyone in society has a voice when it comes to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the use of our tax dollars. Having support for research, innovation and business risk management programs is dependent upon a societal support.

The farming sector must keep the trust of society as if its future depends on it… because it does.

Mike McMorris is Chief Executive Officer of the Livestock Research Innovation Corporation and has more than 30 years’ experience in the livestock sector working for government, producers, and industry organizations. Follow LRIC on Twitter @LivestockInnov.

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