At the Beef Farmers of Ontario’s (BFO) annual meeting in Toronto on Feb. 18, Brocklebank told Glacier FarmMedia her focus is on national delivery and stakeholder engagement, noting the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) is at a turning point following Dennis Laycraft’s retirement, after guiding the sector through crises for 30 years.

“With a change in leadership, it’s a good time to have that conversation,” said Brocklebank.

WHY IT MATTERS: Alberta’s July exit from the Canadian Cattle Association over fiscal transparency, governance, and communications issues would remove more than half of the CCA’s funding.

“CCA has a strong national and international voice built on sound principles and producer-led advocacy and policy,” she stated. “Producers who come to these boards really want to make sure the industry moves forward as a whole.”

She believes the Provincial Working Group’s unified approach supports that goal.

Provincial Working Group

The Working Group, a coalition of provincial beef associations, seeks to provide the CCA with insights to align with producers’ evolving needs while upholding national unity.

As a fourth-generation Alberta beef producer whose original farmstead was near the Toronto Airport, Brocklebank says she understands that Canadian beef production is diverse, with distinct challenges in cow-calf operations, backgrounders, feedlots, and processing.

Brocklebank noted that even though the conversations can be difficult, openness to solutions and change fosters collaboration and results.

“We’ve experienced that in the past, with policy discussion, that there isn’t always consensus,” she explained. “Generally, it comes (down to) what’s best for the long term and what’s best for the industry.”

Craig McLaughlin, BFO’s past president, sits on the working group with BFO president Jason Leblond. McLaughlin said Brocklebank’s approach to the Working Group’s concerns regarding fiscal transparency, governance, and communications is positive.

“Andrea’s a breath of fresh air. She’s open to change, and she’s certainly been having dialogue with Alberta beef producers,” he said. “She’s optimistic. The Provincial Working Group is optimistic. When you have people with that kind of mindset, you overcome barriers.”

Despite this optimism, BFO members still voiced concerns about how Alberta’s exit from the national organization could affect their CCA check-off payments.

McLaughlin suggested CCA reserves could ease transition costs, but he remains optimistic that Alberta will stay.

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“Everybody understood that the cuts would be coming because of the way things are, but what we’re disappointed in is that it appears as though the cuts were made without much consideration of industry priority,” said Reynold Bergen, science director with the Beef Cattle Research Council.

WHY IT MATTERS: The drastic cut to agricultural research will have a long-lasting impact on Canada’s ability to remain competitive in the global agriculture industry.

“We weren’t consulted, but we were kind of expecting that the votes of confidence we have put in in the past based on past funding decisions or funding investments in these programs would indicate where our priorities are and those priorities don’t line up with the decisions that have been made here.”

Breanne Tidemann, a weed scientist at Lacombe, wrote on X: “I’ve always shared about my research on here so a brief update on my situation. My position in Lacombe has been terminated as the station is being closed. I have been given an opportunity to stay with AAFC if I relocate. My family and I are weighing our options.”

There are no imminent site closures and the wind-down of scientific operations could take up to 12 months, said the department.

Bergen said the news has caused uncertainty.

“We don’t totally know what the impact is going to be on cattle or beef or forage research because we don’t know which researchers have been eliminated and might be relocated to other sites,” he said.

“It’s going to be some mix of both, but we don’t know how many and we don’t know who.”

Lacombe County said in a social media post that it was deeply disappointed with the federal government’s decision to close the centre, which has been in operation for 50 years, and called on Ottawa to pause the move.

The county said more than 100 centre employees and their families have been affected by the closure, as well as industry partners.

Lacombe was a major site for cow-calf forage and grazing research, as well as meat science, grading research and food safety.

“This is going to be a big loss. We just don’t exactly know what is being lost yet,” said Bergen.

The loss of Lacombe will be a hit to the industry, but the Quebec City research station will be also be a loss because it has been the site of extensive forage breeding.

“Quebec’s a long way away, but the varieties they develop there go all across the country,” he said.

• READ MORE: Beef industry weighs in on AAFC research cuts

Bergen said time will tell how the closure of the research stations will affect agriculture across Canada.

“The insidious part about cutting research is that it’s like a long hose. Think of water running out of a long hose, and you shut the tap off. Water keeps running until it doesn’t. With research, there’s such a long fuse on research that it might be 20 years before you start to wonder, ‘Well, how come nothing’s improving here?’ And it’s because of the cuts that were made so long ago.”

Ken Coles, executive director of Farming Smarter, called the Lacombe closure a “catastrophe.”

“I think it’s a shame and disgrace as a country that we’re not supporting one of the foundations of our country in an appropriate manner that will keep the industry competitive and vibrant on the world stage.”

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Other research stations that will close are at Guelph, Ont., and Quebec City.

Satellite research farms at Nappan, N.S., Scott, Sask., Indian Head, Sask., and Portage la Prairie, Man., will also close.

WHY IT MATTERS: The drastic cut to agricultural research will have a long-lasting impact on Canada’s ability to remain competitive in the global agriculture industry.

About 665 department positions have been reduced and nearly 1,050 employees received notification on Jan. 22. Some staff from Lacombe have been let go, while others have been given the option to relocate.

“Everybody understood that the cuts would be coming because of the way things are. But what we’re disappointed in is that it appears as though the cuts were made without much consideration of industry priority,” Reynold Bergen, science director with the Beef Cattle Research Council, said.

“We weren’t consulted, but we were kind of expecting that the votes of confidence we have put in in the past based on past funding decisions or funding investments in these programs would indicate where our priorities are and those priorities don’t line up with the decisions that have been made here,” Bergen said.

Breanne Tidemann, weed scientist at the research and development centre in Lacombe, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “I’ve always shared about my research on here so a brief update on my situation. My position in Lacombe has been terminated as the station is being closed. I have been given an opportunity to stay with AAFC if I relocate. My family and I are weighing our options.”

There are no imminent site closures and the wind-down of scientific operations could take up to 12 months, AAFC said.

“We don’t totally know what the impact is going to be on cattle or beef or forage research, because we don’t know which researchers have been eliminated and might be relocated to other sites,” Bergen said.

“It’s going to be some mix of both, but we don’t know how many and we don’t know who.

“All we know for sure is this is a concerning thing, and it’s frustrating because as industry, we’ve made it clear that forage and cattle and beef research is important. We were hoping they would take our funding commitments into consideration when they were deciding what to cut. That doesn’t seem to be the case.”

County of Lacombe not happy with the decision

Lacombe County said in a social media post that it was deeply disappointed with the federal government’s decision to close the Lacombe Research and Development Centre, which has been in operation for 50 years, and called on Ottawa to pause the move. The county said more than 100 centre employees and their families have been affected by the closure, as well as industry partners.

Lacombe was a major site for cow-calf forage and grazing research, as well as meat science, food safety and grading research.

“This is going to be a big loss. We just don’t exactly know what is being lost yet,” Bergen said.

In an impromptu speech at the Crossroads Crop Conference in Edmonton Jan. 27, Lacombe-Ponoka MLA Jennifer Johnson expressed her frustration over the closure of the centre.

“In my opinion this is another attack or assault on the agriculture industry in Alberta and in Canada.”

She suggested advocacy may be able to turn the federal government’s decision around.

“I think it’s really important we stand in solidarity with each other as commissions and associations. … Let’s bring some honey to this, not vinegar.”

Forage breeding research in Quebec

The loss of Lacombe will be a hit to the industry, but the Quebec City research station closure will be also be impactful because it has been the site of extensive forage breeding.

“Quebec’s a long way away, but the varieties they develop there go all across the country,” he said.

Bergen said time will tell how the closure of the research stations will affect agriculture across Canada.

“The insidious part about cutting research is that it’s like a long hose. Think of water running out of a long hose, and you shut the tap off. Water keeps running until it doesn’t. With research, there’s such a long fuse on research that it might be 20 years before you start to wonder, ‘Well, how come nothing’s improving here?’ And it’s because of the cuts that were made so long ago.”

Bad decision for both cattle and crops

“Generally, I think it’s a catastrophe,” said Ken Coles, executive director of Farming Smarter, a Lethbridge-based innovation hub in agriculture crop production.

“I think we’ve got an eroding platform and ability to serve our farmers across the country, and further cuts, especially to rural locations, is a terrible blow. The unfortunate part is that once this decision is made, I don’t think we’ll ever get it back. Not only are you losing the positions, but you’re losing the facilities, and you’re losing the impact and connection to the rural community.

“I think it’s a shame and disgrace as a country that we’re not supporting one of the foundations of our country in an appropriate manner that will keep the industry competitive and vibrant on the world stage.”

Coles said the closure of the Lacombe Research and Development Centre will have an economic impact.

“It’s not just this one choice. It’s been a series of changes in investment that, over time, will be economically impactful,” he said.

The industry has been affected by federal, provincial and even private changes to investment.

“The biggest concern I have overall with our agricultural innovation system is a complete HR crisis. I don’t think we have the human capital to deal with any challenges that we might be faced with in the future, and we certainly won’t be able to take advantage of any opportunities and innovation. It’s been a critical loss in capacity that allowed us to do great things in agriculture. I think we no longer have it,” he said.

Scientists who will be forced into retirement because of the closure will not be available for mentorship, he added.

“If I want to hire a scientist, I can’t find anybody that has the skill set to step into the role. I’m now having to start from scratch and train from the ground up.”

The knowledge of the “old guard” is going to be lost.

“Everybody’s excited and sold these grand ideas of new technologies solving it. But you still hear the same message that we’re failing at adopting and commercializing innovation because all the innovation is on this public entrepreneur piece and they don’t know how to add value in agriculture,” said Coles.

“It’s another blow to breaking the entire innovation system in agriculture across the country. Specifically, who is left behind has lost the ability to partner.”

— with files from Jeff Melchior

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Brocklebank is currently the executive director of the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC), a division of the Canadian Cattle Association.

Brocklebank will be replacing executive vice president Dennis Laycraft, who is retiring. Laycraft will be maintaining business as usual until the leadership transition takes place in March.

Brockleback was chosen based on the reccomendation of an executive recruitment firm.

“She’s been leading the BCRC for about 20 years and it’s grown tremendously over that time, including building a reputation for being a very trusted, credible organization that keeps producers at the centre of all its decisions,” said BCRC communications director Tracy Herbert.

During that time, the research council has funded important research and collaborated with many other groups.

“Our extension and knowledge mobilization portfolio started under Andrea’s leadership and has grown tremendously as well,” Herbert said.

“Andrea was born and raised on a beef operation and manages it now with her husband, so she’s very grounded in the realities of production and takes a very pragmatic approach and strategic forward-thinking approach to her leadership.”

“Working with Andrea for the past 15 years, I’ve watched and been inspired by her qualities, which are integrity, resilience, humility and clarity, and she has led a fantastic culture here at the BCRC,” Herbert said.

”It’s a culture of pragmatism, respectfulness and curiosity, and those are some of the qualities that have contributed to her success, her positive impact and her collaboration. Those will serve her very well at the CCA.”

The CEO role is new to the Canadian Cattle Association. CCA president Tyler Fulton said it was chosen because it more accurately represents the role of the senior staff member.

Herbert will be BCRC’s interim executive director. She has led the BCRC’s knowledge mobilization and communications program since 2011.

Herbert lives in Lloydminster. Her family operates a mixed farm between Neilburg and Maidstone, Sask.

-Updated Jan. 7

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A team with the university’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) recently tested two vaccines — the established Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) and a newcomer on the block, MSX-1, which they hoped would provide protection without triggering the false test positives that have been so problematic for livestock vaccination in the past. With further research, they found, the latter may have potential as a vaccine for the deadly cattle disease.

The investigation found both vaccines helped mitigate the bacterial infection in lab mice in different ways.

All of the mice vaccinated with BCG — which has long been a vaccine for TB in humans and some wildlife — survived exposure to the TB-causing bacteria Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), while only 80 per cent of those vaccinated with MSX-1 remained after being infected.

That meant MSX-1 was not as strong as BCG in terms of total protection. A big pro, however, was that MSX-1 did not, in fact, interfere with the accuracy of the standard tuberculin skin test, as BCG tends to do.

The false positives from the BCG vaccine have kept it from being a feasible vaccination option for livestock, risking interference with Canada’s monitoring and, in the case of a positive result, strict control efforts against the disease.

“The BCG vaccine is not compatible with the diagnostic tests for bovine TB in livestock, in the sense that if you vaccinate cattle with BCG down the road if they do get infected, you will not be able to distinguish between whether they were vaccinated or they’ve actually gotten infected with the disease-causing bacteria,” said the project’s principal investigator, Jeffrey Chen.

Cull reduction a primary goal

The project was recently highlighted by the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC), which was a key funder of the project. A post on their website expressed optimism over the findings and the role they may play in minimizing cattle culls.

“This means that there could be a vaccine with the potential to be approved to protect Canadian cattle herds from tuberculosis while still allowing the ability to test, which could mean culling only infected animals rather than the whole herd, meaning cost savings for cattle producers, the beef industry and the government,” the BCRC said.

“There are also implications to further vaccinate wildlife, other livestock and humans with this development. Further research into dosage and length of protection will help to improve the efficacy of the MSX-1 vaccine and potential approval of use.”

Advantage: MSX-1

Bovine tuberculosis is a reportable disease under the federal Health of Animals Act. It’s a zoonotic disease that can affect a wide range of mammals including livestock, wildlife and humans.

“For the beef cattle and dairy cattle sectors in Canada, it can be devastating in the sense that it can essentially block trade,” Chen noted.

Chen’s project started in 2018, including “piecemeal” experiments during the COVID-19 pandemic years.

The project to date has focused primarily on the 104-year-old BCG and MSX-1 vaccines.

“(BCG) jolts the immune system so that when an immunized individual encounters an actual infection with the bacteria that actually causes the disease, (the) immune system is essentially given a boost. It recognizes it and it’s able to fight off the infection much more efficiently,” Chen explained.

But because of the aforementioned false positives to skin tests , BCG isn’t permitted for livestock. This reaction does not occur in humans.

“For humans, there is a diagnostic test that was developed to allow you to differentiate between individuals who are vaccinated from those who get the disease, but there isn’t a similar test for livestock,” Chen said.

Meanwhile, according to the BCRC, MSX-1 is based on “a very different and harmless mycobacteria” called M. smegmatis that could be used to provide protection against bovine TB without interfering with the tuberculin test or causing negative side effects.

“I think that sort of gives … MSX-1 an advantage in that sense,” said Chen.

TB resurgence

Bovine TB has had an unfortunate return to the Prairies in recent years.

In 2023, cases in a Saskatchewan herd became Canada’s first since 2018. Another herd was locked down in Saskatchewan in 2024 and, most recently, a dairy cow in Manitoba’s Pembina Valley region tested positive — the first such finding in the province in over a decade.

As of Sept. 11, those cases had returned 59 positive TB tests so far, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Testing is still ongoing.

“As of today, testing and culling of infected herds is the only way to manage the disease once it is confirmed,” the BCRC noted.

“While this internationally recognized approach has helped to safeguard Canada’s bTB-free status and our ability to trade internationally, these control measures are very costly to the producers affected as well as the federal government.”

Outlook for a vaccine

There’s still much research to be done before a realistic vaccine is identified, if anything develops at all, said Chen. He makes an admittedly optimistic guess of two to two-and-a-half years before there’s a chance of an effective vaccine.

“We may get some data that said ‘No, this is a no-go.’ So we just have to do the work to find out,” he said.

The project was primarily to obtain proof of principle.

“(It) has to be vetted by the scientific community before we can broadly announce ‘Look — we’re on to something interesting here that we certainly need to look into further,’” said Chen.

Once peer-reviewed, the next stage will involve large-scale studies in cattle.

The durability of MSX-1 will also be a key focus in the next round of research.

“If you vaccinate, let’s say, today, how much protection will MSX-1 provide three months from now or six months from now and a year from now?” Chen said.

Future Johne’s disease applications?

Reynold Bergen, science director for BCRC, described the project as a good use of the national check-off dollars collected from producers by Canada Beef, which disperses funds to the council for research and tech development.

“Since they have to pay it, it’s really, really important that the use we’re putting those dollars to is stuff that will benefit all producers, ideally,” he said.

Bergen hopes the development of bovine TB vaccination tech will also play into a solution to Johne’s disease, a wasting illness of cattle and other ruminants.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Johnes’s is caused by a resistant species of bacteria (mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis) that belongs to the same family as tuberculosis.

“It’s not a reportable disease. There’s no trade implications from it,” said Bergen.

“But it affects a lot (of) producers and has a very real economic impact for them …. The two are related, so the technology that’s used to develop that TB vaccine could also help us to develop an effective vaccine against Johne’s disease, which is a real, clear and present issue for producers.”

Tyler Fulton, president of the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA), praised BCRC’s work in an email.

“CCA appreciates and fully supports BCRC’s focus on and dedication to producer-funded research that directly benefits Canadian beef producers. We are proud that BCRC is one of our divisions, providing unbiased scientific research on subjects that producers have identified as being of importance,” he said.

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