Reading Time: 3 minutes The longer cattle are exposed to steroids and other growth promotants before slaughter, the more likely its beef will pay a penalty in terms of tenderness, said a researcher from the University of Alberta. Meat scientist Heather Bruce and her team recently conducted a study on the effects of growth promotants on collagen cross-links — […] Read more
Growth promotants in cattle can impact tenderness, says study
Researcher warns against steroid or beta-agonist use in cattle that won’t be slaughtered until they’re 16 months or older
Listening to the sounds of nature 24-7
Reading Time: 2 minutes A University of Alberta researcher is using bioacoustics technology to record the soundscapes of Alberta wildlife. “Technology has changed the way we survey for wildlife,” said Erin Bayne, associate professor of biological sciences. “If it makes a sound, we can count it. This is giving us a whole new insight to animal behaviour.” Bayne and […] Read more
Scientists say it’s a new era: the Anthropocene
Researchers say the term — which means the human period — recognizes the extent of human-caused change to the planet over the last 60 years
Reading Time: 2 minutes Characterized by the mantra “better living through chemistry,” the time immediately following the Second World War was steeped in a euphoric state of consumption of mass-manufactured materials. Now a new paper argues that this time should be formally recognized as the beginning of a new epoch by calling it the Anthropocene — or human period. […] Read more
Mamma mia! They don’t make gelato like this in Italy
A pulse-based version of the Italian ice-cream treat takes top prize at Mission ImPULSEible
Reading Time: 3 minutes If someone were to tell you that one day you could sample dairy-free gelato made from fermented beans — and actually enjoy it — you might think that was impossible. Well, when you’re at Mission ImPULSEible, nothing is impossible. “I never cease to be amazed at the unique ways that pulses can be processed into […] Read more
Famed Hays Converter cattle find a new home — and a new future
Donating the herd to the University of Alberta will improve its genetics and make them more available
Reading Time: 2 minutes A herd of Canada’s first breed of beef cattle will soon be home on the range at the Roy Berg Kinsella Research Ranch. Dan Hays and his family are donating their herd of Hays Converter cattle to the University of Alberta for research purposes, with the herd moving to the Kinsella Research ranch by 2018. […] Read more
Researchers take aim at chronic wasting disease
Finding out why prions misfold is key to finding a treatment for CWD and BSE
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chronic wasting disease (CWD) threatens populations of mule deer, whitetail deer, and elk throughout the Prairies, and scientists are working hard towards finding a solution Like bovine spongiform encephalopathy, CWD is caused by the misfolding of a mysterious class of proteins known as prions. While researchers are not clear on the function of prions in […] Read more
Cows that burp less could also save you money
Reducing methane from cattle means a reduction in greenhouse gases – and the key to that is feed efficiency
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cows that burp less are also more feed efficient. That’s the initial results of a study conducted by Thomas Flesch, a meteorologist from the University of Alberta and John Basarab, a University of Alberta professor and beef research scientist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lacombe research station. The two scientists are using lasers to […] Read more
Researchers using big data to find feed-efficient dairy cattle
The goal is to develop a prediction tool for breeding cows that will eat less with no loss in productivity
Reading Time: 2 minutes Researchers at the University of Alberta are looking to give producers a bit of a boost by isolating feed-efficient traits in dairy cattle. “We have an estimate that breeding for increased feed efficiency and reduced methane emission can reduce feed costs by about $100 per cow per year,” said Paul Stothard, an assistant professor of […] Read more
Pill allows celiac sufferers to ingest gluten
A decade of work at the University of Alberta has created a pill made from antibodies in chicken yolks that binds gluten
Reading Time: 2 minutes Celiac sufferers may soon be able to have their cake and eat it too. University of Alberta researchers have created a pill that uses natural antibodies in chicken yolk to prevent celiac sufferers from reacting to gluten. The natural supplement prevents the absorption of giladin, a component of gluten that people with celiac disease are […] Read more
What’s it worth? New project aims to nail down the value of wetlands
Innovative new project features a reverse auction in which producers ‘bid’ on the compensation they’d want for giving up acres
Reading Time: 4 minutes Wetlands often present a difficult choice for producers — keep them for their environmental value or drain them for the sake of the bottom line. Until recently, converting wetlands to croppable land was commonplace, and even encouraged by government projects that paid farmers to drain them. Wetlands advocates know it will take compensation to reverse […] Read more
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