Insights on what makes cows efficient, allowing better decision-making on farms

Located at the heart of one of Canada’s agricultural powerhouses, the University of Saskatchewan (USask) has developed an impressive portfolio of achievements related to creating stronger and more resilient food systems.

Mika Asai-Coakwell, professor in the Animal and Poultry Science department with the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at USask, focuses her efforts on “finding an efficient cow” through a project called, “Genomic association analysis of forage efficiency in beef cows.” 

“When you have animals that are more efficient over the long term, one benefit is that producers can rely on these cows longer – and don't need as many replacement heifers to become breeding cows,” she explains. “Higher calving rates would lead to a more productive farm overall.”

And when producers can raise more cattle with less resources, says Dr. Asai-Coakwell, this reduces the impact on the environment, decreasing the carbon footprint associated with this aspect of beef production.

As a first step, the team set key indicators for efficiency in cows. “From a traditional standpoint, an animal that eats less and gains more mass has been seen as more efficient,” she says. “But more recently, we’ve been considering a new definition. It reflects the fact that mature cows are no longer growing – and this makes the feed-to-mass conversion less indicative.”

What instead makes a cow efficient for beef cattle is “the ability to conceive, produce a healthy calf, wean that calf and then get pregnant again the following years,” says Dr. Asai-Coakwell. “An efficient cow is able to keep her health and body fat throughout these cycles with minimal feed supplementation.”

However, the equation is far from simple, and the researchers are charged with isolating markers in the genome from among the many factors that can affect efficiency, including herd management, farm location and weather conditions. “This complexity makes teasing out the genetics component more challenging,” says Dr. Asai-Coakwell. “We have to determine which traits can be inherited versus which are due to environmental influences.”

Underpinning these efforts is a ranking system, developed by collaborators for one cohort of cows, which the team now looks to apply to a much larger population, says Nyah Hopkins, a graduate student who works with Dr. Asai-Coakwell on the project.

The ranking system itself already represents a very useful tool, since previous methods for feed conversion required measuring the complete feed intake of an animal, Ms. Hopkins says. “This is not only expensive and time-consuming, but for cows raised on pasture, it is almost impossible.”

The new system uses measures that are routinely obtained on farms, such as calving dates, the cow's weight and body condition at calving – and the weight of the calf at birth and at weaning, she notes. “The resulting efficiency score indicates how well a cow is able to continuously produce healthy calves while maintaining her body weight on forage-based diets.”

The next step is to identify genotypes that point to higher efficiencies through genetic analysis of material from “both highly efficient and not very efficient cows,” says Ms. Hopkins. “When we know which genomic regions are associated with efficiency, we could design tools for testing for these genetics.”

This genomic testing, Ms. Hopkins proposes, would allow “a faster and better selection process. The ultimate goal is to provide farmers with a molecular tool for choosing the animals they want for their herd.”

Dr. Asai-Coakwell’s project has garnered strong support from the Saskatchewan government’s Agriculture Development Fund, the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association and individual producers.

She sees this interest as a sign that her work addresses a need in the beef cattle industry for selective genotyping methods, which are already used to identify favourable traits in the dairy industry, for example. “There is a lot of opportunity to implement genotyping tools in the beef cattle industry,” Dr. Asai-Coakwell says. “This work is essential for our producers.”

Beyond the specific interest in the genomic analysis project, Baljit Singh, vice-president, research at USask, sees collaborations and funding support as evidence that the university is considered a trusted partner not only in agriculture research but all areas of impact.

“We encourage our scholars and graduate students in each of our facilities to think of how the knowledge or technologies they create can help our partners, whether that’s from government, industry or community organizations,” he says.

What makes work related to food systems especially meaningful is to see research findings being translated into better outcomes for food producers – as well as Saskatchewan’s success as “an agricultural powerhouse,” says Dr. Singh, adding that countless examples attest to the university having played a key role in enabling strong outcomes.

“Just consider that one of the most successful animal vaccines ever developed have come out of the University of Saskatchewan,” he says. “This has helped save millions food animals around to globe to enhance food security and save millions of dollars for farmers.”

The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at USask has conducted infectious disease research and vaccine development for almost half a century. Eight of its vaccines have been sold commercially, six have been described as world firsts. From 2013 to 2022, VIDO’s operations and construction projects contributed more than $511-million to the economy and created or supported an estimated 2,375 full-time equivalent jobs.

On the crop development side, USask has an equally impressive track record, notes Dr. Singh. “Our researchers with the Crop Development Centre [CDC] are providing cutting-edge advantages to growers in Saskatchewan and around the world.”

Since 1971, more than 500 varieties across over 40 kinds of crops have been developed and released from the CDC. Added up, this translates into a contribution of $17.8-billion in gross farm outputs from 1991 to 2022.

While these impact numbers are impressive, nurturing a fruitful research and innovation ecosystem requires ongoing efforts, Dr. Singh emphasizes. “We have to be responsive not only to our partners but also to our scholars and students so they can collaborate and have access to research infrastructure that allows for ground-breaking discoveries.”

Dr. Asai-Coakwell values the support. “This university provides us with a lot of tools as well with excellent students who contribute to this type of research,” she says. “It is very exciting.”

Genomic analysis – looking for clues as to which genes are involved in making herds healthier and more productive to inform selection and breeding decisions – relies on “a strong animal science department with many researchers who examine different facets of animal science,” says Dr. Asai-Coakwell.

Another asset is the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence, which brings together “all aspects of raising beef cattle, with a cow-calf operation, a feedlot and a specialized metabolism barn,” she notes. “This is really advantageous not just us but for all researchers in this field, both on the plant and forage side and the animal side.”

Dr. Asai-Coakwell and Ms. Hopkins see providing tools for the farming community as a key imperative. They know that farmers need allies in their quest to feed a growing population while paying attention to the environmental footprint associated with their operation.

“When we can identify what makes a cow efficient – and give farmers tools to select for more efficient herds,” says Dr. Asai-Coakwell, “this brings benefits at all levels of the farming process.”

Dr. Singh adds, “We work to ensure that not only our doors are always open but we also go to our partners who have a challenge or an opportunity we can help to address, because we understand that we are here to serve the people of Saskatchewan, Canada and the world through generating and mobilizing knowledge.”

Originally published via the Globe and Mail.