Healthy Kap. cows produce economic benefits.

• Author: Larmour, Adelle
• Position: Kapuskasing Federal Agricultural Experimental, beef cattle research

Research at the Kapuskasing Federal Agricultural Experimental farm is paving the way for potential beef markets in Northern Ontario while trying to save cheese/dairy markets from multi-million dollar losses.

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The Golden Beef experiment continues to evolve as a regional development project, designed to produce a leaner calf in 12 months, instead of 18 months. By feeding naturally enriched forages to the animals without implants or antibiotics, the intent is to change the fats in the muscle tissues in-to good fats, such as omega-3s and CLAs (conjugated lenoleic acids), explains Carole Lafrenniere, an Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada scientist working on silage microbiology at L'Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue (UQAT).

"We are making progress," she says, where some results were presented in April, 2006, at a New Liskeard conference, with more data to be presented to different organizations this fall. Additionally, Canadore College held contest recipes with the meat from the Golden Beef experiment to create recipes for meat not presently sold at butcher stores.

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Lafrenniere says they also have the technology transfer network on farms in Quebec and are working with the New Liskeard Agricultural Research Station in order to transfer different research results to the farm level.

"The idea to develop the meat is to develop the economy," Lafrenniere says. "You produce, you slaughter and then it could be packaged and sold."

Pierre Therrien, foreman at the Kapuskasing farm, says there is a big pool of animals in northwestern Quebec where farmers want to establish a slaughter house so they can produce their beef, transform it in their area and then send it over.

"There's more revenue out of a transformed animal than livestock," Therrien says, "... so our work at the farm and other stations will contribute to that project to help this niche and develop it commercially."

Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada research scientist Robert Berthiaume, who works in Lennoxville, says this year's Golden Beef experiments are focused on producing a very lean, yet tender meat using several strategies:

1. leaving the calf on the mother for about 300 days, instead of the traditional 200 days; and

2. providing soybeans meal protein supplements, complimenting the cow's naturally-enriched forage diet.

"The idea is to keep the calf on the mother to reduce its stress," he explains. "Of course, we want to see how the calf will...