Exciting opportunities at ANCC 2025
The Animal Nutrition Association of Canada is honoured to host this event and provide the animal feed industry with this exceptional learning and networking opportunity. Read on to learn about the exciting offerings at this year’s event.
Wednesday May 7
3:00 to 4:30 pm – Student Networking Event
Strategy Room 2
An opportunity for students to learn about careers in the feed industry and network with potential employers.
4:30 to 6:30 pm – Welcome Cocktail
Fallsview Studio ABC
Join us for an evening of networking and animated discussions with industry colleagues. Registration packages will also be available for collection.
Thursday May 8
Pre-conference Symposium
Great Room BC
7:15 am – Hot breakfast
Sponsored by Neogen
The modernization of Canadian feed regulations, Feed Regulations, 2024, introduces a robust, outcome-based framework for livestock feed safety, emphasizing hazard analysis, preventive controls, traceability, and enhanced record-keeping. This article explores the role of monitoring and verification technologies in supporting preventive control programs (PCPs) and compliance under the updated framework, with a focus on environmental monitoring, Salmonella control and mycotoxin evaluation. By integrating these technologies into their PCPs, feed producers can enhance animal and human health, protect the environment, and meet regulatory requirements.
Learn more abour Brandon Wong and Dr. Aubert.
Sponsored by Huvepharma
Vitamin D has been added to poultry diets for as long as poultry have been raised in confinement, because the birds are unable to synthesize sufficient levels of vitamin D in the absence of sufficient exposure to sunlight. Initially, vitamin D was known primarily to be involved in the regulation of absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the diet, particularly when dietary levels were low relative to the birds’ requirements. Since that time, it has become clear that vitamin D plays important roles in other physiological functions such as immunity, muscle growth and cell growth regulation. The form of vitamin D traditionally supplemented to poultry diets (cholecalciferol) is not the active form in the body. Additional isomers of vitamin D have also been developed as effective dietary supplements to meet the vitamin D requirements of commercial poultry.
Phytase is an enzyme that liberates phosphate molecules from phytate, the storage form of phosphorus in plant-based ingredients. Phytate-bound phosphorus is poorly available to poultry, and additional phosphorus must be provided, either as supplemental phosphorus, or by increasing the availability of the intrinsic phosphorus in the plant ingredients. The use of phytase has allowed the poultry industry to reduce the use of inorganic mineral phosphate supplementation. This reduces diet costs and environmental pollution caused by excretion of the undigested phosphorus. Degradation of the phytate molecule also reduces interference in availability of other nutrients including calcium, and the myo-inositol ring of phytate can be used in several metabolic and regulatory processes.
Primarily because of their independent effects on calcium metabolism, numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the potential interactive effects of phytase and vitamin D supplementation. Effective use of these supplements can reduce the need for phosphorous supplementation, detrimental interactions between calcium and phosphorus in the diet, and increase performance, skeletal integrity, meat yield (broilers) and shell quality (laying hens).
Keywords: broiler chicken, laying hen, vitamin D, phytase
Learn more about Dr. Korver.
9:45 am – Health break
Sponsored by dsm-firmenich
Vitamin D3 is an essential nutrient required for normal growth and development of pigs and other mammals, with emphasis classically placed on its importance for maintenance of Ca and P homeostasis and bone mineralization. With the continuing recognition that there are economic losses and welfare concerns resulting from cases of lameness and metabolic bone diseases in swine, there has been increased research to improve the understanding of requirements for vitamin D, Ca, and P to optimize the bone health and performance of modern genotypes. This is particularly important because either deficiencies or over-feeding of certain nutrients (i.e., phosphorus) can be costly, especially when considering the implications for efficiency and sustainability.
Research in the last decades has revealed that vitamin D is essential for physiological functions “beyond bone” and displays important functions for reproduction, cellular development, and immune system function, to name a few. From an evolutionary perspective, significant amounts of vitamin D are obtained from exposure to sunlight and vitamin D photosynthesis in the skin. Pigs that are housed indoors, especially younger animals, are frequently found to have a low vitamin D status when compared to pigs housed outdoors during summer conditions, even when receiving “typical” levels of vitamin D3 supplementation in the diet.
In this brief review, recent research is provided to support recommendations for achieving an optimum vitamin D status for modern, lean genotypes housed indoors; and the benefits of dietary supplementation using 25-OH-D3 to safely achieve healthy plasma levels of 60 – 90 ng/ml of 25-OH-D3 are demonstrated.
Keywords: performance, swine, 25-OH-D3, vitamin D
Learn more about Dr. Bergstrom,
Sponsored by Kemin
The gut microbiome of food production animals varies greatly between individual animal species. This is due, in part, to nutritional requirements and feed composition of each particular species as well as other physiological factors. The identification of shared mechanistic components between poultry and livestock, as well as ruminants and non-ruminants, would enable the design of a tractable nutritional platform that could be easily adapted to a number of farm production animals under a range of environmental conditions. This talk will posit that the use of the evolutionary, neurochemical-based crosstalk between the microbiome and the host, known as microbial endocrinology, provides such a framework by which to design a novel approach in the design of feed that will accelerate the application of the microbiome in food animal production. Microbial endocrinology, which is the intersection of neurobiology and microbiology, has been applied since its introduction to understanding the ability of stress to influence susceptibility to infectious disease. However, feed can also be understood beyond the traditional nutritional properties needed for optimal animal performance to also include an array of naturally occurring neurochemical molecules. These components of feed, which are typically not measured as part of any nutritional diet, encompass neurochemical precursors or metabolites that are useable by the microbiome to affect animal health, behavior, and food safety status. As neurochemicals represent an evolutionary-based interkingdom ‘language’ for bi-directional host-microbe communication, feed concentrations of neurochemicals are relevant across all food production species. The value of an interkingdom approach to nutrition and the design of feed is increasingly self-evident considering that common feed components such as corn, wheat, soy, animal by-products, and other plant and animal ingredients are rich sources of neuroactive compounds including neurochemicals, precursors, and/or metabolites. Through the lens of microbial endocrinology, the presence of naturally occurring neurochemicals and related compounds in feed can be explored to create next-generation feed strategies to target causal pathways between microbial taxa and the host relevant in performance, health, and food safety. For example, if poultry or livestock are expected to encounter stressful environmental conditions, feed compositions might be tailored to concentrations of neuroactive molecules, such as histamine or dopamine, that could potentially affect inflammation and animal gut health and susceptibility to foodborne pathogen carriage. Feed-based applications that leverage neurochemical-based host-microbe crosstalk hold promise as a tractable functional platform that can be utilized for all food production animals to improve feed performance and overall health as thereby also benefit food safety. Thus, there exists a need for the development of evidence-based, function-driven hypotheses to accelerate the application of microbiome research in animal nutrition. The use of microbial endocrinology provides for such a functional framework by which the microbiome can be effectively modulated through understanding the potential of neurochemistry to be applied to feed formulation.
Keywords: microbial endocrinology, microbiome, feed, neurochemical
Learn more about Dr. Lyte,
12:00 pm – Lunch
Opening Plenary
Great Room BC
Growing importance of upcycling agricultural and food processing byproducts through livestock production increases the variation in the nutritional quality of feed ingredients. In addition to the extent, the kinetics of digestion can affect the metabolic fate of nutrients after absorption. Together with a growing body of evidence of interactions occurring in the lumen of the digestive tract, this urges the need for insights into the regulation of digestion kinetics. Results of recent studies on the regulation of digestion kinetics in swine will be presented and discussed, with a focus on digestion kinetics of starch and proteins, regulated by dietary fibres and particle size distribution. Whereas starch digestion kinetics are highly influenced by the starch source, the feed matrix, and can be accelerated by thermal treatment, digestion kinetics of proteins follows the sequential emptying of liquids and solids from the stomach. Typically, digesta liquids are emptied about 2 h faster from the stomach than solids, but this difference can be reduced by viscous, soluble fibres or enlarged by coarse particles (>0.3 mm). Gastric mixing affects the pH gradient in the stomach and thereby likely the post-stomach hydrolysis rates. Dietary water binding capacity, but not dietary extract viscosity, appears to be a strong predictor of digesta phase separation in the stomach. Small intestinal digesta transit appears to be highly variable and difficult to influence through dietary properties. These insights can facilitate progress in feed ingredient evaluation and feed formulation in complex diets, provided that more information about ingredient properties is registered.
Keywords: starch, protein, dietary fiber, particle size, stomach
Learn more about Dr. Gerrits.
The bond between humans and their pets has deepened significantly over the past half-century, with dogs and cats increasingly considered integral members of the family. This evolving relationship has heightened scrutiny regarding the use of companion animals in research, even as the demand for species-specific data grows to improve their health, welfare, and environmental management. Despite these needs, research on the health and well-being of growing cats lags far behind studies on humans and agricultural animals. Conducting such research requires not only adherence to evolving laws and ethical policies governing the use of companion animals but also an acute awareness of societal beliefs, which continue to shift. This paper will examine successful research plans involving feline studies, emphasizing species-specific environmental requirements to enhance the welfare of research cats. As our understanding of animals’ needs and behavioral complexity advances, societal perceptions and ethical obligations surrounding animal welfare evolve, often sparking public debate. This discussion highlights the importance of balancing scientific progress with ethical considerations to ensure the well-being of animals in research settings. Having a bond with companion animals may prime people to worry about welfare in other species and feel a greater sense of moral obligation to animals and increased sensitivity to well-being issues.
Learn more about Dr. Shoveller.
Incorporation of crop residues and byproducts in beef cattle diets has become prevalent due to feed shortages, increased feed prices, and disrupted supply chains. This study evaluated growth performance, carcass characteristics, and economic outcomes of finishing feedlot cattle fed wheat straw diets supplemented with canola or flax screenings compared to a standard western Canadian finishing diet. In a completely randomized design, 300 steers (366 ± 32 kg) were stratified by weight and randomly allocated to 20 pens (15 steers/pen). Each pen was randomly assigned to one of five treatments (n = 4/treatment): control (CTL); low straw canola (LSC); low straw flax (LSF); high straw canola (HSC); and high straw flax (HSF). The CTL diet consisted of conventional finishing ingredients (10% barley silage:90% concentrate, dry matter [DM] basis). Low and high straw diets included 5% and 10% wheat straw respectively, with screenings at 12.50% inclusion (DM basis). Steers were fed for 148 d. Dry matter intake was not different among treatments. Final BW, average daily gain (ADG), and hot carcass weight (HCW) declined (P<0.05) with increasing wheat straw inclusion. Gain:feed tended (P<0.10) to decrease as wheat straw inclusion increased. No significant differences were observed for dressing percentage, backfat thickness, lean meat yield, marbling score, empty body fat, liver scores, or cost:gain. The proportion of AAA carcasses was highest for LSF and decreased with increasing wheat straw inclusion (P<0.02). Despite some negative effects at higher straw inclusion rates, the overall performance of steers fed diets with lower wheat straw inclusion (5%) was comparable to that of controls, suggesting that low inclusion levels of wheat straw with oilseed screenings can be viable during feed shortages.
Learn more about Beatriz.
3:00 pm – Health break
With the arrival of the 4th Agriculture Revolution (Agriculture 4.0) and its envisioned fusion of farming with emerging digital technologies and automation, new opportunities have arisen to increase the efficiency and precision with which we feed animals. The modern feed mill is a ‘big data generator’ which until recently, has been largely untapped in terms of systems considered for process control and product optimization. The barriers of the past have been a lack of automation and efficient means of data capture given the multitude of variables in a commercial mill, as well as appropriate analytical tools with which to drive decision support and system optimization in such a complex environment. However, feed mills may benefit from data driven assistance with process and efficiency optimization, minimization of CO2 emissions given global concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, as well as support for product optimization, such as ensuring pellet quality, which has substantial downstream impacts on animal efficiency and performance. Implementation of automated data capture and machine learning to analyze the data produced at the commercial feed mill therefore has the potential to improve all aspects of feed production from ingredient profiling to efficiency and speed optimization to ensuring adequate product quality. This research group has implemented, for the first time, machine learning based predictions of pellet quality and mill efficiency based on the automated capture of manufacturing conditions, environmental conditions and formulation data across multiple mills, and provides an example of what is now possible.
Keywords: feed manufacturing, machine learning, pellet quality
Learn more about Dr. Ellis.
Developmental programming is the concept wherein the experiences of parents before and during pregnancy have impacts on the offspring that can persist throughout their lives. The body of research demonstrating altered offspring outcomes as a result of maternal nutrition is relatively mature and ever-expanding. The concept of paternal programming, however, is a more recent development. Evidence from human epidemiology and research in rodent species has revealed that paternal nutrition, environment, stress, and substance abuse during the time of spermatogenesis can have effects on the offspring subsequently conceived. Epigenetic alterations (DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA), oxidative stress, immune response, and microbial transfer have been indicated as potential mechanisms of transferring sire-related signals to the oocyte at fertilization and/or to the uterine environment during early pregnancy. In rodents, paternal nutrition and environment have been demonstrated to impact offspring body weight, fat and muscle deposition, reproductive traits, and metabolic responses. If translated to livestock species these impacts could have major economic importance. Though the information is very limited, early work in livestock species has demonstrated paternal programming effects resulting from specific feed ingredients and different rates of gain. Nutrition during the pre-pubertal period and in the interval immediately before breeding in mature sires have both resulted in offspring characteristics. Our research has demonstrated that divergent planes of nutrition in mature rams can impacts lamb feed intake, growth, and metabolism. However, much more research is needed to determine the extent to which sire nutrition can impact offspring outcomes.
Learn more about Dr. Dahlen.
5:00 pm – Reception Dinner
Fallsview Studio ABC
Enjoy an evening of food, drinks and networking. Visit the Industry Partner Showcase and Graduate Student Poster Exhibition.
Friday May 9
Monogastric Session
Great Room B
7:15 am – Hot breakfast
The last few decades have seen the emergence and re-emergence of several infectious pathogens of importance in swine and poultry. In response, producers have been asked to put in place biosecurity measures with two key objectives: reducing sources of contamination and maintaining a separation between these sources and healthy animals. These two principles have been known for centuries. Yet, we are still debating what works best and how to convince all stakeholders to implement these measures.
Several studies have highlighted the lack of consistent application of biosecurity plans. Currently, many investigations center around ways to improve biosecurity compliance via technology and interventions focusing on human behaviour.
There is also a need to develop a regional perspective to biosecurity. This is why research priorities include technologies, mainly sensors, to generate and share regionally the necessary information to reduce the probability of farm-to-farm transmission.
Relatively recently, feed and ingredients have been identified as substantial sources of infection in pigs. In response, three approaches are considered: a) prevention of entry to the feed system; b) mitigation by thermal processing, decontamination by chemical additives, or storage of high-risk ingredients for weeks at a given temperature; c) control over people sanitation and flow at feedmills. Another vector of transmission known in swine, aerosols, has been of interest in poultry due to highly pathogenic avian influenza. This has triggered research into viral aerosol detection, air pretreatment and various filtration processes. This presentation will highlight what works, what doesn’t, and which new initiatives may improve biosecurity.
Keywords: beef cattle, wheat, mycotoxins, performance
Learn more about Dr. Vaillancourt.
By altering the gastrointestinal environment, digesta passage behaviour, and the site of nutrient digestion, physicochemical properties of fibrous ingredients, such as particle size or gelling behaviour, are likely to influence the absorption kinetics of nutrients and their metabolic use. Results of recent studies on the regulation of digesta passage behaviour and nutrient digestion by dietary fibres in chickens will be presented and discussed. Through their presumed effects on gizzard grinding activity, insoluble dietary fibres at moderate inclusion levels typically improve the digestibility of proteins and, to a lesser extent, starch and fat, whereas soluble fibres hamper nutrient digestibility already at inclusion levels beyond 20 g/kg DM. Beyond their impact on gizzard functioning and ileal digestibility, fibres – particularly soluble fibres – may impact caecal filling and retention time. When studying digesta passage behaviour in chickens, selective retention of various fractions throughout the gastrointestinal tract should be anticipated. In the proximal gastrointestinal tract, coarse fibre particles may be retained longer in the crop or proventriculus and gizzard compared with fine particles and liquids. In the distal gastrointestinal tract, reverse peristalsis and selective entrance of liquids and fine particles into the caeca elicit considerably longer total tract retention times for these fractions (~14-31h) than typically observed for solid digesta (~3-8h). However, our provisional estimates indicate that only ~30% of the liquid digesta enters the ceca. These insights enhance understanding of the digestion process and thereby aid in optimizing feeding strategies, particularly when feeding ingredients with more diverse properties, to support gastrointestinal function and health.
Keywords: non-starch polysaccharides, broilers, laying hens, particle size
Learn more about Dr. Devries.
Canola meal, a vital protein source in Canadian poultry diets, has significant amounts of choline, primarily as sinapine. However, the bioavailability of choline in a canola meal-based diet and the impact of different processing methods have not been reported. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the bioavailability of choline in two types of canola meals: expelled (ECM) and solvent-extracted (SCM), by assessing ileal digestibility. A total of 240-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly assigned six dietary treatments with ECM and SCM at inclusion levels of 5, 10, and 15%, each with eight replications of 5 birds. On day 26, ileal digesta samples were collected and analyzed for choline and sinapine using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (LC-MS). An indigestible marker, celite, was included in the diet to determine digestibility. The sinapine-to-choline ratio was 1.3 for ECM and 2.85 for SCM, and choline levels were 2726 mg/kg and 1238 mg/kg respectively. ECM-based diets had higher choline digestibility compared to SCM which was 76.15% for ECM versus 44.71% for SCM (p<0.05) in diets containing 15% canola meal. There was a negative relationship between the sinapine content and its digestibility. The solvent extracted meal had lower sinapine and choline digestibility indicating that processing methods affected nutrient digestibility. It was concluded that SCM has lower choline digestibility than ECM. However, both types of canola meal are a rich source of choline and can be used as a source of choline in chicken diets reducing the requirement of synthetic choline supplementation.
Learn more about Saluja.
9:45 am – Health break
Eating fish is a healthy option that provides high levels of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals for a growing human population. Majority of the wild fish stocks are overfished, while demand for fish continues to increase. Aquaculture, the farming of finfish, shellfish, crustacean and aquatic plants, provides an alternative method to produce seafood while conserving wild fish. However, taking wild fish to feed fish on a farm in the form of fishmeal is not sustainable, therefore alternative non-fish alternatives need to be researched and developed to support the growth of the aquaculture industry. In addition, these alternatives need to ideally improve the growth, nutrition and gut health of fish to increase the resiliency of fish farm production against common stressors. Recent studies at the University of Guelph aimed to evaluate the effects of feeding insects (black soldier fly), probiotics (live yeast) and prebiotics (autolyzed yeast) on the growth, nutrition and gut microbiome of zebrafish and rainbow trout. 9 and 16 week studies were performed at the Hagen Aqualab and Ontario Aquaculture Research Centre with 0.1g zebrafish at 26oC and 93g rainbow trout at 9oC. Feeding insects improved the growth and FCR of zebrafish and rainbow trout, although not significantly. Nutrient digestibility increased in fish fed the prebiotics, but no effects of the probiotics were found. Insects modulated the gut bacteria the most. These results indicate insects and prebiotic ingredients improve the growth and health of fish and may strengthen the resiliency and growth of the aquaculture industry.
Keywords: aquaculture, prebiotics, rainbow trout, yeast, zebrafish
Learn more about Dr. Huyben.
Sows are expected to produce very large quantities of milk as litter size has kept increasing over the years, although they generally cannot meet the nutritional demands of all their piglets. One avenue to assist sows is to develop feeding strategies maximizing their mammary development in late gestation because the number of milk-synthesizing cells impacts potential milk yield. Overfeeding energy in late gestation can decrease the amount of milk-synthesizing tissue. Crude protein intake (330 versus 216 g/day) in late gestation does not affect mammary development, however, a 40% increase in lysine intake, via greater provision of soybean meal, led to 44% more mammary parenchyma. This effect was present in gilts but not in multiparous sows, suggesting that phase-feeding would be beneficial only in the first gestation. Pregnant gilts are still growing and this may affect the mammary response to supplementary lysine. When providing diets with lysine contents ranging from 70 to 160% of estimated requirements to gilts from days 90 to 110 of gestation, subsequent milk yield was maximized with lysine at 20% above current recommendations. Gilts that are obese or too thin at the end of gestation will have less developed mammary tissue, and consequently lower milk yields. Therefore, the amount of feed provided in gestation should ensure an optimal body condition of gilts, namely a backfat thickness between 16 and 26 mm for Yorkshire Landrace, for maximum milk yields. Current findings demonstrate that feeding of late-pregnant gilts should take into account mammary development in order to maximize future milk yield.
Keywords: feeding, gestation, gilt, lysine, mammary development, milk yield
Learn more about Dr. Farmer.
– Further Investigations on Optimization of Low Crude Protein Formulation Concepts for Antibiotic Free Broiler Production – Sylvester Mutinda, University of Guelph
12:00 pm – Lunch
Ruminant Session
Great Room C
7:15 am – Hot breakfast
Beef and dairy cattle may experience periods of low feed intake because of weaning, transportation and marketing, parturition, heat stress, or infectious disease. In our research, exposure to low feed intake reduces the concentration of short-chain fatty acids in many regions of the gastrointestinal tract, reduces the weight of the gastrointestinal tract and liver, and decreases absorptive surface area of the gastrointestinal tract. These changes have been reported to reduce short-chain fatty acid absorption across the rumen in some studies, and to compromise permeability, particularly post-ruminal permeability. Increasing the severity and duration of exposure to low feed intake increases the duration of time required to return to voluntary feed intake and consistently increases risks for cattle to have low ruminal pH, highlighting a potential risk factor for ruminal acidosis.
Keywords: absorptive function, barrier function, beef cattle, dairy cattle, permeability
Learn more about Dr. Penner.
Enteric methane (CH4) emissions from beef cattle contribute to 2.8% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This presentation will briefly highlight the need to better understand enteric CH4 emissions across beef production environments and ecosystems and feature a unique experiment that concluded in January 2025. In this experiment, unique groups of cattle were followed from weaning to harvest and enteric CH4 was measured throughout each life stage. Our goal with this experiment is to provide producers with knowledge about beef cattle emissions on rangeland in comparison to confined settings, introduce an enteric emissions project in the US Central Great Plains co-implemented with producers and researchers, present a current “state of the science” for enteric emissions measurement on working rangelands and confined systems in the western US, and discuss the potential for CH4 reduction inset markets in the beef supply chain. This initiative is a partnership among Crow Valley Livestock Cooperative, Inc., the federal agricultural research service (USDA ARS), and Colorado State University AgNext. Presentation participants will be encouraged to complete a survey that will be integral to the next phase of this work, which is to better understand the potential for an enteric CH4 reduction inset market in the beef supply chain. Once this experiment is complete, we will extend our findings through multiple communication platforms to learn about fellow agriculturists’ interests and needs in enteric CH4 emissions research and help to inform others of our work to expand the adoption of practices that improve the sustainability of beef production systems.
Keywords: beef cattle, enteric methane, sustainability
Learn more about Dr. Stackhouse.
Chromium propionate enhances insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism, potentially improving maternal energy balance during late gestation. This study evaluated the effects of chromium propionate supplementation on cow-calf performance and offspring muscle growth and metabolism. One hundred late-gestation Angus cows were randomly assigned to two treatments until parturition: control (CON, n = 50), receiving a basal diet, and chromium propionate (CRP, n = 50), receiving the same diet supplemented with 10 g/head/day of 0.04% KemTRACE® chromium. Cow performance was monitored from 56 days prepartum to parturition. From 2-10 days of age, skeletal muscle samples were collected from calves to assess gene expression and protein abundance related to adipogenesis and glucose metabolism. CRP supplementation tended (P = 0.08) to interact with calf sex for cow average daily gain (ADG; P = 0.02), with CRP cows carrying male calves exhibiting lower ADG compared to CON cows. However, no differences in dry matter intake were observed between treatments when evaluated as kg/d (P = 0.13) or as percentage of body weight (P = 0.29). Calves from CRP-supplemented dams showed increased skeletal muscle mRNA expression of adipogenic markers PPARγ (P < 0.01), ZFP423 (P < 0.01), and DLK1 (P = 0.02). Similarly, they exhibited enhanced mRNA expression of IRS1 (P = 0.01) and GLUT4 (P = 0.04) and tended to increase the IRS1 activity (P = 0.08). In summary, while CRP had minimal effects on dams, these findings suggest early metabolic programming that may enhance offspring muscle metabolism, increasing their potential for intramuscular fat deposition.
Learn more about Emily.
9:45 am – Health break
Forage inclusion in finishing feedlot diets is a critical factor influencing cattle growth performance, feed efficiency, health, and the economic and environmental sustainability of beef production. While high-concentrate diets are standard in feedlot operations to maximize energy intake, weight gain, and feed efficiency, forage inclusion is essential for maintaining ruminal function and mitigating the risk of digestive disorders and liver abscess. However, the specific forage or roughage requirements in finishing feedlot diets remain poorly defined. The effects of forage source, quality, and inclusion levels on feed efficiency, growth performance, health, and welfare continue to be subjects of active research and debate. Fiber digestibility is influenced by multiple factors, including plant species, maturity, lignin content, and structural characteristics such as the leaf-to-stem ratio. These factors vary with environmental conditions and management strategies, directly impacting the energy available for animal production. Although the ruminal microbial population is highly effective at breaking down fiber, the process remains incomplete. Strategies to enhance fiber digestion—such as diet adaptation, nutritional supplementation, and physical, chemical, or biological treatments—have shown potential to improve digestibility and boost cattle performance. Additionally, variability in fiber digestion among individual cattle underscores opportunities for selecting animals with greater efficiency. Factors such as feed intake, rumen microbiota composition and activity, digesta passage rate, and chewing behavior contribute to this variability. A deeper understanding of the plant and animal factors affecting forage and fiber digestion can help optimize feedlot diets, enhance feed efficiency, reduce digestive disorders, and minimize the environmental impact of beef production.
Keywords: beef cattle, fibre, forage, digestion, growth performance
Learn more about Dr. Ribeiro.
The periparturient period is characterized by increased demand for calcium. For this reason, different nutritional strategies have been adopted for use to mitigate hypocalcemia. It is well established that the mammary gland contributes to the homeostatic and homeorhetic regulation of maternal and lactational physiology during the periparturient period when nutrients, such as calcium, must be partitioned to the conceptus and the mammary gland. As a result, mammals have adapted multiple mechanisms to ensure support of both maternal physiology and milk production when normal mechanisms of support may fail. Dietary calcium is insufficient during this period to replenish maternal calcium lost to colostrum and milk and does not achieve neutrality until post-peak lactation, resulting in activation of additional adaptive mechanisms beyond those utilized for regulation of calcium metabolism during non-lactating and late-lactation states. Cows and other mammals use the rich calcium stores in maternal bone to augment maternal calcium concentrations. A subsequent decline in blood calcium concentrations often occurs at the onset of lactation and is believed to be a key trigger in activating supporting negative feedback mechanisms. Without adequate negative feedback, ensuing endocrine mechanisms cannot be sufficiently stimulated, thus resulting in a failure in calcium mobilization from bone results. This failure in bone resorption may lead to severe decreases in blood calcium concentrations at the onset of lactation, further prompting a loss in rumen contractility, suppressing ruminal calcium absorption, and further straining transition cow calcium metabolism. Therefore, making informed decisions on management calcium during the transition period is critical.
Learn more about Dr. Hernandez.
– Methane Reduction Strategies for Grazing Beef Cows – Katie Kroeze, University of Guelph
– Reduce, reuse, recycle: Using milk processing by-products as an alternative for corn in dairy cow diets – Tatum Schooley, University of Guelph
– Maximizing wheat straw use in gestating beef cow diets with oilseed fines supplementation – Kylie Grimes, University of Saskatchewan
– A Benchmark Study of the Canadian Feedlot Industry and an Evaluation of Best Management Practices to Improve the Sustainability of Feedlots – Gus Halibert, University of Saskatchewan
12:00 pm – Lunch
Closing Plenary
Great Room BC
The advance of AI systems in different fields of science has created incredible opportunities for the new generation of students and scientists to answer research questions that would not have been possible before the recent progress toward more intelligent systems. AI technologies such as computer vision, natural language processing, and robotics have become integral to our daily lives through applications like facial recognition, speech-to-text, drones, and virtual reality. The agricultural sector has leveraged AI advancements from other scientific domains, and livestock systems are increasingly integrating modern solutions to address critical challenges related to animal health and welfare monitoring, greenhouse gas emissions, animal traceability, and labor shortages. Beyond these applications, the future of the livestock industry is poised to be transformed by digital technologies and predictive analytics, enabling proactive decision-making and precision management at large scale. AI has the potential to reshape the feed industry by optimizing formulations, improving efficiency, and enhancing overall sustainability. Machine learning models can analyze vast datasets, including ingredient costs, nutritional profiles, and animal performance metrics, to create precise, cost-effective feed formulations that maximize productivity while minimizing waste. In this talk, we will explore key AI technologies, such as computer vision and natural language processing, with the potential to positively impact livestock systems and the feeding industry in the coming decades. We will discuss how these innovations align with real-world challenges faced by farmers, industry stakeholders, and the scientific community.
Learn more abour Dr. Dorea.
Join us for a panel discussion on the implementation of the Feeds Regulations, 2024 and how the industry is adapting to these changes. Industry experts will share their firsthand experiences with the updated regulatory requirements, providing insights into key challenges, practical solutions, and lessons learned.
Moderated by a representative from the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada, the panel features:
– Danille Dunn (Floradale Feed Mill Limited)
– Dr. Nancy Fischer (Country Junction Feeds)
– Marc-Antoine Guesthier (Cargill)
– Dr. Lisa Hodgins (New Life Mills)
– Dr. Usama Tayyab (Otter Co-Op)