"A lot of marginal land is used for growing grass and is suitable for raising cattle, but sometimes the only source of water isn't that great. In some cases, cattle can survive drinking poor quality water, but they won't necessarily thrive," said Colby Elford with Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture.
Elford and Leah Clark, both livestock and feed extension specialists based in Moose Jaw, are leading the sulphate research project that is funded under the new Strategic Field Program through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), a federal-provincial initiative. The extension specialists contracted Dr. Greg Penner (PhD), an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan, to conduct the research.
It's research that would not be possible without the LFCE's new barn and adjacent laboratories.
"We can manipulate the quality of water and measure the quantity of water delivered at an animal level, something we can't do in outdoor pens and something we couldn't do in our previous facility. And the design of the stalls prevents animals that are side by side from drinking each other's water," said Penner, who is also the university's Centennial Enhancement Chair in Ruminant Nutritional Physiology.
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