Beef Farmers of Ontario Call for Research Proposals
Beef Farmers of Ontario has announced a call for Letters of Intent (LOI) for research projects that will enhance the sustainability of the beef industry in Ontario. BFO is committing $200,000 per year for each of the next three years. Following review of LOIs, selected initiatives will be asked for a full proposal. Please note that projects must be completed by December 31, 2022.
The overarching goal of the BFO Beef Research Program is to increase the development, adaptation, assessment, and easy adoption of on-farm technologies that help beef producers respond to changing demands, and to quantify and investigate emerging issues of importance to the Ontario and broader Canadian beef industry.
The BFO Research Committee recently considered both opportunities and problems facing the industry as well as current BFO, OMAFRA and BCRC research priorities. While we are open to all ideas, and encourage creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, the committee did identify the following topics, listed in no particular order, as being of particular interest:
- Animal health and welfare
- Antimicrobial use, resistance and alternatives
- Food safety
- Forages
- Environmental sustainability
- Other:
- Feed efficiency
- Beef quality
- Technologies that accurately measure carcass traits of interest
- 360-degree analysis of plant based versus livestock based protein
- Producing dairy cross calves that meet market needs
As part of our review process, we will be looking for several key factors:
• Does the proposed project address a current problem or opportunity facing the Ontario beef industry?
• Is the work likely to leverage additional dollars from other sources?
• Is there opportunity to bring other livestock sectors into the project? Cross-organizational, cross-institutional, and cross-sector collaboration is encouraged.
• Does the proposal include a strong communications plan and, where possible, an economic analysis?
Process:
Letters of intent should be completed electronically through the Livestock Research and Innovation Corporation’s website: lric.smartsimple.ca. Letters of Intent must be received on or before Monday, December 2, 2019 at 4:30 pm Eastern time.
Timeline:
Call for LOIs opens: October 28, 2019
Call for LOIs closes: December 2, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Selected projects invited for full proposal: week of December 15, 2019 Full proposal deadline: February 3, 2020 at 4:30 pm
BFO Research Committee and Technical Review process: February, 2020 Presentations to BFO Research Committee: early March, 2020
BFO Board of Directors approval: mid-March, 2020 Funding agreements signed: end of March, 2020
Questions:
Please direct any questions related to the research call to Angela Rouillard by e-mail at angela@ontariobeef.com or by phone at 519-824-0334 ext. 233. Questions regarding the LRIC application system should be directed to Jean Howden at Jhowden@livestockresearch.ca
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