You Spoke, We Listened: Producers Set the Research Agenda 🎙️
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This article written by Dr. Reynold Bergen, BCRC Science Director, originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Canadian Cattlemen magazine and is reprinted on BeefResearch.ca with permission of the publisher.
Your Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off pays for the research and communication work supported by the Beef Cattle Research Council. It’s really important that we understand what specific challenges you face, so that we invest in the right solutions.
Last summer, readers were encouraged to participate in the Beef Cattle Research Council’s on-line beef research survey to help us develop a clear set of priorities to guide research funding decisions over the next five years. Thanks for responding. Here are some of the highlights of what you told us.
What We Did
The survey was open from June through August 2025. It asked you to rate various research issues as Extremely, very, moderately, slightly or not important in the areas of nutrition and production efficiency, forage and grassland productivity, environmental sustainability, animal health and welfare, beef quality and food safety. We also asked where producers look for reliable production information.
A total of 588 Canadians responded to the survey. This article focuses on the responses provided by the 38 seedstock, 337 cow-calf and 20 feedlot producers, as well as the 44 veterinarians and registered veterinary technicians (for the animal health and welfare section). We paid particular attention to issues rated as extremely or very important by 75% or more of respondents, as well as issues that were rated as slightly or not important by at least 25% of the respondents.
What We Learned
Nutrition and production efficiency: Cow-calf and feedlot operators prioritized the impact of feed quality on production efficiency, while feedlot operators also prioritized barley yields and silage production, storage and feeding.
Forage and grassland productivity: Drought resilience and management were prioritized by all three production sectors. Forage yield, stand rejuvenation and pasture quality were priorities for both the cow-calf and seedstock sectors. Cow-calf and feedlot producers also prioritized grazing management, and feedlot producers prioritized the control of invasive species, weed and brush. Overall, flood resistance was deemed slightly or not important by 25% or more of the cow-calf and seedstock producers, but producers east of Saskatchewan understandably rated this issue higher.
Environmental sustainability: Both water (use, quality and management) and soil quality (e.g., microbial activity, compaction, organic matter) were priorities across the cow-calf, seedstock and feedlot sectors. The feedlot sector also prioritized nutrient (manure and fertilizer) effects on soil and water quality. Greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration weren’t rated as extremely or very important by any sector, but not a single producer ranked either topic as not important.
Animal health and welfare: Reproductive efficiency and newborn calf health were priorities for all cattle production sectors as well as for veterinary professionals. Cow nutrition and management practices to improve calf health through weaning was a high priority for the cow-calf, seedstock and veterinary professionals. Disease prevention through vaccination and improved immunity was a priority for cow-calf producers, feedlot operators and veterinary professionals. Bovine respiratory disease (BRD or shipping fever) and related diseases were priorities for the feedlot and veterinary respondents. The feedlot sector also prioritized the development of better diagnostics to improve treatment decisions, and veterinary professionals also prioritized antimicrobial use and resistance and disease surveillance. Both feedlot producers and veterinary professionals emphasized the importance of research into pain management and alternatives to castration, dehorning and branding, as well as the welfare impacts of BRD (e.g., lameness). Pinkeye fell into the slightly or not important category for over 25% of seedstock and cow-calf producers.
Beef quality: Priorities included eating quality, followed by carcass characteristics and defects.
Food safety: Avoiding microbial contamination of beef and developing better food safety standards were priorities across all producer segments.
Knowledge mobilization: Producers obtain science-based production and industry information at least once each month from veterinary professionals (39% of producers), blogs and social media (other than BeefResearch.ca; 56% of producers), magazines, newspapers and other printed materials (61%), websites and BeefResearch.ca (66%).
What Does This Mean To Me?
Developing and adopting improved production practices reduces production costs, improves industry competitiveness and supports consumer confidence in Canadian beef and the Canadian beef industry.
We took the results of this survey and held a series of workshops with leading producers, veterinarians, pharmaceutical representatives, nutritionists, production consultants and researchers. They helped sort these topics into two piles: those where we don’t know the answer and need more research, and those where we know the answer and need more effective communication and producer adoption. We also engaged other research funders, producer groups and government policy folks and encouraged them to commit to using this strategy when deciding which research proposals and extension initiatives to support.
There are a lot of different beef research funding agencies across Canada. A poor understanding or appreciation of producer needs can result in a lot of wasted time, effort and money. Gaining producer feedback, like we did with this survey, helps to ensure that your industry groups (like the BCRC and your provincial cattle organization) invest your national and provincial check-off dollars more strategically and effectively and that federal and provincial government funders invest our tax dollars more strategically and effectively. If we all work together, we can develop the right solutions to the most important challenges facing you.
The full results of the producer survey are available in the Five-Year Canadian Beef Research and Knowledge Mobilization Strategy.
The Beef Cattle Research Council is funded by the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off. The BCRC partners with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, provincial beef industry groups and governments to advance research and technology transfer supporting the Canadian beef industry’s vision to be recognized as a preferred supplier of healthy, high quality beef, cattle and genetics.
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The BCRC is funded by a portion of the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off.
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