New Initiative Fosters Beef Researchers

Aug 06, 2014

The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) launched the Beef Researcher Mentorship Program, a new program that aims to support upcoming researchers in the Canadian beef industry.

According to BCRC, the mentorship program is in a pilot phase, but the goal is to provide researchers with the opportunity to increase their understanding of the beef cattle industry's needs.

Three applicants were selected to participate in the pilot phase: Emma McGeough, Bill Biligetu and Raquel Rodriquez Doce. The first round was an invitation process, but BCRC says that once the program becomes more established, that the public application process will be expanded.

“When scientists have a better understanding our of industry’s needs, and are motivated to produce applicable, solution-based research results and see them through to adoption, that’s extremely valuable to our industry,” Tim Oleksyn, Chair of the BCRC and a producer from Shellbrook, Saskatchewan said in a release.

The program has three objectives (the exact wording of the three goals can be found on the BCRC's website):

Bridge research interests with those that will best meet the Canadian beef industry’s needs
Cultivate the skills necessary for researchers to lead applied research/technology transfer creativities to improve innovation in Canada’s beef industry
Oversee collaborations to help new researchers in the beef research area create applied research and extension programs

Funding for the mentorship program is made available thanks to the technology transfer initiative under the second phase of the Beef Cattle Industry Science Cluster.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.