Alberta Research Strategy

• Key flock performance indicators
  • Improve animal performance through nutrition, ration and cost management
  • Research into improved nutrition, by-product feeds, toxins, ergot
  • Improve flock performance, selection and culling practices with recording and analysis
  • Improve management systems for highly productive ewes
• Genetic selection
  • Terminal sire evaluation for carcass quality
  • Parasite / disease resistance
  • Carcass quality / performance and supply chain practices
  • On-farm practices (i.e. feeding) to improve lamb performance and carcass quality
  • Farm to market handling and transportation to minimize carcass damage
  • Processing improvements focused on carcass quality, quality assessment, technology
• Sustainable lamb production management systems:
  • profitable (productive, enhanced supply)
  • environmental resources (soil, water, forage)
  • social responsibility (safe food, animal welfare)
  • identification of data, research and knowledge gaps

• Cost of production
  • Improved management, financial skill solutions
  • Develop new knowledge/information transfer options
• Manage production costs
  • Feed, labour, energy, overhead
  • Capital investment, cash-flow
• Identify, assess alternative practices in key cost areas (forages, grazing, feeds, labour, technology, equipment)
• Adapt flock models, production systems, risk management to meet changing environmental and societal demand

• Knowledge and tools to reduce death losses and early-culling (eg. neonatal, feeder lambs, ewes)
• Research on the impact and cost of disease (lameness, pneumonias, chronic conditions like OPP, etc.) and parasites (eg. T. ovis, Haemonchus)
• Access to drugs, medications for disease management
• Uptake of new and existing tools and programs (food safety, traceability, biosecurity, and animal welfare)
• Identification, development, transfer to supply chain members, of clear ‘best practices’ for flock health and welfare