Process and Timelines

Beef Farmers of Ontario Call for Research Proposals

Beef Farmers of Ontario is excited to announce 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 a review of LOIs, selected initiatives will be asked for a full proposal. Please note that projects must be completed by December 31st, 2025.

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:

1. Animal health and welfare
2. Antimicrobial use, resistance and alternatives
3. Food safety
4. Forages
5. Environmental sustainability
6. Other:
   1. Producing Dairy-Beef cross calves that meet market needs
   2. Abattoir Condemnation Rates in the Province 
   3. Feed efficiency
   4. Beef quality
   5. Technologies that accurately measure carcass traits of interest
   6. 360-degree analysis of plant-based versus livestock-based protein

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 an 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, October 10th, 2022, at 4:30 pm. 

Timeline:

Questions:

Please direct any questions related to the research call to Evan Chaffe by e-mail at evan@ontariobeef.com or by phone at 226-820-3940. Questions regarding the LRIC application system should be directed to Jean Howden at Jhowden@livestockresearch.ca.