Lacombe Research and Development Centre

  • Beef Cow
  • Meat production
  • Cereal and Pulse

 

The Lacombe Research and Development Centre (Lacombe RDC) was established in 1907 in Lacombe, Alberta. It is one of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC) network of 20 research and development centres.

The Centre is associated with one satellite location: Beaverlodge Research Farm.

Areas of Research

The Lacombe RDC conducts research on two major strategic activities, related to livestock and meat production, and to crop sciences.

Research on livestock and meat production aims to enhance the economic stability and reduce the environmental impact of Livestock production systems and to support the Canadian fresh meat processing sector in supplying safe, high quality fresh meat with good storage life, mostly beef and pork.

Research in crop sciences includes plant breeding (field pea and oats), integrated crop protection (weed science and pathology), and the development of best agronomic practices.

In addition, the Beaverlodge Research Farm is host of AAFC’s national honey bee research program, with an emphasis on bee health.

Search Research projects from the Lacombe Research and Development Centre to learn more about what we do.

Sector Needs

The Lacombe RDC carries out innovative research, development, technology and knowledge transfer activities in support of the AAFC's Strategic Plan for Science, which include:

Livestock research is improving the economic stability of beef production by reducing the cost of overwintering beef cows, increasing the value, yield and quality of pasture and forage resources while lowering production costs. Best management practices are evaluated in the field for their impact on livestock production as well as soil and water resources. Genomic and phenomic information are used to develop animal selection tools and carcass grading prediction tools for several species. As part of Other Livestock, the apiculture (honey bee) program in Beaverlodge focuses on detection and management of bee diseases and pests.

Integrated meat science focuses on developing sustainable meat production systems in Canada, research on meat production, quality, preservation, and safety, with an emphasis on enhancing the microbiological safety and storage stability of meat.

Scientists are evaluating canola, cereal and field pea breeding lines and germplasm with improved disease resistance, adapted to the Northern and Parkland short-season environments of Western Canada. Agro-ecosystem research includes watershed and landscape assessment and management planning. Northern and Parkland agriculture focuses on integrated field crop, forage, weed, plant disease, insect pest management strategies, and field pea breeding.

Meet our Scientists

Find out more about the scientists at Lacombe Research and Development Centre through their profiles below.

You can also visit the Fields of Science campaign featuring 11 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientists from coast to coast. Discover why they chose to pursue a career in agriculture and learn more about their research.

6000 C and E Trail
Lacombe, AB T4L 1W1
Canada
(403) 782-8100

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Scientists and researchers

Biology study leader - bioinformatics
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Biologist, Food Microbiology
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Devin Holman
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Xiaoji Liu
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Bethany Uttaro
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Biology Study Lead, Soil Health and Fertility Development
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Breanne Tidemann
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Carolyn Fitzsimmons
Research Scientist, Bovine Genetics
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Changxi Li
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Manuel Maria Juarez Davila
Livestock Phenomics Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Nityananda Khanal
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Research Scientist - Meat Quality and Sensory Chemometrics
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Stephen Pernal
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Thomas Kelly Turkington
Research Scientist - Plant Pathology
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Xianqin Yang
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Hushton Block
Beef Production Systems Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image M. Marta Guarna
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Oscar Lopez Campos
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Olugbenga Philip Soladoye
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Image Vern Baron
Research Scientist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

 

Publications

  1. Goyal, RK; Hannig, A; Yang, X; Pires, AS;Morais,DG and Ramada, MHS.(2023). Peptides with antimicrobial activity can be a good resource to tackle antimicrobial resistance in plants and animals. A case study with peptides identified from the Pisum sativum L. protein database. 11th Peptides and Receptors Meeting, October 2-4, 2023, Lyon, France.

    2023 - View publication details

  2. Bertrand, A., Claessens, A., Baron, V., Thériault, M., Rocher, S., Asselin. S. 2023. Evaluation of alfalfa populations selected for reduced fall dormancy in a frequent cutting trial. 35th EUCARPIA FCAG Section Conference, September 10-14 2023, Brno, Czech Republic.

    2023 - View publication details

  3. Castro, V.S., Fang, Y., Yang, X., Stanford, K. (2023). Association of resistance to quaternary ammonium compounds and organic acids with genetic markers and their relationship to Escherichia coli serogroup. Food Microbiology, [online] 113 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2023.104267

    2023 - View publication details

  4. Prabahar Ravichandran, Keshav D. Singh, Charles M. Geddes, Breanne Tidemann, Eric Johnson, Steve Shirtliffe, Thomas K. Turkington, and Manoj Natarajan, "Utilizing Hyperspectral Imaging Technology to Characterize Herbicide Phytotoxicity in Oat and Mustard", 11th International Conference of Agro-Geoinformatics, Wuhan, China, July 2023

    2023 - View publication details

  5. Britton, A. P., K. A. Visser, V. M. A. Ongenae, P. Zhang, H. Wassink, T. A. Doerksen, C. A. Welke, K. H. Lynch, M. J. v. Belkum, J. J. Dennis, X. Yang, D. Claessen, A. Briegel, and L. A. Martin-Visscher. Characterization of Bacteriophage cd2, a Siphophage Infecting Carnobacterium divergens and a Representative Species of a New Genus of Phage. Microbiology Spectrum. 0:e00973-23.

    2023 - View publication details

  6. Castro, V.S., Conte, C.A., De Souza Figueiredo, E.E., Yang, X., Stanford, K. (2023). Efficacy of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds for Control of Individual and Mixed Cultures of Escherichia coli with High- and Low-Quaternary Ammonium Compounds Resistance. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, [online] 20(7), 261-269. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/fpd.2023.0005

    2023 - View publication details

  7. Holman, D.B., Gzyl, K.E., Kommadath, A. (2023). The gut microbiome and resistome of conventionally vs. pasture-raised pigs. Microbial genomics, [online] 9(7), http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001061

    2023 - View publication details

  8. Machado, P. V. F., Lemke, R. L., Alemu, A. W., Baron, V. S., Farrell, R. E., Iwaasa, A. D., Liang, B. C., Schoenau, J. Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Grazing Animal Excreta in Pastures under Dry Climate. In: CSSS 2023 – Soils go Digital! June 25 – 30. Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada.

    2023 - View publication details

  9. Fang, Y., F. Tran, K. Stanford, and X. Yang. 2023. Stress resistance and virulence gene profiles associated with phylogeny and phenotypes of Escherichia coli from cattle. Journal of Food Protection:100122.

    2023 - View publication details

  10. Xu, Z. S., T. Zhu, Z. Wang, X. Yang, and M. G. Gänzle. Socializing at the Air-Liquid Interface: a Functional Genomic Analysis on Biofilm-Related Genes during Pellicle Formation by Escherichia coli and Its Interaction with Aeromonas australiensis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 0:e00456-23.

    2023 - View publication details