Gabriel Ribeiro. (submitted photo/University of Saskatchewan)

By Alice McFarlane

Beef Research

Research chair wants sustainable, profitable beef industry

Oct 31, 2019 | 2:30 PM

The new Saskatchewan Beef Industry Chair at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) will be developing nutritional strategies to improve livestock production while lessening the environmental impact.

Gabriel Ribeiro will help to identify technologies and nutritional and management practices to improve the sustainability and productivity of forage-based and feedlot beef cattle production systems.

“My goal as the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Chair is to train high-quality students and conduct research and extension that answer to the needs of the Canadian Beef Industry,” Ribeiro said in a news release. “I want to help Canadians produce beef more efficiently and sustainably to meet the needs of the growing world population.”

His research experience includes rumen in vitro fermentation systems, beef cattle metabolism and feedlot nutritional studies.

“I have also conducted studies focused on forage and grain processing, development of fibrolytic enzymes, and strategies to mitigate enteric methane emissions to promote sustainable beef production,” Ribeiro said.

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Ribeiro’s research interests include optimizing grain and forage processing technologies, consequently improving rumen health, feed efficiency and beef cattle productivity.

Other areas of interest are the development of nutritional strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in beef cattle and alternatives to the use of antibiotics as growth promoters.

Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA) chair Rick Toney said his group is looking forward to continuing working together with the beef industry chair as Ribeiro steps in.

“Saskatchewan cattle producers value research and extension that comes from the University of Saskatchewan,” Toney said. “Ribeiro has big shoes to fill in taking on this role. The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association is glad to see this position being filled as John McKinnon retires.”

USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources Dean Mary Buhr said she is pleased to have Ribeiro in the Beef Industry Chair.

“He brings new ways of thinking about our industries’ concerns, exciting the next generations to create local approaches to meet global needs,” Buhr said.

Ribeiro comes from a family of beef and dairy farmers in Brazil. He obtained his veterinary medicine degree, master’s and PhD in animal science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil. He worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lethbridge Research and Development Centre.

Ribeiro was also an assistant professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF