Finding out who’s the father is taking on new importance for herd managers looking for better results at lower cost.

Who’s the father?

Initial data out of the Western Beef Development Centre and University of Saskatchewan shows siring rates in a pasture might vary more than you’d think

That bull has one job — and he might not be doing it. That’s the message from a recent study out of the Western Beef Development Centre and University of Saskatchewan and the focus of the latest Beef Cattle Research Council webinar. The research team, including the BCRC’s Stacey Domolewski, used DNA testing to track

Biotechnology could soon replace roses and other natural scents with a chemical compound grown from yeast or bacteria that is virtually indistinguishable.

A yeast by any other name…

Science promises yeast as a source for sweet smells, but farmers may wrinkle their noses

Scientists are predicting that the familiar taste of vanilla or smell of roses, along with thousands of other scents and flavours, will increasingly come from a very unfamiliar source — yeast — a trend that is worrying some farming experts. A revolution in science means the DNA of plants can be transferred into yeast, bacteria


(Jack Dykinga photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. patent agency to weigh rival claims on CRISPR

Reuters — The U.S. patent agency on Tuesday will hear arguments in a heated dispute over who was first to invent a revolutionary gene-editing technology known as CRISPR. Hundreds of millions of dollars may be at stake, as the technology promises commercial applications in treating genetic diseases, engineering crops, and other areas. CRISPR works as