Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein

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Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein is a Canadian federal scientist with expertise in farm animal behaviour, health, and welfare. [1] She works for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre. She is known for her foundational research on assessing welfare in beef cattle including the impacts of long-distance transportation, developing producer-friendly pain mitigation strategies [2] for castration and other painful procedures, [3] and assessing and mitigating lameness in feedlot cattle [4] that has informed regulations and guidelines for the commercial beef cattle industry in North America. Her research results and expertise have guided the industry and led to updated Canadian Transport Regulations and Canadian Beef Codes of Practice. [5] In addition to her research, Schwartzkopf-Genswein provides training and consultation on livestock farming practices. [6] [7]

Contents

Biography

Schwartzkopf-Genswein grew up on a farm in southern Alberta that has been active in the beef cattle feedlot business for over 40 years. [1] Her life on the family farm and early exposure to livestock contributed to her interest in understanding cattle behaviour and their care. Her pursuit to learn more resulted in Schwartzkopf-Genswein obtaining a BSc in biology from the University of Lethbridge (1986), a MSc in zoology/ethology at the University of Regina, and a PhD in applied animal ethology at the University of Saskatchewan (1996). [1] [7]

Career

Prior to joining Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in 2003, Schwartzkopf-Genswein worked as a research scientist for Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development in Lethbridge (1999–2002). [1] She is recognized as an expert technical advisor on issues related to beef cattle behaviour and welfare and called upon to speak at scientific and industry conferences in North America and around the world. [3] Since 2009, Schwartzkopf-Genswein has served on 29 expert panels and advisory committees all focused on advancing knowledge and understanding of farm animal behaviour, health, and welfare. [1] She has more than 70 peer-reviewed publications. [5]

Schwartzkopf-Genswein is an adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan, University of Calgary, University of Manitoba, and UNESP University in Sao Paulo, Brazil. [7]

Honours and awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veal</span> Meat of young cattle

Veal is the meat of calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, however most veal comes from young male calves of dairy breeds which are not used for breeding. Generally, veal is more expensive by weight than beef from older cattle. Veal production is a way to add value to dairy bull calves and to utilize whey solids, a byproduct from the manufacturing of cheese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Grandin</span> American animal behavior scientist, author, and autism activist

Mary Temple Grandin is an American scientist, academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry, where she offers advice on animal behavior, and is also an autism spokesperson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal husbandry</span> Management, selective breeding, and care of farm animals by humans

Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starting with the Neolithic Revolution when animals were first domesticated, from around 13,000 BC onwards, predating farming of the first crops. By the time of early civilisations such as ancient Egypt, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs were being raised on farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feedlot</span> An array of pens for feeding livestock for human consumption

A feedlot or feed yard is a type of animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used in intensive animal farming, notably beef cattle, but also swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) in the United States and intensive livestock operations (ILOs) or confined feeding operations (CFO) in Canada. They may contain thousands of animals in an array of pens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dairy cattle</span> Cattle bred to produce milk

Dairy cattle are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species Bos taurus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cattle feeding</span> Description of husbandry practice

There are different systems of feeding cattle in animal husbandry. For pastured animals, grass is usually the forage that composes the majority of their diet. Cattle reared in feedlots are fed hay supplemented with grain, soy and other ingredients to increase the energy density of the feed. The debate is whether cattle should be raised on fodder primarily composed of grass or a concentrate. The issue is complicated by the political interests and confusion between labels such as "free range", "organic", or "natural". Cattle raised on a primarily foraged diet are termed grass-fed or pasture-raised; for example meat or milk may be called grass-fed beef or pasture-raised dairy. The term "pasture-raised" can lead to confusion with the term "free range", which does not describe exactly what the animals eat.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is the department of the Government of Canada responsible for the federal regulation of agriculture, including policies governing the production, processing, and marketing of all farm, food, and agri-based products. Agriculture in Canada is a shared jurisdiction and the department works with the provinces and territories in the development and delivery of policies and programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flight zone</span>

The flight zone of an animal is the area surrounding an animal that if encroached upon by a potential predator or threat, including humans, will cause alarm and escape behavior. The flight zone is determined by the animal's flight distance, sometimes called flight initiation distance (FID) which extends horizontally from the animal and sometimes vertically. It may also be termed escape distance, alert distance, flush distance, and escape flight distance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in Canada</span> Overview of agriculture in Canada

Canada is one of the largest agricultural producers and exporters in the world. As with other developed nations, the proportion of the population agriculture employed and agricultural GDP as a percentage of the national GDP fell dramatically over the 20th century, but it remains an important element of the Canadian economy. A wide range of agriculture is practised in Canada, from sprawling wheat fields of the prairies to summer produce of the Okanagan valley. In the federal government, overview of Canadian agriculture is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beef cattle</span> Breed of cattle

Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production. The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf operations, backgrounding, and feedlot operations. The production cycle of the animals starts at cow-calf operations; this operation is designed specifically to breed cows for their offspring. From here the calves are backgrounded for a feedlot. Animals grown specifically for the feedlot are known as feeder cattle, the goal of these animals is fattening. Animals not grown for a feedlot are typically female and are commonly known as replacement heifers. While the principal use of beef cattle is meat production, other uses include leather, and beef by-products used in candy, shampoo, cosmetics, and insulin.

Feedlot Alley is a nickname given to a 500 km² area northwest of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada known for its intensive livestock operations. The area is home to over 2,300,000 cattle and 180,000 hogs. Lethbridge County reported 543,566 cattle and calves and 73,161 pigs on census day 2016. Feedlot Alley, located in south central Alberta, is also known for producing 60% of all Canadian beef.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intensive animal farming</span> Type of animal husbandry using high inputs and stocking densities to increase production

Intensive animal farming or industrial livestock production, also known by its opponents as factory farming and macro-farms, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production, while minimizing costs. To achieve this, agribusinesses keep livestock such as cattle, poultry, and fish at high stocking densities, at large scale, and using modern machinery, biotechnology, and global trade. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption. There are issues regarding whether intensive animal farming is sustainable in the social long-run given its costs in resources. Analysts also raise issues about its ethics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ractopamine</span> Animal feed additive

Ractopamine is an animal feed additive used to promote leanness and increase food conversion efficiency in farmed animals in several countries, but banned in others. Pharmacologically, it is a phenol-based TAAR1 agonist and β adrenoreceptor agonist that stimulates β1 and β2 adrenergic receptors. It is most commonly administered to animals for meat production as ractopamine hydrochloride. It is the active ingredient in products marketed in the US as Paylean for swine, Optaflexx for cattle, and Topmax for turkeys. It was developed by Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company.

Arno Doerksen is a Canadian politician.

The economy of Saskatchewan has been associated with agriculture resulting in the moniker "Bread Basket of Canada" and Bread Basket of the World. According to the Government of Saskatchewan, approximately 95% of all items produced in Saskatchewan, depend on the basic resources available within the province. Various grains, livestock, oil and gas, potash, uranium, wood and their spin off industries fuel the economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livestock</span> Animals kept for production of meat, eggs, milk, wool, etc.

Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce commodities such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals who are raised for consumption, and sometimes used to refer solely to farmed ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. Horses are considered livestock in the United States. The USDA classifies pork, veal, beef, and lamb (mutton) as livestock, and all livestock as red meat. Poultry and fish are not included in the category.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cattle</span> Large domesticated cloven-hooved herbivores

Cattle are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus Bos. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult males are referred to as bulls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humane Slaughter Association</span>

The Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) supports research, training, and development to improve the welfare of livestock during transport and slaughter. It provides technical information about handling and slaughter on its website, training for farmer staff and vets, advice to governments and industry, and funding of science and technology to make slaughter more humane. HSA is the sister charity to Universities Federation for Animal Welfare.

Karen Beauchemin is a federal scientist in Canada who is recognized as an international authority on methane emissions and ruminant nutrition. Her research helps develop farming techniques that improve how we raise cattle for meat and milk, while reducing the environmental impacts of livestock production.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein – livestock behaviour, health and welfare. - Innovation Canada 150". Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  2. Whelan, Piper. October 2018. "Pain control in cattle remains a complex issue" Canadian Cattlemen https://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/2018/10/02/pain-control-in-cattle-remains-a-complex-issue/
  3. 1 2 Schwartzkopf-Genswein, K.S., Faucitano, L., Dadgar, S., Shand, P., González. L. A. and Crowe, T. G. 2012. Road transport of cattle, swine and poultry in North America and its impact on animal welfare, carcass and meat quality: A review. Meat Sci. 92:227-243.
  4. Tucker, C. B., J. F. Coetzee, J. Stookey, D. U. Thomson, T. Grandin and K. S. Schwartzkopf-Genswein. 2015. Beef cattle welfare in the USA: Identification of priorities for future research. Anim. Health Res. Review DOI:10.1017/S1466252315000171
  5. 1 2 3 Beef Cattle Research Council (22 August 2017) "Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein receives 2017 Canadian Beef Industry Award" https://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/2017/08/22/karen-schwartzkopf-genswein-receives-2017-canadian-beef-industry-award/
  6. Schwartzkopf-Genswein, K., Grandin, T. 2014. Cattle Transport by Road. In Livestock Handling and Transport 4th Ed. T. Grandin Ed. pp 143-173.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Beef Cattle Research Council (6 November 2018) "Transporting cattle safely: Webinar November 29" http://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/transporting-cattle-safely-webinar-november-29/#more-6608/
  8. "Alberta's Dr. Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein named 2022 Metacam® 20 Bovine Welfare Award winner". www.boehringer-ingelheim.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-19.