An interactive forage species selection tool for Canada

Jun 06, 2023

The Canadian farms producing top-quality beef are as unique as our country’s topography. They do have one thing in common--each uses forages in some way.

Forage U-Pick--a tool that helps farmers and ranchers from British Columbia to the Maritimes choose forages best suited to their fields, calculate seeding rates and manage forage weeds--is now available online at no cost.

“Selecting forage species that will thrive under the growing and management conditions of a specific field on your farm improves the crop’s productivity. Since well-managed forage is typically the cheapest source of feed, growing productive forages can widen the profit margins of a beef operation,” shares Amy Higgins of the Maritime Beef Council.

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Video: Validating Net Energy in Commercial Swine Systems - Gustavo Lima

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Gustavo Lima, PhD candidate at Iowa State University, explains how soybean meal net energy is evaluated using growth assays and calorimetry. He discusses caloric efficiency, validation under commercial conditions, and differences between controlled and real-world environments. Gustavo also highlights practical implications for diet formulation and ingredient valuation. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Indirect calorimetry provides a precise estimation of ingredient energy, yet validation under production conditions remains essential for accurate application in real systems.”

Meet the guest: Gustavo Lima / gustavo-lima-a9867127 is a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University, specializing in swine nutrition, ingredient evaluation, and energy metabolism. With over 15 years of experience across Latin America, his work focuses on soybean meal utilization, caloric efficiency, and applied research for commercial production systems.