Through novel pain mitigation and wound management strategies we improve the welfare and production of sheep and cattle that are subject to invasive husbandry procedures such as dehorning and castration.

In addition, signatures of animal stress are being developed based on behavioural states derived from accelerometers attached to animals.

As our environment warms, new systems and resilient animals are required to maintain animal performance and health. Our group is working with the University of Queensland to provide practical options for the Australian livestock industry to reduce heat stress in livestock.

We are developing a Paddock Productivity Database integrating data from in-field livestock weighing systems (Optiweigh), remote pasture measurement (CiboLabs) and environmental data (soils, pastures, climate) (MLA funded program “Data driven system optimising the forage base for sustainable beef production”).

This system will inform best practice grazing management to optimise the use of the feedbase and enable better forecasting for feed gaps and drought. We are partnering with the NSW government (Local Land Services North West) to delivery outcomes to producers and evaluate the impact on commercial farms in NSW.

On a larger-scale, we are looking at climate variables (rain, temperature etc.) on animal growth across the major agro-ecological zones of Australia.

We are working with the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council to increase animal protein supply.

This programme is increasing the nutritive value of Napier Grass offered to native cattle breeds (Red Chittagong cattle) by optimising the timing and degree of defoliation.

Here we investigate the impact of rumen temperature and the rumen microbiome in collaboration with The University of Queensland (Dr Angela Lees) and Lincoln University (Prof Pablo Gregorini).