So, it should come as no surprise that being professors on campus and partners at home goes hand-in-hand for Karen Schwean-Lardner and Bart Lardner of the University of Saskatchewan.
“We both care about the welfare of the animals and birds and how important that is for producers,” said Karen Schwean-Lardner, an assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources who specializes in poultry production. “In this country, we have codes of practice for beef, for dairy, and for poultry, that are defined by science-informed groups. And we have a system in which every commercial farm in Canada is audited based on their welfare standards and based on their food safety standards, which is wonderful.”
“Animal care and animal welfare is front and centre for producers, and as researchers it is important in everything we do,” added Bart Lardner, a professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science, whose specialty is the science of beef production. “If the animal is sick, then that animal is of no value to the producer. So, producers are extremely concerned about animal care and animal welfare and proper handling techniques and it’s in their best interest.”
Whether it is beef or poultry, both are big proponents of the power-packed protein provided by both products, delivering desirable nutrients to help feed an ever-growing population. For their work, both earned international awards this year, with Karen receiving the Poultry Science Association’s Early Achievement Award for Research on July 26 in San Antonio, Texas, while Bart was honoured with the American Society of Animal Science’s Western Section Extension Award on June 20 in Bend, Oregon.
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Image via University of Calgary.