Ontario Beef Research Centre – Elora | Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance

Ontario Beef Research Centre

The Ontario Beef Research Centre – Elora is a unique, state-of-the-art, 233,000-square foot research centre that is a world-class platform for discovery, learning and outreach. It is the result of a vibrant collaboration among Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, the University of Guelph and the Ontario beef industry. It is owned by Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario and managed by U of G through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.

Screen shot of video where Dr. Angela Canovas is pipetting in a laboratory

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See how the Ontario Beef Research Centre – Elora facilitates research that drives innovation and supports the sustainability and prosperity of the beef sector in Ontario and Canada.

The Elora site of the Ontario Beef Research Centre features:

Two cow-calf barns, accommodating 288 mature cows and 120 replacement heifers, and including:
- 48 group-housing pens for cow-calf pairs
- 20 maternity and special needs pens
- 20 group-housing pens for replacement heifers
One feedlot barn with 24 pens, accommodating 288 animals
Four animal care and handling facilities with five top-of-the-line hydraulic chutes
280 digital feed intake monitoring systems and 16 creep feeders for calves
121 hectares of managed pasture for rotational grazing
Four laboratory spaces, including a sample storage lab and a clean lab for genomics research
A meeting room and office space

Research areas and outcomes

Research at the Ontario Beef Research Centre in Elora leads to improved growth and efficiency and productive, healthy herds. Areas of research include animal health and welfare, feed, nutrition, genetics and genomics, management and technology, reproduction, behaviour and performance. See current research studies.