B.C. university partners with local rancher to breed heat-wave resistant cattle
Angus-Senepol hybrid cattle have a natural mutation that promotes shorter hair growth, higher heat tolerance
Joanne Nicklas says it's exciting to think that, in future, ranchers like her may not have to worry about constant shade or turning on sprinklers around the clock to cool their cattle if summer temperatures soar like they did in B.C.'s last heat dome.
Nicklas and her husband operate a small ranch in Whitecroft, a village located 20 kilometres northwest of Kamloops, B.C. Over the past three years, they have collaborated with Thompson Rivers University on a research project focused on breeding cattle that can withstand extreme heat more effectively.
In partnership with TRU's professor of natural resource science, John Church, the couple crossbred Red Angus with Senepol, a breed of cattle from Saint Croix island in the Caribbean Sea known for its ability to tolerate high temperatures due to a unique slick gene.
The slick gene is a natural mutation that enables the cattle to grow shorter hair and regulate their body temperature more efficiently by sweating more.
Nicklas explains that a dozen crossbred calves were born last spring, which exhibited distinctive physical characteristics compared to the Angus breed, such as a thinner hair coat during the summer.
"They've got a little bit of a pouch on their belly," she said. "They're up earlier [and] they're eating more in the heat compared to the other ones."
Can grow back thick hair in winter
Church says the hybrid cattle can endure temperatures at least 7 C higher than Bos indicus, a breed from the Indian subcontinent renowned for its summer heat tolerance.
He says he was also surprised to discover that the Angus-Senepol hybrids can adapt equally well to winter temperatures.
"[They] do, in fact, grow winter haircoat over the winter, so we're quite excited about that."
Church says he secured funding for the research in 2020, just a year before the heat dome affected areas of North America, causing the deaths of numerous livestock, including about 2,000 cattle that perished in Kansas due to the high heat and humidity.
Church anticipates that summer temperatures could get as high as 50 C within the next decade, and he believes that his cattle crossbreeding project could help ranchers.
"We believe we've created an animal that's going to be much more climate-resilient and able to handle some of these climate extremes."
With files from Jenifer Norwell and Daybreak Kamloops