Enhancing Productivity and Environmental Sustainability with Marcos Cordeiro

Marcos Cordeiro is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Manitoba. He holds a PhD in Biosystems Engineering and is registered as a Professional Engineer in Manitoba. He has extensive expertise in agro-environmental modeling, statistical analysis of large datasets (i.e., big data), spatial analyses using geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS), and dataset development. His multidisciplinary expertise enabled him to work on relevant research at national scale, such as the recent Water Footprint assessment of the Canadian beef industry, which empowered producers to use science-based evidence to garner public trust with regards to the environmental sustainability of the industry.

Macros has a number of current research projects listed on his University of Manitoba profile, many of which are looking directly at different aspects of the beef industry in Manitoba and the Prairies.  One of his current projects is titled, “Estimating Carrying Capacity of Crown Lands for Beef Cattle Grazing in Manitoba.”  

In this episode, we discuss how carrying capacity is currently assessed on crown lands in Manitoba and how Mr. Cordeiro is using data sets to estimate forage yield, carrying capacity and stocking rates.  

Also included in today’s episode, is a discussion on how higher stocking rates can reduce or lower the beef industry’s carbon footprint, impacts this could have for producers for future carbon markets and in general, the role of the beef industry in promoting ecological goods and services.

We also touch on another of Marcos’ current projects, titled, “Beef production in the Canadian Prairies: Prospects of feed availability under climate and land use changes.”  We discuss what this project is looking at and what observations have been made thus far.

The final project we discuss in this episode is looking at nutrient export in Canada and how producers can impact surface run off on their operation.

References and Links:

Cattle Country: Manitoba’s Agricultural Crown Grazing Lands – Assessing Potential for Growing the Beef Industry” written by Peter Frohlich, National Centre for Livestock and the Environment (NCLE), University of Manitoba.  Originally published in Cattle Country in March 2023. Accessed on the news.umanitoba.ca website. https://news.umanitoba.ca/cattle-country-manitobas-agricultural-crown-grazing-lands-assessing-potential-for-growing-the-beef-industry/

University of Manitoba Profile: Marcos Cordeiro Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences

https://umanitoba.ca/agricultural-food-sciences/animal-science/marcos-cordeiro

The research programs and daily operations at MBFI would not be possible without the funding from the Province of Manitoba, Government of Canada, and Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, as well as the partnership with Manitoba Agriculture, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC).

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