Leading tropical livestock research and development
The Centre for Animal Science delivers world-class research to Australia’s animal industries. We aim to increase on-farm productivity and sustainability in the northern Australian beef industry and across the livestock industries, including pigs and poultry.
We have major programs and capability in genetics and genomics; breeding and reproductive capability of northern Australian cattle breeds; welfare and ethics; pest and disease control through improved detection; monitoring and vaccine technologies; nutrition; metabolism and growth.
Research Capabilities:
Research project information:
Research Highlights
Calf Alive is focused on improving calf survival and reproductive performance in northern Australian beef herds, with a particular emphasis on nutrition and environmental stress. The project, led by Associate Professor Luis Prada e Silva, involves testing nutritional strategies, monitoring environmental stress, and identifying efficient breeders. It also aims to assess the impact of these interventions on business productivity and sustainability.
The Sustainable Precision Feeding in Broiler Chickens project is a world-first collaboration led by UQ and funded by AgriFutures Australia. It brings together global experts to improve chicken meat production through advanced nutrition, gut health, and sustainability. The project supports industry capacity through training, international collaboration, and research focused on reducing reliance on soybean and antibiotics while improving welfare and environmental outcomes.
Research Impact
Case studies
A new vaccine offering season-long protection could play an important role in the battle against cattle ticks by reducing reliance on acaricides – pesticides which target ticks and mites – and allowing producers to move cattle from tick free to tick endemic areas. Researchers are also trialling a new single-dose tick vaccine delivery system.
A new QAAFI research project aimed at producing a preventative probiotic for cattle to mitigate poisoning from the potentially fatal pasture plant, pimelea, received funding from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) in 2017.
