Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence

Associated Engineering

Rural Municipality of Blucher, SK

The University of Saskatchewan established a vision to amalgamate three separate off-campus research facilities into one location, creating one of the world’s most advanced livestock and forage research facilities. Associated Engineering, as project managers and engineers for design and construction, worked with the University and a diverse group of government and industry stakeholders to design the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence. The largest, most comprehensive centre of its kind in Canada, this innovative facility is a showcase of technological advancement, both in its design to accommodate large, live animals throughout their lifecycle and its ability to satisfy the requirements of a wide range of research interests. Working collaboratively, the project team designed a one-of-a-kind research facility located on 15 quarter-sections of land, including two research buildings, a 1600-head-capacity feedlot, a 350-unit cow-calf facility, dedicated forage crop research plots, and over 1200 acres of paddocks for forage grazing studies. A comprehensive environmental monitoring system enables researchers to study the life-cycle impacts of intensive livestock operations on the land, surface water and groundwater. The jury selected this project because of its technical complexity, the challenges of liaising with the many stakeholders, and the role the center plays in improving the environmental stewardship of the agriculture industry.