A slow-burning conversation ignited this spring as researchers, technology companies and agri-food experts came together through multiple events to shape the future of cybersecurity in the agri-food sector.
In research funded in part by the Alliance, Meagan King, a former post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Animal Biosciences, and Dr. Trevor DeVries analyzed robotic milking system data from Ontario dairy farms to determine disease-indicating behaviours, such as declines in rumination behaviour and overall activity.
Like people using fitness trackers, more and more dairy farmers are using automated activity monitors as an important part of herd reproductive management. Dr. Stephen LeBlanc, a professor at the Ontario Veterinary College, and PhD candidate and Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) doctoral scholar Tony Bruinjé studied more than 1,300 cows in two commercial dairy herds to investigate the link between a cow’s post-partum health and the likelihood of detecting estrus by activity monitors for first breeding.
Read about how the Dairy at Guelph team helps Ontario producers reap the rewards of research, featuring Dr. Christine Baes' genetic research to improve fertility and health and Dr. David Kelton's antimicrobial resistance research. Milk Producer is published by Dairy Farmers of Ontario.
A University of Guelph researcher is using automated data collection to help farmers create individual feeding plans to improve the health and production of their dairy cows.
Patty Kedzierski, a PhD candidate and highly qualified personnel (HQP) scholar in the Department of Animal Biosciences at the Ontario Agricultural College, studies production differences between dairy cows.
In a study of calves at the Ontario Dairy Research Centre, Dr. Charlotte Winder and PhD candidate Cassandra Reedman, both in the Department of Population Medicine, found that administering local anesthesia with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) pain relievers is the most beneficial combination to reduce pain caused by caustic paste disbudding in young calves.
Former PhD student Dr. Amanda Armstrong and Dr. David Kelton, Department of Population Medicine, professor and Dairy Farmers of Ontario Chair in Dairy Cattle Health, investigated hock injury healing in dairy cows.
“Our findings have addressed some of the gaps in the literature about hock injury healing,” says Armstrong. “This study provided us with great insight into practices that could be implemented on farms to promote healing of mild and moderate hock injuries.”