News

Being a carbon footprint-conscious dairy farmer improves the planet and farm profitability, say University of Guelph researchers. They’ve determined that environmental best practices, such as manure management, also improve producer profit margins.

Research associate Susantha Jayasundara and Prof. Claudia Wagner-Riddle, School of Environmental Sciences, collected production data from dairy farms across Ontario and classified them as having a high or low carbon footprint.

To support the demand for goat products, University of Guelph researchers are involved in an intensive, three-year, Ontario-wide herd health and management study.

Prof. Cathy Bauman, Department of Population Medicine, and a team of researchers have surveyed or visited almost 60 goat farmers over the past 18 months to investigate mortalities and management practices among their herds.

The researchers are also wrapping up a project to conduct autopsies on all goat kids under four months of age that died on about half of the farms.

Feed costs represent about 70 per cent of cattle producers’ total expenses. Cattle are under the microscope for contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

And breeding could address both matters.

That’s what one University of Guelph researcher is doing, with help from the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance. Using genomics, she’s identifying cattle that naturally use their feed more efficiently.

The provincial government and the University of Guelph have partnered through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance and the University’s Food from Thought program to deliver enhanced training to graduate students.

The following is excerpted from an Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs news release. Read the entire release here: Ontario Enhancing Livestock Health, Welfare and Productivity.

The most sophisticated sustainable livestock production research centre in Canada officially opened today. At the Ontario Beef Research Centre, University of Guelph researchers will hone the latest technologies in health, welfare and production to benefit the province’s 6,800 beef farms and others across Canada.

The following is excerpted from an Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs news release. Read the entire release here: Ontario Supporting New Innovative Bioproduct Development.

The Ontario government is working to protect the environment by investing in agri-food research to develop eco-friendly innovations such as bioproducts and waste reduction and recycling technologies.

The Government of Ontario has announced a $1.8-million investment in University of Guelph agri-food research to help find ways to enhance soil health and water quality.

The following is excerpted from an Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs news release. Read the entire release here: Ontario to Improve Crop Production by Fighting Plant Diseases.

The University of Guelph as well as Ontario pork producers and consumers worldwide will benefit from a new research facility announced today by Ernie Hardeman Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs.

The new facility to be located at the Elora Research Station will use state-of-the-art technology to meet advanced training and research needs of the swine sector, representing more than 1,200 producers in the province.

The venture is a partnership among U of G, Ontario Pork and the Ontario government through the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario.