News

A new professorship and scholarships have been established to support Eastern and Northern Ontario.

The scholarships and MacSon Professorship in Agronomy for Eastern and Northern Ontario honour a four generation family legacy in agriculture and environmental conservation.

All have been established through the sale of land in Plantagenet, Ontario. Proceeds from the sale were directed into the new scholarships and professorship, which unlocked additional funding that resulted in a $6 million investment to support Eastern and Northern Ontario agriculture and students.

What if dairy farmers could improve their cows’ health and enhance milk’s nutritional quality through understanding their animals’ feeding behaviour?

We know more about mink sexual development thanks to University of Guelph researchers and local mink farmers. It may not be a “romantic” topic for Valentine’s Day, but it is certainly a story about relationships.

Lead researcher Jamie Ahloy Dallaire and Prof. Georgia Mason, Department of Animal Biosciences, found that young male mink who spent more time playing as juveniles showed more vigorous sexual performance as adults.

As a way of ensuring their long-term viability, Ontario’s rural communities should do more to attract and keep newcomers in their municipalities – and a University of Guelph professor has developed some recommendations on how to best do that.

Changing demographics are leaving many rural areas struggling with declining populations, and although immigration is a key solution, most of the province’s immigrants prefer to settle in large urban centres like Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton or London.

Wikipedia’s reputation as a go-to source for information is clear in the English site’s statistics; it receives 7.7 billion page views per month, but is it a reputable source for information?

The information on pet nutrition is certainly much more credible today, thanks to Prof. Kate Shoveller’s pet nutrition class that gathered reputable information on 32 different pet nutrition topics for submission to the site.

There’s a refreshing research project taking root across Ontario that’s set to help grow Ontario’s craft cider industry. University of Guelph researcher John Cline is beginning the third phase of his three-part project that will help build sustainable, value-add opportunities for Ontario’s agri-food sector.

Professor Hugh Earl has been appointed as the new chair of the Department of Plant Agriculture for a five-year term effective January 1, 2017.

Professor Sean Kelly has been appointed as the new director of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) effective January 1, 2017.

After 10 years of working in the family business, Cassandra Loomans, B.Comm. ’07, is preparing to take the lead.

Many OAC alumni families are working through the difficult process of passing down farmland, ownership of a business or leadership of a company. Succession planning may be awkward at times, but when the two generations (or sometimes three) do it right, the process benefits everyone.

We are pleased to announce with Libro Credit Union (Libro) the appointment of Prof. Ryan Gibson to the Libro Professorship of Regional Economic Development for southwestern Ontario. The professorship is focused on building economic development and innovation across the region, through world-class research, teaching, outreach and collaboration.