Ontario Agriculture

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Ontario Veterinary College's Blog – June 2015 Archive (4)

Gayle Ecker, Equine Industry Vision Award Winner for 2015

Gayle Ecker, director of Equine Guelph, has been awarded the prestigious Equine Industry Vision Award for 2015.

The award, presented at the American Horse Publication Tally-Ho at the Alamo Seminar in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, June 19, 2015, recognizes Ecker’s innovation, vision and commitment to the equine industry.

Sponsored by Zoetis, the award is intended not only to recognize outstanding leadership, creativity…

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Added by Ontario Veterinary College on June 23, 2015 at 3:07am — No Comments

This year OVC Externship students are blogging all summer long

Hands-on opportunities are invaluable for student veterinarians. They provide students an opportunity to practice clinical skills, diagnostics and work one-on-one with clients, while refining their communication, technical and problem-solving skills.

Once again this summer DVM students from the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) at the University of Guelph will be…

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Added by Ontario Veterinary College on June 16, 2015 at 3:22am — No Comments

Annual Mike Wilson Swine Research day provides updates and networking opportunities

Traceability and predicting future research areas were two of the topics on the agenda at the recent Mike Wilson Swine Research Day at the University of Guelph.

The annual Swine Research Day provides updates on current research as well as networking opportunities with faculty, grad students, industry representatives and keynote speakers. Wilson was a faculty member in OVC’s Population Medicine department from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s.

The research day provides an…

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Added by Ontario Veterinary College on June 10, 2015 at 2:08am — No Comments

OVC announces New Dairy Welfare Program

A new animal welfare program will be offered at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph.  The Saputo Dairy Care program was made possible by a $500,000 gift from Saputo Inc. and will be taught through the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare.  The focus will be on providing practical dairy welfare education, including workshops for veterinary students, veterinary practitioners, and dairy producers. It will also include a fourth year Dairy Welfare rotation for students…

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Added by Ontario Veterinary College on June 9, 2015 at 2:19am — No Comments

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

How University of Iowa dropouts built a global ag tech company

Matthew Rooda began working in the swine industry at a young age. First, he helped his grandfather on a family farm, and later he worked with his father, who managed a commercial farm in Iowa. When it was time for college, he enrolled at the University of Iowa with plans to study genetics and biotechnology, and eventually planned to go to medical school to become an obstetrician. When Rooda met with the medical school admissions committee at the University of Iowa, he was told that he had to be different to stand out. He thought back to the experiences he had working on farms. Rooda told the committee he had experience with vaccinations, birthing assistance and management on farms. “They said, ‘That's exactly what we're looking for,’” he said. His junior and senior years of college, Rooda worked at nursing homes and he noticed more connections between farming and health care. He saw how nursing homes used technology and management practices to weed out inefficiencies in their car

MU Extension tackles persistent labor shortages in hog production

University of Missouri Extension specialists are working with the swine industry and temporary visa holders to help recruit, retain and develop agriculture professionals needed to address ongoing farm labor shortages. The TN visa program was established in 1994 under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The “TN” designation, short for Treaty NAFTA, refers to a professional nonimmigrant classification now governed by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. TN visas allow U.S. employers to hire specialized agriculture professionals from Mexico and Canada. Unlike programs such as H-2A, which focus on seasonal farm labor, the TN visa program supports year-round professional positions. That’s an important advantage for swine operations that require consistent staffing, says Magdiel Lopez, a livestock specialist with University of Missouri Extension who leads the project funded through checkoff dollars from the National Pork Board. TN visa holders typically meet specific educationa

Swine fever deaths surge in Spain amid fears of new virus strain

Spain has recorded a surge in the deadly African swine fever sweeping Catalonia as authorities bring in drones and helicopters to help contain the outbreak. The region’s department of agriculture announced on Monday that a further 18 wild boar have died from the highly contagious disease near Cerdanyola del Valles, bringing the tally up to a total of 47. The ministry said that the rise was due to wider testing in hard-to-reach areas, explored by air over the Christmas holidays. It emphasised that it was an “accumulation” of cases reported, and not a “sudden” spike. Spain ramped up containment efforts in December, bringing in sniffer dogs and the military to help track the spread. More than 620 boars have been analysed in recent weeks, with around eight per cent testing positive for the virus. Researchers believe the ‘Bellaterra’ variant could be a new mutation, after it failed to match with any samples held locally. The local government has downplayed the theory that it could have

Swine Innovation Porc unveils 4 Advancing Swine Research projects

Swine Innovation Porc is pleased to announce four research projects under its Advancing Swine Research Call for Proposals, a national initiative designed to strengthen the resiliency, sustainability and competitiveness of Canada’s pork sector. Supported by the Pork Promotion and Research Agency, the projects announced represent the first set of approved investments under a highly competitive, industry-guided research call. Additional approved projects will be announced as partner co-funding decisions are finalized. For the four projects announced, SIP will invest up to $488,347, mobilizing up to $1.18 million in total project funding to advance innovation across priority areas including housing systems, animal health, energy efficiency and product quality. “SIP is proud to lead this national research effort that channels research investments into meaningful, targeted impact for producers and processors,” said Mark Ferguson, chair of SIP. “This call delivered exceptional proposals fr

Pork producers address USDA's New World screwworm response

The National Pork Producers Council submitted comments on the USDA's draft response plan for a New orWld screwworm detection in the United States. NPPC's feedback addressed areas of the response including movement controls and movements to slaughter, treatment and physical examinations, among others. NWS is a flesh-eating parasite from female flies that lay eggs in wounds on warm-blooded animals, including pigs and people. According to USDA, animals that recently have given birth, suffered an injury, or had a surgical procedure such as tail docking or branding are most vulnerable. Even tick bites can attract NWS flies. The disease has moved from South America through Central America and into Mexico over the past few years, with a case recently being identified in cattle a few hundred miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. It is endemic in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and some South American countries. In May, USDA closed the U.S. southern border to imports of cattle from Mexi

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