News related to Ontario Dairy Research Centre

University of Guelph researchers looking to reduce pregnancy losses in dairy cattle are also milking the benefits of a new data portal intended to improve livestock productivity in Ontario.

The dual projects came together at the Ontario Dairy Research Centre (ODRC) in Elora, Ont., which is owned by the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO) and managed by the University of Guelph through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.

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.

Read the Late Fall digital edition here.

The University of Guelph will lead a global dairy farming genomics project expected to revolutionize breeding in Canada’s multibillion-dollar dairy farming industry.

Dr. Christine Baes, a professor in the Department of Animal Biosciences, will head the four-year, international and multi-disciplinary initiative that aims to identify novel genetic traits for a new selection index for dairy cattle resilience.

Researchers are starting to gather results at the new Elora Research Station – Dairy Facility, where advanced technology is helping University of Guelph scientists investigate animal health issues, such as nutrition, genomics, calf behaviour, welfare and overall cow health.

Professors David Kelton and Derek Haley from the department of population medicine have utilized Elora Dairy’s facilities since its doors opened in May 2015.

“Elora Dairy offers top-of-the-line, high-end technology that helps us do innovative work no one has done before,” Haley says.

Pregnant cows often experience two simultaneous phenomena that are neither good for them nor their soon-to-be-born calves – they reduce their feed intake right before calving, and simultaneously, they may experience chronic, low-grade, body-wide inflammation.

How does one affect the other, and which one comes first? Researchers at the U of G are investigating that, and trying to prevent metabolic inflammation that may contribute to health problems.