A collaboration between U of G's Dr. George van der Merwe, professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Escarpment Laboratories, supplier of liquid yeast cultures for Ontario’s $1.4-billion craft beer industry, has led to new products, processes and technologies that will benefit the Ontario agri-food sector.
Dairy calves are an integral part of Ontario’s $2.2-billion dairy industry. Access to a world-class research and innovation system — including the Ontario Dairy Research Centre and six Alliance-funded projects over 18 years — resulted in better on-farm pain management practices during disbudding (the process of removing the horn bud in young calves for the safety of other cows and farm staff) and the licensing of a new pain management drug in Europe and Canada. Long-term Alliance investment helped identify and promote the new pain management protocol.
Omid Norouzi, a PhD candidate and Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) scholar in the School of Engineering, aims to cut global greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural and food waste by converting that waste into fuel.
Plant agriculture professor Jayasankar Subramanian and his team are developing new technologies to decrease fruit spoilage, part of Ontario’s annual food waste that costs a total of $12 billion per year.