The Alliance provides funding to the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College through the Veterinary Capacity Program (VCP). The VCP ensures an ongoing supply of rural and agricultural veterinarians who can support farming communities and monitor the health of animals in the food chain, as well as veterinarians with the skills and expertise to serve on the front line of disease surveillance.
Department of Food Science PhD candidate and HQP scholarship recipient Oday Alrifai is studying how microgreens—just-sprouted plants such as radish, mustard and mizuna—have the potential to be grown in limited space using inexpensive LED lights.
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.
The numbers: Thirty-nine sensors send unique, animal-specific data points from the beef and dairy research centres to University of Guelph servers.
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.
The Laboratory Services Division is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and the Canadian Association of Laboratory Accreditation to the International Organization of Standardization standard 17025 (ISO/IEC 17025:2017).
The Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance creates impact by directing the efforts of our people, places and programs toward six key outcomes that support the agri-food and rural sectors—at home and around the world.
The Alliance’s annual report, Growing Ontario Solutions, highlights the stories behind the numbers, including how Alliance-funded programs and research have: