Impact Stories

Sometimes innovation isn’t fast and flashy: sometimes it’s slow and dirty.

It's Ontario Agriculture Week, and at the University of Guelph—Canada's Food University—we're celebrating fresh, homegrown food and the farmers, food industry workers and agri-businesses who bring it to our plates.

The fundamental starting point for growing healthy food is healthy soil. With long-term investment and expertise, soil grows productive plants, protects the environment and builds economic sustainability for producers.

The venture between University of Guelph researcher Dr. Joshua Nasielski and Ontario-based ag-tech company Susterre Technologies Inc. was facilitated by the University’s Research Innovation Office. It’s a compelling example of how academic-private partnerships can drive innovation while reducing risk for farmers.

Read the story: Cultivating Innovation—How Academic-Private Partnerships Are De-Risking Agri-Tech for Ontario Farmers

Honeybees are called “social” creatures, and the same could be said for the community that research technician Paul Kelly cultivates at the University of Guelph’s Honey Bee Research Centre (HBRC).

Kelly, an Alliance-funded research technician and a 37-year veteran of the HBRC, ensures that investigators have the hives they need to conduct future-focused pollinator research – a lifeline to our local food supply.

More than a decade of funding from the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance has helped to fuel the success of this revolutionary technology, developed by Dr. Keith Warriner in the University of Guelph's Department of Food Science.

The gas-phase hydroxyl radical technology is a sustainable solution that kills 99.99 per cent of food pathogens, such as E. coli, Salmonella, and norovirus, in less than 30 seconds. 

OAC Plant Agriculture PhD graduate Deus Mugabe's path to becoming a research leader in agricultural science was shaped by a deep-rooted passion for improving global food security. Raised amidst the challenges of food insecurity in Rwanda, Mugabe's early experiences instilled in him a determination to use science to transform agriculture for the better.

Two U of G researchers contributed data to the Diverse Rotations Improve Valuable Ecosystem Services (D.R.I.V.E.S.) Project, an initiative conducted by 30 scientists from across Canada, the United States and Mexico, in which different crop rotations and individual component crops within rotations were analyzed along with multiple metrics, soil types and cropping systems.

In veterinary circles, it’s widely understood that, like in human medicine, using antimicrobial treatments to improve animal welfare will eventually contribute to antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Slowly, but surely, bacteria that cause diseases in people are acquiring more resistance to medications used to treat those infections.

The results can help the poultry industry take rapid action.

Ontario Farmer spoke with Dr. Shayan Sharif and Dr. Rozita Dara, researchers in the Ontario Veterinary College's Department of Pathobiology and College of Engineering and Physical Sciences' School of Computer Science, respectively.