Features

So what do you want to do after school?” It’s a question that every university student is asked, and probably more times than they’d like.

For Ashley Knapton, B.Sc. (Agr.) ’13, the answer was simple: become a dairy classifier.

Classifiers, an unbiased thirdparty group of trained people, score dairy cows based on industry-outlined criteria. They travel from farm to farm to evaluate the physical structure of the cow. It’s a service that helps producers make informed decisions and is often used as a pride point for dairy breeders.

When I returned home to Eastern Ontario after completing my first year at U of G, I was so excited to share the stories of my experiences at Guelph. One day, I told a farmer about my friend Clayton McWilliams, whom I had met at Guelph. The farmer immediately asked if Clayton was related to Wyatt McWilliams. I didn’t know. Wyatt was a new name to me. But it was clear that Wyatt was a well-known person in agriculture, and his story was one I wanted to hear.

So, I began asking questions. And the more I learned about Wyatt, the more I wanted to know.

We see them every day, all around us: the interconnections between the natural and humanmade worlds. A lot of hard work and critical thought have gone into the design of parks, school playgrounds and local streets. But who did this work? Most likely a landscape architect.

Colleen Mercer Clarke describes the profession of landscape architecture as “being architects for nature.”

Brewing craft beer isn’t just trendy and full of cheers says Patrick Wynn-Williams, B.Sc. ’12. He knows first-hand the dedication and stamina it takes to work in this industry.

“As fun as it might be, and it is definitely fun, it is also a lot of hard work,” says the packaging and shipping technician at Escarpment Laboratories in Guelph.

"One minute you have it all, and then you find yourself with nothing.”

Tendai Wilkerson didn’t own land in Zimbabwe when the government heated up its land reform policies, but she did lose everything.

Tendai’s employer, HSBC Bank, closed-up shop in the late 1990s over fears that it would not be able to repatriate its profits. Atrained lawyer, she found herself unemployed with no job prospects amid economic collapse.

Our “places” are ever-changing and evolving.

Ensuring that our downtowns, small towns, regions and communities thrive in this change is the concern. How does one go about improving a community in economic, social or cultural ways?

Growing up on a farm in Goderich, Ontario combined with an interest in business led Tyler Durst to the University of Guelph. Durst studied in the food and agricultural business (co-op) program, where he worked at RBC Dominion Securities (DS) for one of his placements. Today, Durst continues to work with RBC DS as an associate advisor. We chatted with Durst to learn more about his role and to recap some highlights from his time on campus.

Many dog owners and lovers are confused about what to feed their dogs following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identifying a possible linkbetween 16 brands of dog food and a potentially deadly canine heart condition.

As Canadian egg farmers transition their flocks from conventional cages to more spacious “furnished” cages, University of Guelph researchers have conducted a first-ever study on factors contributing to feather pecking in this new housing system and ways to prevent it.

The study revealed that 22 per cent of the birds  in the new cages exhibited moderate or severe feather damage that was likely due to feather pecking.

Logically, we know stepping back in time isn’t possible. But at the O’Hara Mill Homestead in Madoc, Ontario, it seems like it just might be.

When walking through the rural setting of the homestead visitors can see a fully restored sawmill with a dam and covered bridge, a log house, school, carpenter and blacksmith shops, and much more. Visitors step back into the 1800’s and experience agriculture as it was.