New podcast series on innovations launched for livestock industry

Getting Research into Practice”

(GRIP) is a new 10-episode podcast series exploring innovations in the Ontario agriculture sector. It was developed by Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC) in partnership with the University of Guelph (U of G) and the Poultry Industry Council (PIC).

“We wanted to highlight what makes a successful innovation and identify what barriers keep some ideas from ever making it to industry or farms,” says Dr. Jennifer Ellis, assistant professor in the animal biosciences department at the University of Guelph.

The focus of the GRIP podcast series is on researchers and industry professionals in different animal agriculture sectors who have successfully applied research and innovations in their field. The collaborating organizations came together to develop this podcast with the shared goal of cultivating and encouraging innovation and research for the future of the provincial livestock sector.

“Innovation is most successful when industry and academia work together, and so we need to bridge the innovations being developed and people at the farm level who decide which to adopt,” says Ashley Honsberger, executive director with PIC.

With the fast-paced nature of the agriculture industry, it is critical that researchers not lose sight of the changing needs and challenges of the industry. Producers must also be proactive by raising issues and questions and then considering options and taking action at the farm level.

“Innovation is all about change and change is all about people and so we need to listen and connect people and ideas toward better innovation,” says LRIC CEO Mike McMorris.

This podcast series, funded and supported by Mitacs through the Business Strategy Internship (BSI), and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) through the Knowledge Translation and Transfer program, aims to help identify ways to help bridge the gap and lead to more interaction and innovation. You can listen on Thursday mornings to the GRIP podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Anchor FM.

Established in 2012 with support from Ontario’s beef, pork, dairy and poultry sector organizations, and OMAFRA, LRIC’s mission is driving innovation. The organization takes a value chain approach to research and innovation by providing leadership in research priority setting, coordination and process, identifying and communicating emerging issues, and strengthening networks across the sector.

For more information, visit www.livestockresearch.ca

SPRING &

Plans taking shape for traditional Listowel Agricultural Fair

Hybrid in-person, virtual events tentatively on the slate for 166th event, July 14-17

DAN MCNEE

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, businesses, families and individuals have had to rapidly adapt to an ever-evolving situation in the interest of public health. Service organizations were, of course, not excluded from the hardships faced, and with the growing hope that the summer of 2022 will have some semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy, the Listowel Agricultural Society (LAS) is planning to welcome back the North Perth community and beyond to its most antici- pated annual event.

As it stands this spring, the LAS has put plans in motion to host the 166th edition of the Listowel Agricultural Fair in a more traditional format, whereby inperson events will once again return to the fairgrounds come July 14-17. Planning for an event of this size is no easy feat, but the LAS board of directors’ 25 members have been busy since the fall of last year tentatively assembling a schedule that resembles more of what visitors came to expect of the fair prior to 2020.

See 166TH on page 16