Student engagement was high at the Future of Food Conference in Ottawa, as youth turned out to hear panellists and keynote speeches by stakeholders from across the agriculture value chain.
Several student groups from Queen’s, Â鶹AV and the University of Ottawa heard about sustainability, innovation and politics in agriculture at the February event.
Â鶹AV Farm Management and Technology student Aidan Velthuis, who grew up on a dairy farm south of Ottawa, attended the conference.
It’s possible animals — pets and wildlife alike — will behave unusually during Quebec’s total solar eclipse on April 8 , according to experts on their behaviour.
David Bird, emeritus professor of wildlife biology at Â鶹AV, that birds, insects and bats are the main groups expected to be affected, or “the main ones that everybody’s sort of keeping an eye on.”
Imagine cows roaming freely in a barn equipped with cameras and sensors linked to artificial intelligence in a system that predicts their mood and lifespan. Implementing such a system is the mission of the new Research and Innovation Chair in Animal Welfare and Artificial Intelligence (), created jointly by Â鶹AV and UQAM thanks to $5 million in funding over five years.
Â鶹AV Farm Management and Technology Program Director Pascal ThĂ©riault spoke to Radio-Canada's Le CafĂ© Show about what regenerative agriculture is, how it can improve water retention in the soil—an increasingly important consideration as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of drought in the prairies, and its role in carbon capture.
Rising costs of cocoa due to drought and disease affecting crop yields is proof of how global warming is hitting our pocketbooks, agronomist and economist Pascal ThĂ©riault, Â鶹AV Farm Management and Technology Program Director, .
The food system "relies on stability, and what climate change does is it creates situations where nothing is stable," he said.
In the University-wide 3MT/MT180 competition, graduate students have the chance to showcase their leading-edge research before a live audience. With only three minutes and a single slide, students must engage their audience and convey the complexities of their work to a diverse, non-expert audience. Participants may present their research in English or in French and winners will advance to regional and national competitions.
Representatives from student groups across campus and beyond gathered in the University Centre for a Food Security  on March 15 to discuss ways to improve the sustainability, accessibility, and affordability of food systems at Â鶹AV. The summit included presentations, “visioning sessions” where attendees exchanged ideas on discussion questions in smaller groups, and a free lunch.Â
Large retailers are reducing their formats to cut production costs in a period of high food inflation.
Shrinkflation is not sparing the private labels that consumers love to save money on, . Already in the spotlight for their record profits, Canada's major food retailers are in turn reducing the formats of their new products.
With its burps and farts, a dairy cow emits as much methane every year as a car driven 20,000 kilometers. Ottawa has just authorized the marketing of a feed additive that could transform the fight against global warming on the farm. 3-NOP could reduce methane emissions from dairy cows by an average of 30%, and from beef cattle by an average of 45%.
Methane is formed in cows' rumen—the front compartment of their stomach—during digestion.
According to the , Â鶹AV now ranks number one among Canadian universities by the “Food Science & Technology” academic subject. This trend is remarkable, as Â鶹AV has consistently risen in the global ranking year after year.
Food Science & Technology is also one the
Three teams of Â鶹AV Food Science students (food product development class-U3) have been selected as finalists in three different Institute of Food Technologists Student Association (IFTSA) competitions. They will attend the annual IFT FIRST event and expo taking place on July 14-17 in Chicago, the world’s largest gathering of food science professionals, where they will compete with the other teams for cash prizes.
The Ottawa Valley Farm Show, a cornerstone event for the agricultural industry, not only celebrates the achievements of local farmers but also showcases the latest agricultural products and technologies essential for sustaining industry growth.
Caitlin Allen, a recent graduate of Â鶹AV's Farm Management and Technology Program, aspires to one day own a dairy farm, but knows that passion and hard work are just part of the puzzle. Innovation is crucial.
White-tailed tropicbirds spend most of the year at sea, out of sight of people. When the seabirds make their annual descent into Bermuda to breed, though, their long, streamer-like tails, snowy white plumage, and shrill calls are impossible to miss. To locals, the birds’ return to the islands is a reliable sign of spring.
Friday, March 8 was International Women’s Day, marking the achievements of women and serving as a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
This year’s theme is Inspire Inclusion—a message exemplified by Â鶹AV’s female leaders. At the moment, 10 of Â鶹AV’s 14 deans are women, including our own Acting Dean ValĂ©rie Orsat.
The Â鶹AV Reporter shared their thoughts on the women who inspire them, the progress that’s been made, and the barriers that have yet to be broken.
