DAIRY RESEARCH
GETTING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE Making the jump from lab to on-farm implementation easier By Lilian Schaer CONTRIBUTOR
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here’s no shortage of research happening in the livestock industry in Canada and around the world, particularly related to dairy. Some discoveries end up being implemented by farmers and others in the sector, such as processors or veterinarians. A lot of research—and some would argue the majority— never actually make the jump to on-farm implementation. How to improve that conversion rate and spur more adoption of research outcomes is an issue the industry has been grappling with. Now, efforts are underway to improve not just how research results get to producers, but also how to encourage change. “In order for the Ontario livestock sector to be competitive and sustainable, farmers need a system that makes research results accessible in a way that encourages them to make effective decisions for their businesses,” says Mike
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LATE WINTER 2022 | MILKPRODUCER
McMorris, chief executive officer of Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC). LRIC has been working with professor Ataharul Chowdhury from the University of Guelph’s school of environmental design and rural development to get a better handle on the issue and find ways to improve advisory services for Ontario’s livestock sector. Since the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs dramatically reduced its involvement with extension starting, the responsibility to get research results to farmers shifted to researchers, industry organizations and farm advisers beginning in the 1990s. A similar transition has taken place across North America, creating a patchwork of regional, provincial and sector-focused efforts.
ESTABLISHING A UNIFIED APPROACH Working with graduate students Ezekiel Martin and André Melrose, Chowdhury’s research has found livestock advisory services in Ontario lack co-ordination and a unified approach.
There are significant differences between what is available for supply-managed and nonsupply managed sectors, and fee-for-service and product-linked advice has become far more prominent in the Ontario industry. Dr. Steven Roche of ACER Consulting presented an LRIC horizon series webinar earlier this year and co-authored a white paper on the issue. He says there are challenges with under-served areas of the province where farmers don’t have the same level of access to advisers, such as veterinarians, agronomists, nutritionists and geneticists. “If the government is relying on advisers to educate and work closely with producers, there is a significant reliance on them to have the right information-seeking behaviour and deliver it consistently across the province,” Roche notes during his webinar. It’s about more than just access to information, he added. To be successful in getting farmers to adopt new practices, those delivering the information have to understand their audience, make their message relevant
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