Profile — Allison Fleming

ALLISON FLEMING

FROM BERRY FARM TO GENETICS LAB

By Robert Price

ALLISON FLEMING IS HOOKED ON GENETICS.

It happened in an undergraduate classroom at the University of Guelph and there’s been no turning back. “It’s a field where you can apply genetic principles and methodology to many different areas in dairy production or animal production,” says Fleming of genetics’ breadth and depth. “You can go from talking about fertility to production to milk composition to type and confirmation. It’s a really diverse field and combines a lot of my interests.” Now, as a geneticist at Lactanet Canada, Fleming works to further the profitability of dairy production in Canada by improving production efficiencies and sustainability. One of her projects involves genetic evaluation for bovine body weight and maintenance, work that dovetails with Lactanet’s work on feed efficiency. Fleming’s work routine varies. Depending on the day, she will meet with other scientists to discuss ongoing projects and answer questions that come to Lactanet from producers or industry, as well as research collaborators. Most of her day is spent on a computer. From her workstation, she dives into data to assess genetic trends or look at how Lactanet can improve what it’s doing or tweak how it provides genetic information to producers. And there is plenty of data. Data about cows, markets, consumers, farms, and more. A challenge for geneticists like Fleming is to determine the utility of everything streaming in. “What of that data is useful for genetics?” she asks. “What can we do with it to make it useful?”

Fleming says one challenge facing the industry is communication between consumers and producers who don’t always understand what the other wants. Consumers want a greater focus on environmental and social concerns, but they don’t always understand what producers can actually do to help, whether it be with sustainable practices or engineering different ways of production or even the type of milk products that are being produced. Milled our dairy barn floors in August s later we just had AGRI-TRAC em again. It lasted 22 Years! We chose Over 25 Y Years The goal, she says, is to “provide the right information to help everyone make the right decisions.” That means taking great efforts to understand and communicate bothtimesinstead of grooving s and lasts. We have experience, NOT work! Thank you AGRI-TRAC. Mario Vriens Friendly Farms Arthur, ON Providing Permanent Traction forfarmers thatlastsdecades! 877-966-3546 www.agritraction.com what is happening inside the genetics lab with both producers and consumers. “We do a lot of work to make sure what we’re doing is headed in the right direction,” she says, “that we’re making improvements and that these are going to be what we want in the future.” Fleming, who grew up on a berry farm outside Woodstock, ON, says she’s found the dairy industry open and welcoming since graduating from Guelph with a PhD. “People can become involved in the industry without really having a background,” she says. This openness complements Fleming’s desire to invest herself in what she does, a desire nurtured by what she says is the best advice she ever received from a mentor: “Find opportunities to get involved in the industry. Meet people in all parts of the industry and learn.”

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• Reduce cull rates James Walker Walkerbrae Farms

Over 25 Years Providing Permanent Traction Guelph, ON for farmers that lasts decades! AGRI-TRAC gives the cows the AGRI-TRAC milled our dairy barn traction they need without being floors in August of 2000. 22 years too aggressive on their feet. We later we just had AGRI-TRAC back also like how the floor is easy to to do them again. It lasted 22 Years! scrape and clean. We chose AGRI-TRAC both times

James Walker, Walkerbrae Farms instead of grooving because it works Guelph, ON and lasts. Thank you AGRI-TRAC. Mario Vriens, Friendly Farms, Arthur, ON www.agritractions.com 1-877-966-3546

AGRI-TRAC Milled our dairy barn floors in August of 2000.22 Years later we just had AGRI-TRAC backto do them again. It lasted 22 Years! We chose Over 25 Y Years AGRI-TRAC bothtimesinstead of grooving because it works and lasts. We have experience, grooving does NOT work! Thank you AGRI-TRAC. Providing Permanent Traction forfarmers thatlastsdecades! Mario Vriens Friendly Farms Arthur, ON 877-966-3546 www.agritraction.com AGRI-TRAC gives thecows the Traction they need without being too aggressive on their feet. We also like how the floor is easy to scrape and clean.

James Walker Walkerbrae Farms Guelph, ON