9 minute read
DFO Scholarship Winners
DFO SELECTS 2021 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
DAIRY FARMERS OF ONTARIO (DFO)
has an annual scholarship program, which offers up to four $3,000 scholarships to high school students entering a postsecondary degree or diploma program in agriculture. DFO is pleased to announce the recipients of the scholarships for 2021: • Adriana Danen from Perth County –
Associate Diploma in Agriculture at
University of Guelph Ridgetown • Connor Velthuis from Carleton County – Farm Management Technology at
MacDonald College • Daniel Haggett from Leeds County – Business Agriculture at Algonquin
College • Emily Doan from Oxford County – Food & Agriculture Business at University of
Guelph Adriana Danen
Daniel Haggett Connor Velthuis
Emily Doan
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DOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSISTANT PROGRAM AWARDS TWO CANDIDATES
Dairy Farmers of Ontario and the University of Guelph have selected two recipients for this year’s Dairy Farmers of Ontario Doctoral Research Scholarship for the first time in the scholarship’s 37-year history. The applicants were so closely ranked, the organizations will fund both. Catalina Andrea Wagemann Fluxa, Animal Biosciences, OAC, and Colin Lynch, Animal Biosciences, OAC, will each receive $35,000 per year for a period of three years.
CATALINA ANDREA WAGEMANN FLUXA
Catalina Andrea Wagemann Fluxa is a PhD student in the Department of Animal Biosciences at the University of Guelph studying under the supervision of Dr. Trevor DeVries. Her thesis research will be focused on examining the associations of management practices, nutrition, and cow social behaviour during the dry period with cow health and performance in early lactation.
Dairy cows may be exposed to several potential sources of stress during the prepartum period and as they transition to lactation upon calving. These stressors may compromise their health, welfare, and performance and therefore affect the profitability and sustainability of the farms. Although previous research has examined the isolated effects of various stressors, they rarely occur in isolation on commercial dairy farms. Wagemann Fluxa says her initial research is focused on assessing how these stressors interact on dairy farms and determining their combined effects. “I am also interested in understanding the association between social behaviour Catalina Andrea Wagemann Fluxa
during the prepartum period and metabolic disorders in postpartum cows,” she says, adding competitive feeding environments lead to social stress and affect feeding behaviour patterns and the composition of the diet consumed (e.g., due to sorting), which can have negative consequences on cow health.
This is particularly important during the transition period, as increased competition for feed access before calving has been associated with postpartum diseases such as subclinical ketosis and metritis. However, more research is needed to understand the association between competitive feeding environments, social behaviour, and other diseases.
“Overall, I hope that my PhD research may lead to the identification of best housing and management practices for transition cows that improve cow health, performance and welfare.”
Dairy Farmers of Ontario Scholarships
Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) has an annual scholarship program offered to students who will be entering a post-secondary degree or diploma program in agriculture. Effective 2022, we are pleased to announce an increase of two additional scholarships and will now offer up to six $3,000 scholarship awards.
To be eligible for these scholarships, an applicant must: • be a son or daughter of a DFO licensed dairy producer (sons or daughters of current board members are not eligible); • be entering semester one of a post-secondary agricultural degree program or a diploma program in agriculture; • have achieved an average of 80 per cent or greater in Grade 12 credits (best six to be averaged).
Selection criteria will be based on: • academic achievement; • future career plans; • demonstrated leadership in secondary school and/or community activities.
Payment if selected: The scholarships will be payable in two installments, one in semester one and one following semester two, based on satisfactory achievement.
Application forms are available on DFO’s website at new.milk.org under Industry Login. On left hand side go to Documents > Forms > Application for DFO Scholarships
Complete application forms must be sent to Dairy Farmers of Ontario by Aug. 31, 2022.
For more information, please contact Ashley Wannamaker at ashley.wannamaker@milk.org or 905-817-2140.
COLIN LYNCH
Colin Lynch is a PhD student in the Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock (CGIL) under the advisement of Dr. Christine Baes and Dr. Flavio Schenkel. Lynch also manages methane data collection at the Ontario Dairy Research Centre at the Elora Research Station.
Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, Lynch completed his undergraduate degree in Agricultural Science, majoring in Animal Science, from University College Dublin (UCD). His interest in Animal Breeding and Genetics stemmed from his time at UCD and influenced his decision to travel abroad to gain international experience and further develop his knowledge and understanding of the dairy sector. Lynch’s masters thesis looked at the effect of synchronized breeding on genetic evaluations of fertility traits in dairy cattle, which was subsequently published in the Journal of Dairy Science. As part of the Resilient Dairy Genome Project, Lynch aims to improve the accuracy of genetic selection for various health traits and to broaden disease resistance by adding new phenotypes of calf health traits to the portfolio of genetic evaluations within Canada. He intends to develop standardized protocols for recording calf health events in herd management software, to create a data pipeline for calf health traits for use in genetic evaluations and to calculate phenotypic and genetic correlations to other economically important traits. “Global demand for dairy products is expected to grow by 2.5% per year, thus requiring increased and more efficient production,” Lynch says. “At the same time, recent regulatory changes have restricted personal importation of common veterinary antibiotics. These changes, together with public health concerns, mean the dairy industry must take proactive steps to improve animal health.” Lynch says efforts aimed at breeding for increased disease resilience offers opportunities. His research will address “important knowledge gaps related to dairy calf health and calf genetics in Canada.”
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