Forage group gets new executive director
Duncan Morrison is the new executive director of the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association.
Morrison has been the outreach co-ordinator with the organization since 2013.
He is looking to expand the association’s profile regarding the important role of grasslands and forages within healthy agricultural landscapes.
Ottawa Invests in seafood exports
Seafood harvesters in British Columbia are receiving an investment of approximately $164,000 from the federal government.
The funds will support the efforts of the Pacific Sea Cucumber Harvesters Association and the Pacific Urchin Harvesters Association to increase the demand for Pacific sea urchins and sea cucumber skins and meats in some of the world’s fastest growing seafood markets, including Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and Taiwan, as well as other parts of Asia.
Read Also
Key actions identified to address canola tariffs
Federal and Saskatchewan governments discuss next steps with industry on Chinese tariffs
Japan remains their largest single export destination.
Exports of Pacific sea cucumber were valued at $12 million in 2012 and $9.8 million in 2013. Exports of Pacific sea urchins were approximately $13 million in 2012.
Nature Conservancy of Canada conserves wetland
Big Quill Lake South has been purchased by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in collaboration with the federal and provincial governments.
The property, along Highway 6 near Dafoe, Sask., consists of 460 acres of shallow saline wetland and mixed grasslands.
Part of Saskatchewan’s Quill Lakes, the area is renowned for its abundant migratory waterfowl and shorebirds.
Many waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds stage or refuel there. The area fosters a large amount of duck breeding, with up to 50 nesting duck pairs per square mile during spring and summer.
It’s also home to several species at risk, including Sprague’s pipit, northern leopard frog, fescue prairie grass and bobolink.
Canadian beef industry award
A new award from the Beef Cattle Research Council will honour outstanding research and innovation within the industry starting this year.
It will recognize scientists and academics that contribute to the competitiveness and sustainability of the beef industry.
To be eligible, individuals must have been involved in research or programs that benefited the industry within the past five years.
Research should be related to economics, production competitiveness, animal health and welfare, beef quality or safety, environmental stewardship, social licence or technology transfer.
Nominations are being accepted until July 27 and the first recipient will be announced this fall.
The nomination form is available at www.beefresearch.ca
New vice-president of research appointed
Erasmus Okine is the new vice-president of research at the University of Lethbridge.
Okine has previously worked at Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s Lacombe Research Centre and the University of Alberta, where he served as associate vice-president of research and chair in ruminant nutrition and metabolism.
Okine is a native of Ghana who completed his PhD at the U of A in 1990. He has since been awarded the Alberta Premier’s Silver Award for Excellence in Agricultural Research and named a fellow of the Canadian Society of Animal Science.
