Animal health awards presented
Animal Health Canada presented four awards earlier this month to recognize work in farmed animal health and welfare.
Dr. Edmund (Ed) Pajor received the Carl Block Award for his contributions to advancing animal health and welfare through research and helping develop next generation of veterinary professionals.
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He is the Anderson-Chisholm Chair in Animal Care and Welfare at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, where his research has driven advances in pain management during castration, neonatal calf care and cattle transport conditions.
Dr. Murray Gillies, a bovine veterinarian from New Brunswick, received the Emerging Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals in the first 10 years of their professional careers who have demonstrated leadership in One Health or One Welfare.
Gillies is the co-ordinator of the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System and represents the eastern Canadian provinces on the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) board.
He is also involved with the Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians, where he served as president from 2017-18.
Gillies helped establish the AABP’s genetics and genomics committee and the mental health and well-being committee, and currently serves as vice-chair of both.
He also spearheaded the AABP’s Mental Health and Well-being Task Force within AABP.
Steve Leech received the Leadership in Collaboration Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated leadership in fostering public-private collaboration to improve farmed animal health and welfare.
He has spent more than 20 years working to improve animal health and welfare within the Canadian chicken sector.
Leech was a key player in the industry-government collaborations following the avian influenza outbreak in 2004 and leads the national, mandatory On-Farm Food Safety Program for chicken.
In 2014, he championed the development of the chicken sector’s Responsible Antimicrobial Use Strategy.
Dr. Mike Petrik received the Farm Animal Welfare Leadership Award in recognition of his work to improve farm animal welfare.
Petrik has been involved with the National Farm Animal Care Council and the Poultry Industry Council and is the current chair of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association’s animal welfare committee.
He also helped to create the Canadian Association of Poultry Veterinarians.
He has been actively involved in international development initiatives, including a training program for women in Nepal through the Rights and Economic Development for Nepal’s Empowered Women project.
Wool innovation prize launched
The Canadian Wool Council/Campaign for Wool in Canada is seeking applications for the inaugural Canadian Wool Innovation Prize.
The award will recognize innovation within the Canadian wool value chain.
A cash prize of $10,000 will be awarded to an individual or private company that champions innovative uses of wool for commercial applications in apparel, interior design, agriculture, horticulture, scientific innovation or other industrial uses.
To qualify, commercially viable innovative projects or businesses must meet one or more of the following criteria:
• Primarily use Canadian wool.
• Demonstrate tangible value for Canadian wool producers.
• Use Canadian or British manufacturing.
• Show potential wool volume use in the first year, with plans to scale up in future years.
The application deadline is Oct. 25.
For more information, contact Noah Zatzman at 416-708-5236 or nzatzman@gmail.com or visit campaignforwool.ca/canadian-wool-innovation-prize
Arctic Gala apple approved in U.S.
The Arctic Gala apple variety has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with commercialization.
It was the final step in the regulatory process and follows approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2021 and earlier approvals this year from Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
The Arctic apple varieties were developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits in British Columbia.
The Arctic Gala joins the product lineup of the company’s previously approved apple varieties, which include Arctic Golden, Arctic Granny and Arctic Fuji.
The Arctic Gala, along with its predecessors, are developed to resist browning caused by bruising and slicing by turning off the enzyme responsible for enzymatic browning, polyphenol oxidase.
FCC appoints Alberta director
Brett Speight joins Farm Credit Canada as its new district director of operations in central Alberta.
Speight, who grew up in central Alberta, has more than 20 years of experience leading teams at financial institutions and community groups in the province.
Before joining FCC, Speight was vice-president of Prairie Centre Credit Union and chief executive officer of United Way of Central Alberta. He earned his MBA from Athabasca University.
In his new role, Speight leads a team of 47 people who serve more than 3,400 FCC customers between Red Deer, Camrose, Olds and Leduc for a total loan portfolio of $2.48 billion.
Sask. farm donates to rec centre
Monette Farms has committed $1 million to the Southwest Facility Foundation in Swift Current, Sask., for naming rights of a future recreation facility.
The agreement is a 10-year term with payments of $100,000 per year beginning on ground-breaking of the construction project.
Feds fund animal health projects
Animal Health Canada will receive up to $13,343,409 in federal funding over five years for three projects through the AgriAssurance program.
The federal government said the funding aims to enhance animal health and welfare, while safeguarding Canadians, through improvements to disease surveillance, emergency management, and animal care standards.
The organization will receive up to $3,534,174 to expand its animal health surveillance networks and shift the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System to a One Health approach.
Another $5 million will fund a project aimed at improving emergency management practices. Project activities include developing comprehensive emergency plans, training industry staff and producers across Canada, conducting educational workshops and testing industry preparedness.
The organization will also receive $4,809,235 to update, amend and review several livestock codes of practice.
Organic research receives funding
The Organic Federation of Canada will receive up to $6,828,349 in federal funding over five years through the AgriScience program.
The federation will use the funding to partner on research into the environmental benefits of sustainable farming practices and address challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, soil health and water quality.
It hopes to develop solutions to production challenges such as organic crop adaptability and pest management.
