Having been cancelled the past two years, Lakeland College is excited to welcome visitors to a Livestock Field Day in Vermilion on August 25.
The applied research team will lead presentations at the Agriculture Technology Centre as well assist with campus tours of fields and facilities where their research projects take place.
“Applied research is a critical component of Lakeland College and a key part of the value proposition we offer our community. We are committed to conducting research aimed at improving the productivity, sustainability, and profitability of agricultural producers. We are excited to open our farm, fields, and facilities to visitors interested in seeing what we have been up to since 2019,” said Dr. François Paradis, Lakeland’s director of applied research.
Lakeland College launched Canada’s first agriculture technology degree in 2020, and as a result, has expanded its applied research team significantly over the past few years. Dr. Obioha Durunna has been with the team since 2018, but they have since added Dr. Yuri Montanholi who studied in eastern Canada and Brazil, as well as Dr. Susan Markus and Dr. Brenda Ralston from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.
Lakeland College said their livestock researchers have been working on several projects, with a few highlights being: production and health impacts from seasonal feeding of garlic products to growing cattle, imaging analysis and drone applications for livestock sensing, and the use of meloxicam oral suspension in post-partum dairy cattle to increase milk production and reduce clinical disease. The team has also been researching feed efficiency and supplementation, ranching practices for improved reproductive efficiencies, evaluating energy/water use in the dairy parlour, and how to reduce cost with swath-grazing or forage mixtures.
Field Day will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Agriculture Technology Centre. Right after the tours, guests will join researchers and staff at SPURS to share applied research ideas as well as enjoy local food and beverages. To register you can contact Andrea Hanson at andrea.hanson@lakelandcollege.ca.