View this email in your browser | visit us at acerconsult.ca

Welcome to Field Notes; the newsletter aiming to bring you the latest news and updates in agriculture, agri-food science, and One Health research.

Updated Information Regarding Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has released a webpage with current information and resources related to the developing HPAI situation in livestock. Currently, HPAI has not been detected in cattle or other livestock in Canada. We encourage you to check the webpage regularly for updates.

Team Member Spotlight: Julia Saraceni

As a Consultant at ACER, no two days are quite the same for Julia Saraceni! At any given time you can find her working on a wide variety of tasks from project management to focus group facilitation, data analysis, report writing, and more! Julia’s background in calf health and welfare makes her a valuable asset for the many dairy-focused clients and projects we take on at ACER, while her broader epidemiological training enables her to jump into all varieties of other projects. Just a few highlights of Julia’s work include her involvement in a review of international dairy quality assurance programs to support the development of Version 5 of the National Dairy FARM Animal Care Program; a project focused on communicating the value of Dairy Farmers of Canada’s proAction program to multistakeholder groups; and the development of an assessor training program for Equestrian Canada’s Equine Care Program. We value Julia’s dedication to the work she does, and if you ever have the opportunity to work with her, we are confident you will too! Julia’s commitment to collaboration and strong communication with our partners and clients is a key strength that contributes to the success of what we do at ACER. For more, check out Julia’s qualitative research paper on Ontario dairy farmers’ perceived barriers and motivations to using pain control for disbudding and dehorning calves. Or, check out this Plant and Animal Health Strategy progress report, prepared for Animal Health Canada, which Julia played a key role in developing:  If you want to follow along with more of what Julia is up to in the next few months, she will be attending and presenting at the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Annual Meeting in West Palm beach Florida this June, so make sure to keep an eye out for her there in-person and on the conference agenda!

May Article of the Month

Passive immunity and colostrum management practices on Ontario dairy farms and auction facilities: A cross-sectional study

Published in the Journal of Dairy Science (September 2020)

Authorship: Dave Renaud, Michael Steele, Rachel Genore, Steven Roche, Charlotte Winder

Summary of the article

This study investigated failed transfer of passive immunity (FTPI) in Ontario dairy calves and colostrum management practices. Sampling 444 calves from 109 farms and 386 male calves from 4 auction facilities, it found FTPI prevalence at 24% on farms and 24% at auctions. No significant associations were found between FTPI and sex, age, or weight. Farms reported median time to first colostrum feeding at 2.5 hours and provided an average of 3.3, 2.9, and 3.4 liters of colostrum in specific time windows. While no overall sex-based differences were observed, some farms showed differential colostrum management for male calves, suggesting potential risk.

Read the open access article here →

Resource Round Up

Spotlight on Food Waste

Food waste is a significant and complex sustainability challenge involving a number of different actors across the Canadian food system. To learn more about consumer food waste and some of the gaps and opportunities to better address this issue we encourage you to check out a report developed by the Arrell Food Institute and supported by ACER Consulting, titled Laying Waste to Waste: Tackling Consumer-Level Food and Food-Related Waste in Canada.

You can learn more about the many other initiatives happening at the Arrell Food Institute on their website!

Are there other topics or questions you are interested in?

Email us at [email protected]. We always welcome your questions and feedback!

Copyright (C) " target="_blank">unsubscribe