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AG e-news March 7, 2022

March 7, 2022 — 

News and events from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

COVID-19 UPDATES

Please continue to exercise caution and follow guidelines. For updated health and safety protocols, visit https://umanitoba.ca/coronavirus.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday, March 8 – A Department of Animal Science Seminar will be held on WebEx. Andy Che, MSc student, will be giving an extension presentation on “Development of a tool for rapid analysis of glucosinolates in canola meal”.  Tetiana Sessingnong, MSc student, will be giving a poster presentation on “Expeller/cold pressed canola as a valuable feed ingredient for poultry”.  To learn more, contact chengbo [dot] yang [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

Thursday, March 10 – The Advanced Plant Science Seminar Series takes place at 3:00 pm with a presentation from Dr. Champa Wijekoon, University of Alberta, on the topic “Plant bioactive molecules and the role of endophytes”. To watch, request the MS Teams link by emailing susan [dot] ness [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

Tuesday, March 15 – The Entomology Seminar Series features Carly Ziter, Simon Fraser University  – topic TBA. Chatting and announcements start at 10:00 am, seminars start at 10:10 am. Zoom meeting instructions are emailed just prior to the event. To be added to the mailing list, contact Kyle Bobiwash at kyle [dot] bobiwash [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

Tuesday, March 15 – A Department of Animal Science Seminar will be held on WebEx. Carla Plett, MSc student, will be giving a scientific presentation on “Characterization of first cut alfalfa grass silage management practices on Canadian dairy farms and their impact on quality”.  Ankita Saikia, MSc student, will be giving a poster presentation on “TBD”.  To learn more, contact chengbo [dot] yang [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

March 16-18 – Register today for the Sustainability of Canadian Agriculture 2022 virtual conference, hosted by the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment, University of Manitoba, HOLOS and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.  This conference will bring together researchers, students, producers, government, commodity organizations and industry representatives with a range of perspectives to collectively share ideas and experiences about how to improve agricultural sustainability in Canada. Register for this free conference and see the program at https://umanitoba.ca/agricultural-food-sciences/sustainability-canadian-agriculture-2022.

Thursday, March 17 – The Advanced Plant Science Seminar Series takes place at 3:00 pm with a presentation from Amy Mangin, PhD student, Plant Science, on the topic “Canopy management: The balance between lodging risk and nitrogen use in Canadian spring wheat production”. To watch, request the MS Teams link by emailing susan [dot] ness [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

Tuesday, March 22 – A Department of Animal Science Seminar will be held on WebEx. Yujia Wu, MSc student, will be giving a scientific presentation on “The role of the pig gut microbiome and diet type in determining the efficiency of feed utilization”.  Bryan Encabo, MSc student, will be giving a scientific presentation on “Land cover classification of agricultural Crown lands in Manitoba using remotely sensed inventories”.  To learn more, contact chengbo [dot] yang [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

Tuesday, March 29 – The Department of Animal Science will be hosting a Special Seminar in honour of Dr. T. K. Cheung, a former student of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences who has made significant contributions to the Department of Animal Science. The guest speaker this year is Dr. Bill Weiss, Emeritus Professor, Department of Animal Science, Ohio State University, who will be giving a talk on “Incorporating variation into diet formulation for dairy cows”. For details on how to participate, stay tuned to https://eventscalendar.umanitoba.ca/site/fafs/event/tk-cheung-lecture-in-animal-science-variability-in-nutrient-composition-and-implications-for-ration-formulation/.

June 7-9 – Save the date! The 2nd annual Manitoba Sustainable Protein Research Symposium and AIMday™ Circular Economy will be held in partnership with the Manitoba Industry-Academia Partnership (virtual). The event will feature plenary speakers, presentations on current research in Manitoba, and opportunities for networking.  Cristina Rosell, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, and Mario Tenuta, Soil Science, are among the featured presenters. To register for the event, click here: https://pheedloop.com/MBProteinSymposium/site/home/. For more information about the event, please contact: mbprotein [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

 

STAFF AND STUDENT NEWS

Jesse Mutcheson, Plant Science, was recently named one of five 2022 Canadian Plant Breeding Innovation Scholars (formerly Seed of the Year Scholarship).  This $1500 award, made possible by a group of sponsors, is organized by the Canadian Seed Trade Association and Germination Magazine. See Jesse’s video here https://germination.ca/5-young-plant-science-innovators-honoured-as-2022-cpbi-scholars/.

The Canadian Lipids and Proteins conference 2022 (https://www.aocs.org/attend-meetings/canadian-lipids-and-proteins-conference) was held virtually on February 3-4. The Student e-pitch competition was held as a part of the conference to showcase the graduate student research related to lipids and proteins. Out of the eight shortlisted graduate students for the e-pitch competition based on the abstract evaluation, four students were selected from Dr. Nandika Bandara’s Food Proteins and Bioproducts lab (Anuruddhika Hewage, Nilakshi Abeysinghe, Thilini Dissanayake, Janani Ranathunga) to compete in the finals. First place went to Thilini for “Oleic acid-modified nanocrystalline cellulose for improving tensile properties of canola protein-based packaging films” and 2nd to Janani for “Optimization of conditions for preparation of water in oil in water (w/o/w) emulsion to encapsulate Salmo salar protein hydrolysates”. 

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is an international research communication competition where graduate students have three minutes and one static slide to explain their research to a panel of judges and an audience.  We’re excited to report that three Faculty students qualified to compete in the UM 3MT heats this week – Chitra Sivakumar, Biosystems Engineering, Sonia Wilson, Plant Science, and Jeff Paul, Biosystems Engineering.  A big congratulations goes to Chitra, who was selected to move on to the 3MT Finals on April 7.

Cristina Rosell, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, was elected as Editor in Chief of the Journal Cereal Science in January 2022.

The Faculty was pleased to host the 4-H Canada Science Fair, held virtually March 3-7.  The Science Fair is open to 4-H members across Canada in grades 7-12. Members of the UM 4-H Future Leaders Club helped out by mentoring the competitors and helping them practice their presentations. Judges for the competition include University of Manitoba graduate students, academics and members of industry. The three finalists from the competition will proceed to the Canada Wide Science Fair in May.

Kyle Bobiwash, Entomology, and Anita Brûlé-Babel, Plant Science, have been serving on the Expert Panel on Plant Health Risks which was assembled by the Council of Canadian Academies to examine current and emerging risks to plant health, gaps and strengths in Canada’s capacity to manage them, and leading risk management practices. The Panel’s latest report “Cultivating Diversity” was released in January 2022. https://cca-reports.ca/reports/plant-health-risks/.

Rob Currie, Entomology, presented virtually to the Calgary Beekeepers on February 8 on issues associated with feeding different nutritional quality of syrup to bees and on February 11th to the Alberta Beekeepers Association in Edmonton on the same topic.

Fuji Jian, Biosystems Engineering, and Nandika Bandara, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, were announced as recipients of funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). Read more at https://news.umanitoba.ca/um-research-teams-awarded-funding-for-cutting-edge-equipment/

Dylan McKay, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, received funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for research into reducing dietary acid in people with chronic kidney disease. Read more at https://news.umanitoba.ca/um-health-researchers-secure-nearly-8-million-in-federal-funding/.

The FAFS Dean’s Office and NRC-IRAP recently finalized a Contribution to Organization agreement providing short-term scientific or technical assistance to Canadian, for-profit, small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs). NRC-IRAP provides up to $5,000 in funding to SMEs for technical assistance performed within the FAFS. The program is managed through the Dean’s office. For more information contact Dr. Nazim Cicek at agresearch [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.  

Jim House, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences and lead for the Manitoba Protein Research Strategy, released the MPRS report “Defining Manitoba’s Research Ecosystem” which identifies research project priorities and recommendations. Read more at https://news.umanitoba.ca/manitoba-protein-research-strategy-a-blueprint-for-provinces-protein-industry/.

Second year Diploma in Agriculture students once again worked to develop policy resolutions as part of the DAGR 0920 Current Issues in Agriculture and Food class taught by Reg Dyck, School of Agriculture. The selected resolution, which calls on KAP to lobby the Manitoba government and rural municipalities to increase the number of sites collecting pesticide containers and obsolete chemicals and for KAP to work with Cleanfarms, agri-retailers, Manitoba Agriculture and municipalities to increase awareness of the current pesticide container recycling program, was presented and passed at the Keystone Agricultural Producers annual meeting on January 25.  Watch the presentation online at 1:07:15 mark at https://youtu.be/oUfSv9N21C4. (Articles on this in the In the News below).

Did you miss the Kraft Lecture featuring Ryan Cardwell on “Capturing policy: Rent seeking and unintended consequences in food & agricultural policy”? You can catch it online at https://youtu.be/SLx3XKhUIps.

 

IN THE NEWS

Alum Chris Manchur (DipAgric/15, BScAgric/20) was highlighted in the article “Grad student talks crop at former high school” in the Western Producer (March 3) – https://www.producer.com/farmliving/grad-student-talks-crop-at-former-high-school/

Kim Ominski, Animal Science, was featured in the article “Scientists aim for beef balance” in the Western Producer (March 3) – https://www.producer.com/livestock/scientists-aim-for-beef-balance/.

The late Baldur Stefansson, professor emeritus in Plant Science, was featured in the article “The Father of Canola” in Better Farming Prairie (March 2022) – https://www.betterfarming.com/flippingbook/better-farming-prairie/2022/march/#78.

Don Flaten and Mario Tenuta, Soil Science, are quoted in the article “A new way to reduce nutrient loss and increase fertilizer efficiency” in The CAAR Communicator (February 2022) – https://caar.org/the-communicator/august-2019/68-the-caar-communicator/february-2022/1554-a-new-way-to-reduce-nutrient-loss-and-increase-fertilizer-efficiency.

Yvonne Lawley, Plant Science, and graduate student Virginia Janzen, were featured in the article “Too wet, too dry, just right” in Top Crop Manager (February 28) – https://www.topcropmanager.com/too-wet-too-dry-just-right/

Martin Entz, Plant Science, was interviewed on Quirks and Quarks on CBC Radio (February 25) in the featured “Feeding the future – Part 1” – https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/quirks-quarks-feeding-the-future-1.6364707

Kim Ominski, Animal Science, along with Tim McAllister and Herman Peters, were featured in the Manitoba Co-operator (February 22) in the article “Feedlot finding success feeding food waste” – https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/livestock/feedlot-finding-success-feeding-food-waste/

Kim, Tim and Herman also participated in a video interview on Real Agriculture (February 17) in “Closing the loop on food waste: Livestock as the ultimate upcyclers” – https://www.realagriculture.com/2022/02/closing-the-loop-on-food-waste-livestock-as-the-ultimate-upcyclers/  (free subscription required)

Alum Jackie Dudgeon (DipAgric/12) was featured in the article “Before you come back to the farm” in Country Guide (February 22) – https://www.country-guide.ca/guide-business/before-you-come-back-to-the-farm/

Jim House, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, was quoted in Top Crop Manager (February 21) in the article “Spotlight on sustainable protein” – https://www.topcropmanager.com/spotlight-on-sustainable-protein/

Yvonne Lawley, Plant Science, had her soybean research program featured in the article ” More to learn about soybean rotations ” in Top Crop Manager (February 16) – https://www.topcropmanager.com/more-to-learn-about-soybean-rotations/

Joanne Thiessen Martens, Soil Science, was interviewed in the article “Study shows struvite good phosphorus source for crops” on the American Society of Agronomy news blog (February 14) – https://www.agronomy.org/news/science-news/study-shows-struvite-good-phosphorus-source-crops

A number of Faculty researchers had projects featured in The Pulse Beat – Science Edition (February 2022) –

Reg Dyck, School of Agriculture, and the second year Diploma in Agriculture students were featured in two Manitoba Co-operator articles regarding their policy resolution at the KAP AGM –  https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/lessons-learned-at-kap-meeting/  and https://www.manitobacooperator.ca/news-opinion/news/ag-diploma-students-meet-with-cleanfarms/

Martin Scanlon, Dean, was quoted in the Country Guide article “Home field advantage” (February 16) – https://www.country-guide.ca/guide-business/home-field-advantage/

Yvonne Lawley, Plant Science, and Emma McGeough, Animal Science, were quoted in the article “Intercropping study takes a look at corn” in Western Producer (February 17) – https://www.producer.com/livestock/intercropping-study-takes-a-look-at-corn/

Michel Aliani, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, was interviewed on CTV Morning Live (January 27) on recent functional food and clinical work with split yellow pea – https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2369990.

Human Nutritional Sciences undergraduate student Reyna Stefanson was profiled for her participation in the Undergraduate Research Award in 2021. Reyna was supervised last summer by Maneka Malalgoda, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences – https://news.umanitoba.ca/personal-diagnosis-inspires-ura-recipients-summer-research/.

 

PUBLICATIONS

Wu Y, Gao X., Cao D, Li L, Li X, Zeng F. (2021). Nitrous oxide emissions from an alpine grassland as affected by nitrogen addition. Atmosphere 12:976 DOI:10.3390/atmos12080976

Kuang W., Gao X., Tenuta M., Zeng F. 2021. A global meta-analysis of nitrous oxide emission from drip-irrigated cropping system. Global Change Biology 27:3244-3256. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15636

Li Y., Gao X., Tenuta M., Gui D., Li X., Zeng F. 2021. Linking soil profile N2O concentration with surface flux in a cotton field under drip irrigation. Environmental Pollution 285: 117458

Thiessen Martens, Joanne. (2022). Restoring social and ecological relationships in the agroecosystems of Canada’s prairie region. Outlook on Agriculture. 10.1177/00307270221077356.

Shivani T, Juneja S, Ghosal A, Bandara N, Khan R, Wallen S, Ramakrishna S, Kaushik A. Antibacterial and antiviral high-performance nano-systems to mitigate new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concerns. Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering (2021): 100363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobme.2021.100363

Dissanayake T, Abbey L, Sun X, Bandara N. Recent Advances in Lipid-protein Conjugate-based Delivery Systems in Nutraceutical, Drug and Gene Delivery. 1-15. Food Hydrocolloids for Health. (2022): 100054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fhfh.2022.100054

Santos, M.J.L.; Merrill, K.A.; Gerdts, J.D.; Ben-Shoshan, M.; Protudjer, J.L.P. Food Allergy Education and Management in Schools: A Scoping Review on Current Practices and Gaps. Nutrients 2022, 14, 732. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14040732 

 

OTHER NEWS

The Endowment Fund Committee of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences is once again seeking proposals from students, alumni, and academic and support staff of the Faculty for special projects requiring funding. The competition consists of two streams. Stream 1: $175,000 is available to fund a variety of projects, from teaching equipment/projects to student competitions and field trips. The fund has also been allocated for visiting scientists and lecturers, conferences and workshops, and library acquisitions. Stream 2: $250,000 is available for expenditure from the Fund for infrastructure upgrades and renewal projects in the Faculty. Priority will be given to projects that are consistent with the academic goals of the Faculty and impact the larger body of students (including but not limited to lab/teaching space upgrades).  Anyone considering applying should first consult with their Department Head to discuss unit priorities. Proposals must follow the general rules of the Endowment Fund competition and projects must be achievable by March 31, 2023. A detailed budget and quotes are required.  Deadline for Stream 1 and 2:  Monday, March 7, 2022 at 12 Noon.  Complete details, criteria and application form are available online at: https://umanitoba.ca/agricultural-food-sciences/community-and-partners/faculty-endowment-fund.

The University of Manitoba 2021 T4/T4A and T2200S are now available on Employee Self Service (ESS) portal. Use the secure ESS login by following these simple steps: Log in to VIP https://vip.umanitoba.ca and click My Pay  ->  Year-end information -> T4 or T2200S -> Print or download. Inquiries about the T4/T4A can be forwarded to Payroll [at] umanitoba [dot] ca or visit https://umanitoba.sharepoint.com/sites/um-intranet-payroll/SitePages/payroll-contacts.aspx for the staff contact list.  More information about the T2200S can be found at https://news.umanitoba.ca/t2200s-form-available-for-employees-working-from-home-in-2021/.

Fiscal year end of March 31, 2021 is nearly here. Visit Year End on the UM Intranet (https://umanitoba.sharepoint.com/sites/um-intranet-year-end)  to review the Year End Guidelines & Schedule for 2021-22 which includes frequently asked questions, key deadline dates, checklists and your Financial Services contacts to help you through the process.

 

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