Seize the moment
CEO commentary by Mike McMorris
Ontario livestock producers are fortunate to have a supportive ministry of agriculture and world-class research facilities managed by a world-class university.
In the past, research results moved through a system of “extension”, largely driven and funded by the provincial government. That changed in the 1990’s as it did in most provinces with funding cuts and closure of local ag offices. Since then, many organizations and businesses have filled the void to some extent.
There is a keen awareness now that we all need to do a better job of getting research into practice (GRIP). GRIP is more than what extension was or what many of the new terms (Knowledge Translation and Transfer, Knowledge Mobilization, Technology Transfer, etc) are. There are far more ways to reach people than in the past (think of the number of social media platforms alone), the middle of the demographic of farm size has shrunk dramatically, the average age of farmers is higher, farms are larger, and so on.
In partnership with Dr. Jennifer Ellis, University of Guelph and the Poultry Industry Council, LRIC is hosting a second annual GRIP Roundtable to help move the sector to a more collaborative and deliberate approach to GRIP.
Feel free to contact LRIC for a link to the recording of the presentations and discussion. Together, we need to seize the moment!
