A newly funded, $6.1-million project headed by the University of Guelph in Canada aims to ensure environmental sustainability while strengthening Canada’s dairy industry.
Led by Dr. Gisèle LaPointe, a professor in U of G’s Ontario Agricultural College, will lead a five-year initiative in dairy microbiology involving nearly 50 U of G researchers and students as well as five leading partners in Canada’s $20-billion dairy industry.
The Dairy Alliance will receive $3.5 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and a total of $2.6 million in funding and in-kind support from Dairy Farmers of Ontario, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Novalait Inc., Lactalis Canada and Lallemand Inc.
The alliance is intended to bring together experts from the University’s OAC and Ontario Veterinary College to ensure dairy product quality through improved control of microbial ecosystems from production to processing, said LaPointe.
“Farm management practices have impacts on the types of microbes that are transmitted to milk, which in turn influence processing and the shelf life of the products,” she said.
The project’s findings will feed into Canada’s National Dairy Research Strategy, which aims to support continuous improvement in the sustainable production of quality, nutritious dairy products.
