The provincial and federal governments last week announced $4.8 million in funding 48 agricultural research and innovation projects, supporting 20 companies through the Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative (OAFRI).
The money was made available through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
“It takes innovation to build a successful agri-food sector in Ontario and across the country,” said the federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald in a release announcing the funding. “By investing in companies that bring forward bold ideas and practical solutions, we’re helping the sector seize new opportunities and stay competitive and resilient.”
The goal is to ensure Ontario’s farmers and agribusinesses have access to the latest technology, noted Ontario Agriculture Minister Trevor Jones.
“Through OAFRI, we are helping them prepare for the future, take advantage of new opportunities and stay competitive and resilient in the face of economic uncertainty,” he said.
One project being funded is taking place at the University of Waterloo, where researcher Juewen Liu is developing an on-site litmus test that would detect antibiotics in milk.
When dairy cows become sick and need to be treated with antibiotics, they are removed from the process to ensure the antibiotics don’t make it into the milk.
Even when these protocols are followed, they are carefully inspected and graded for quality. Samples are also taken for analysis and quality control. That is where Liu’s research would come in – he is looking to develop an on-site litmus paper test that would be able to get results in minutes versus days.
“It would cut down the turnaround time by being able to know right away and without the use of expensive equipment,” he explained.
The test would work similarly to the strips used to test the pH balance of water or other similar products.
This type of product would be especially important because when milk is picked up from farmers, it is combined with milk from other farms. If traces of antibiotics are detected, the producer can refuse the entire truckload, and it must be disposed of.
That is why the ability to catch this on-site before it happens would not only save time but also reduce the amount of milk thrown away.
Liu is in the very early stages of research and said that this funding will help pay post-docs to assist with the project.
“I am very grateful for the funding as this is an important problem and I think that this research will be able to develop to help other agriculture and food safety related problems in the future,” he said.
