Faculty of Agriculturaland Food Sciences
GROWING TOGETHER
Through innovation and collaboration,
we strive to meet our mission of
“Nourishing the world without costing the earth.”
The agri-food industry contributes to the faculty’s
capacity for research, development and innovation
by creating opportunities for students, faculty and researchers
to make a real difference in the world around them, today.
I’m proud of what our partnership has accomplished so far. In the
stories that follow, you’ll see how our work together is changing
lives for the better, at home and across the globe.
As the world’s needs continue to change, our ability to meet
the challenges of tomorrow will depend upon our commitment
to keep on growing together – for the next
century and beyond.
KARIN WITTENBERGDean, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
The University of Manitoba and our province’s agri-food industry have been growing together for over 100 years. The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the U of M plays a crucial role in this partnership by providing our
industry with the people – the innovators, challengers, and trailblazers – to lead the way.
GROWING TOGETHER
FACULTY & RESEARCHERS
INDUSTRY
STUDENTS
COMMUNITY & PROVINCE
F A C U L T Y O F A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D F O O D S C I E N C E S > 1
surprised by how complex a relationship
they had with such a simple food,” she
says. “Even though it began as a Scottish
bread, bannock has evolved into an
Aboriginal bread because it’s been passed
down through generations, because we
liked it so much, because it’s easy and
inexpensive to make.”
As a graduate student, Cyr has widened
the scope of her project to examine a
broader range of foods. She wants to
explore what traditional foods look like to
people living in cities. Most importantly,
she’s developing ways to pass traditional
food knowledge and skills on to youth.
“We’ll get our hands on wild meats,
grains, berries, look at what their parents
are making, introduce them to simple
things like bannock and hamburger
soup, and teach them cooking skills so
they can pass that knowledge forward.”
“Aboriginal people are on the verge of
losing our sense of what our traditional
foods are, and the skills to prepare them,”
Cyr explains. “When I started, I wanted
to find out how we define traditional
foods, the ones we’ve passed down
over generations.”
As an undergraduate student, Cyr used
a research award to study bannock, a
food whose traditional status has been
contested because of its colonial origins.
She interviewed 25 subjects in Winnipeg’s
North End community, including
14 Elders, and discovered that each of
them identified culturally, spiritually
and emotionally with bannock. “I was
EXPLORING ABORIGINAL FOODWAYS
Her traditional name is Yellow Wolf; her English name is Monica Cyr. She is a proud Métis student pursuing a graduate degree in human nutritional sciences – and her research is already changing our
understanding of traditional Aboriginal foodways.
“We’ll talk about things you normally
don’t talk about in the city, like how to
prepare moose or duck. And if those
aren’t available, what do we have that we
might consider Aboriginal food, and how
do we prepare that?”
Cyr is also interested in exploring how
Métis people define their traditional foods.
A passion for health and nutrition inspired
Cyr to leave a banking career and pursue
a degree in dietetics. Immersing herself in
the U of M’s Aboriginal community and
programs, in turn, helped her reconnect
with her culture. “Now I want to constantly
educate myself about my culture and
share that with others. So many people
were touched when I went back into the
community to share the results of my
bannock study. It’s vital for the knowledge
I gain to travel full circle.”
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PURE INNOVATION
Monica CyrM.Sc. student, Human Nutritional Sciences
Kelly Beaulieu’s Aboriginal heritage inspired her reverence for the earth and the food it produces. A degree in agriculture and a career in research and development spurred her capacity for innovation. Now, as the
owner of Canadian Prairie Garden Purees in Portage la Prairie, she’s feeding the world with nutritious, delicious purees made from Manitoba vegetables, berries and legumes.
Most of the ingredients used in Beaulieu’s purees are vegetables that producers would otherwise discard. “Nine to 12 million pounds of carrots, for example, are thrown away each year because they’re chipped, crooked, too big, too small, not pretty enough to sell at the supermarket,” she explains. A trained agronomist, Beaulieu knows that even if the raw vegetables don’t look perfect, “they’re otherwise superlative products grown in soil that’s the envy of the world.”
An innovator at heart, Beaulieu explored various cooking techniques before discovering the steam infusion technology that has become her company’s hallmark.
“Other processes produce purees that are burnt or nutritionally degraded. Because of the way they’re cooked, ours have incredible flavour, texture, colour, nutritional quality. The result is a tasty and inexpensive package that’s easy to stack, store and ship.”
Beaulieu’s purees have impressed global food heavyweights such as Nestlé, Gerber’s, Campbell’s and Beechnut. “We now have opportunities to provide our products to the food service industry, third world countries, virtually any place looking for affordable, nutrient- dense food products made from the pristine crops Canada is known for.”
The purees are also an ideal solution for northern communities facing the challenge of food security.
“The welfare of my people is import-
ant to me,” says Beaulieu, who hails from
Sandy Bay First Nation. “Every step of
my business is inspired by the values of my
Aboriginal heritage: reverence for our
land and water, the importance
of not wasting things, and sharing
what we have.”
BUILDING A BETTER GREENHOUSE
Biosystems Engineering professor Qiang Zhang is spearheading the development of solar-powered
greenhouses that provide healthy, affordable and sustainable food systems for Canada’s northern communities.
Many northern communities struggle with food insecurity, a problem made worse by the enormous cost of shipping fresh foods to remote regions. Conven-tional greenhouses demand a great deal of energy and expertise to operate in cold northern climates, but Zhang and his multidisciplinary team are exploring novel solutions. In addition to solar power, Zhang’s greenhouses would run on energy generated from local biomass materials. And they’d be easy to build using locally sourced – and often non-conventional – construction materials, such as peat moss mixed with shredded cardboard, or insulation panels made from plastic bottles.
BREEDING SUCCESS
“For the first step, we’re setting up a test facility that simulates northern conditions so we can sort out the technological challenges,” he says. “In the U of M’s Alternative Village experimental facility, we’re going to connect a greenhouse to a biomass energy production facility and solar energy facilities, and test different construction materials. The second step will be to work with a northern community to build a facility.”
Zhang says the project will result in new products and technologies that could benefit various industries, and create unique and attractive training opportunities for under-graduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows from a variety of disciplines, including agriculture, science and engineering.
He believes the greenhouses will impact more than the physical health of the communities that build them. “We contribute to social spirit by bringing a community together to work in the greenhouse. You can operate it as a small commercial operation, or run it as a community greenhouse, where you allocate a piece to each family to grow their own food. The materials are already there – so let’s use them!”
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These new cultivars offer higher yield,
greater disease resistance, herbicide
tolerance, and improved oil and
protein quality.
Duncan’s trailblazing research program
works closely with experts from Bunge
Canada and DL Seeds to develop
exceptional hybrid cultivars and bring
them to market.
“The ability to sell a superior cultivar
offers huge benefits to both companies,”
he says. “Improved disease resistance
BREEDING SUCCESS
Robert DuncanDepartment of Plant Science
Developing safe, sustainable foods and bio-products is one of our Faculty’s historic strengths and strategic priorities. Building on the development of canola at the University of Manitoba in the 1970s, plant science
professor Dr. Robert Duncan has forged partnerships with the seed and food production industries to create new cultivars of canola and rapeseed.
and knowledge regarding the pathogen
populations is also critical for growers.
Better rapeseed produces improved oil,
which is often used to make specialty
lubricants, personal care products such as
shampoos and cosmetics, and slip agents
for plastics. And, more nutritious canola
oil and meal benefits consumer health.”
Duncan’s multidisciplinary approach to the
research program will immerse students
in genomics, genetics, agronomic
management, and traditional field-based
breeding. “We’re exposing students not
only to science but to industry by offering
a very rare experience in a commercially
successful breeding program. We’re
taking our students all the way from the
classroom, the lab and the field, to the
marketplace.”
Public concern for animal welfare has been driving the Canadian pork industry to adopt sow housing techniques perceived to be more animal-friendly than conventional confinement housing.
DESIGNING SWINE BARN SUCCESS
European producers have already turned
from gestation crates to group housing,
and large North American food processors
such as Maple Leaf Foods have committed
to producing pork from sows group-
housed during gestation.
But which alternative systems are
most practical and economically viable
for Canadian producers? To find out,
Manitoba’s pork producers turned to
U of M researchers.
Project lead Laurie Connor says that
because many Manitoba sow barns still
had 10-15 years of use left, it made sense
to focus on options for converting existing
barns, rather than building new ones.
During the first phase of the project,
which began in 2010, researchers
conducted a global literature review
Laurie ConnorDepartment of Animal Science
management practices we recommend to producers are sustainable and profitable.”
Amiro and his colleagues work closely with industry partners such as the Canadian Fertilizer Institute, Agrium, Environment Canada, Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, and the Dairy Cattlemen’s Association, and use data from more than a thousand independent producers to find solutions that benefit the industry and the environment alike.
SOLVING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
Agriculture contributes eight to 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Soil scientist Brian Amiro
and colleagues are looking for ways to decrease these emissions – especially in beef production and cropping systems – while ensuring agriculture continues to thrive economically.
In one of the group’s current projects, the team measures and compares how factors such as fertilizers, digestive microbes, diet and manure impact the amount of methane that comes from cattle operations. In another study, the researchers focus on the amount of nitrous oxide emitted by soils. In a third project, they hope to find out what kinds of crops and cropping systems result in lower emissions.
“We’re using what we call whole-system greenhouse gas accounting to find out, over the long term, which processes and systems make us greenhouse gas neutral, and how to improve our estimates of Canada’s emission levels,” he explains. “To accomplish this, we have to consider not only crops and cattle, but the impacts of equipment, importing and manufacturing fertilizer, and much more, to ensure that the best
to gather all the available scientific
evidence on alternative housing systems.
Then they turned to advisory and focus
groups to narrow down key issues and
priorities for producers and industry.
From there, they presented the four most
effective options for Manitoba farmers
in a booklet available on the Manitoba
Pork website to guide producers in the
decision-making process.
“Once you start looking at the types of
feeding systems, the ways you can group
the sows together, and what type of
flooring to adopt, you easily end up with
at least 72 possible combinations,” says
Connor. “We set out to create straight-
forward tools that would help producers
understand and compare their options,
and how each option would impact the
bottom line.”
In the project’s second phase, specialists
from the U of M’s Department of
Biosystems Engineering developed the
innovative Sow Housing Design Utility
software package, which is available to
producers for free. “A producer inputs
the dimensions of his/her barn, their
sow inventory, and details about his/her
production and sow flow, and the
software plots out how their operation
might implement an electronic sow
feeding system, for example,” explains
Connor. “The program presents a new
barn layout, inventory figures, and links
to a financial application that calculates
the approximate cost to implement the
conversion. Producers now have basic
plans and a ballpark figure they can take
to advisors and engineers.”
The project has now expanded onto
the national stage, thanks to funding
from the Canadian swine research
cluster Swine Innovation Porc. Meanwhile,
Connor and her team continue to research
the factors that impact sow health,
productivity and longevity in group
housing environments. “Sow well-being
translates into a more productive animal,
which translates into economic success,”
she says. “That’s why it’s so important
we do it right.”
ME T H
A NE
C A R B ON D
I OX I D
E
F A C U L T Y O F A G R I C U L T U R A L A N D F O O D S C I E N C E S > 7
“ We all have to do our part. Agriculture can be one of the solutions.”
Our students and faculty researchers are exploring innovative ways to bring safe drinking water and sustainable wastewater infrastructure to First Nations communities through CREATE H2O, the first science-engineering research training program in Canada to combine technical water and wastewater
management training with Indigenous theory and law.
WASTE NOT WANT NOT
Annemieke Farenhorst, lead researcher
and director of the CREATE H2O project,
says many of the program’s research
projects are initiated by First Nations that
“identify a need in their communities and
are willing to help our students learn.”
Undergraduate students participating
in the program complete a research
internship or work term with engineering
QUENCHING A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE
Annemieke Farenhorst Director, CREATE H20
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Nazim Cicek, a professor of Biosystems Engineering, is designing innovative new systems and processes to treat the wastewater produced by agriculture and industry. Among other things, he’s looking for ways to recover or
remove potentially harmful nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen that leach from wastewater pools and spread into surrounding waterways, producing algal blooms and reducing the quality of our rivers and lakes.
“Our research focuses on providing alternative treatment options to decision- makers,” he explains. “These nutrients come from many sources, and we’re working hard to identify the right technologies for dealing with each one.”
Cicek is also exploring ways to extract energy from waste streams. One method involves biogas production. Another uses membrane filters and other advanced technologies to strain out wastewater effluents and use them in reactors. He’s also begun to experiment with biodegradable plastics, or “bioplastics”, produced by microbes that consume the nutrients in waste streams and convert them into carbon.
The potential impacts of Cicek’s research are impressive, indeed. Using biomass and biowaste to produce energy will help reduce our fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Making waste products more biodegradable could reduce our impact on landfills.
A chemical engineer by training and an environmentalist at
heart, Cicek says he’s “excited by the prospect of turning waste
into a useful resource, whether it’s fertilizer, fibre, plastics,
alcohols or energy. If, as engineers, we can provide solutions to
some of the most pressing problems facing our province, our
country, and
our world today,
then that makes
me feel good.”
Photo credit: Elizabeth Harries
Our students and faculty researchers are exploring innovative ways to bring safe drinking water and sustainable wastewater infrastructure to First Nations communities through CREATE H2O, the first science-engineering research training program in Canada to combine technical water and wastewater
management training with Indigenous theory and law.
QUENCHING A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE
and environmental consulting firms
and Indigenous organizations. Graduate
students complete a research thesis,
while post-doctoral fellows pursue
interdisciplinary research projects and
lead training workshops.
Eighteen graduate students, 19 under-
graduate students and four postdoctoral
fellows have joined CREATE H2O since
it began in 2013. About a third of those
trainees are Indigenous.
“Building meaningful research relation-
ships with First Nations communities
is crucial to the program’s success,” says
Farenhorst. “They benefit by obtaining
expertise from leading scientists and
engineers, while helping students achieve
their degrees. First Nations students
receive training they can take back to
their communities, and non-Indigenous
“ Building meaningful research relationships with First Nations communities is crucial.”
students gain a richer cultural under-
standing in addition to their science and
engineering skills.”
The program is funded in part by a
$1.65-million NSERC grant and brings
together 38 researchers from the
University of Manitoba, Trent University’s
Institute for Watershed Science and
Indigenous Environmental Studies
Program, University College of the North
and University of Saskatchewan.
As the Canadian agri-food, natural health and biopharmaceutical sectors continue to grow, so does the urgent need for highly qualified professionals with versatile skills in developing new foods with
enhanced nutritional value.
Responding to this need, we formed
the FAST (Food Advancement through
Science and Training) program in 2010,
in partnership with the Richardson
Centre for Functional Foods and
Nutraceuticals, the Canadian Centre
for Agri-food Research in Health and
Medicine, and Laval University’s Institute
of Nutrition and Functional Foods.
The program immerses Masters and Ph.D.
students in a research and development
environment combining nutritional
sciences, medical sciences, and process
engineering. Trainees complete a
scientific project tackling both techno-
logical and health issues, a crossover
TAKING THE FAST TRACK
expertise highly sought after by today’s
employers. FAST trainees also gain
industry-specific economic and regu-
latory knowledge, as well as practical
industry experience. They’re closely
mentored by academic and industry
specialists, and complete internships
in world-class research laboratories
and industrial facilities.
“A big part of our focus is on professional
development,” says program coordina-
tor Janelle Richot. “We give our students
opportunities to hone the soft skills
they don’t necessarily get in their
academic training by offering them
workshops, seminars, symposia, and
hands-on opportunities to develop
skills in time management, leadership,
public speaking, knowledge translation
and networking.”
Prescription drugs that reduce high blood pressure sometimes come with unpleasant side effects, such as coughing, erectile dysfunction and edema. To avoid these effects, patients often take only a fraction of the prescribed
dose – and receive only a fraction of the medication’s benefits.
Rotimi Aluko may have a solution. A food scientist and professor in the Department of Human Nutritional Sciences, Aluko and his research team are harnessing the power of peptides – short chains of amino acids – found in the proteins of yellow pea and hemp seed. These peptides have natural antihypertensive (blood pressure-reducing) qualities without all the side effects, and could replace prescription drugs in whole or in part.
“One of the studies we looked at found that non-compliance with prescribed doses of medication is responsible for almost a quarter of the burdens on our health care system,” Aluko explains. “Our hope is that our product would reduce not only incidents of hypertension and stroke, but the systemic impacts of those conditions.”
Since 2001, Aluko has been using enzymes that act “like scissors” to “snip” select peptide chains from yellow pea proteins manufactured by Nutri-Pea, a food producer in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Lab tests identified several peptides effective at reducing blood pressure. These peptides were tested successfully on humans at the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods, and processed into powder. AOR (Advanced Orthomolecular Research), a Calgary company that manufactures health-promoting natural supplements, has licensed the product, which is now available in the market. Aluko has also partnered with Manitoba Harvest and Hemp Oil Canada to begin testing a second product made from hemp seed, another popular Manitoba crop.
“If that’s successful, we’ll turn to more prairie crops such as flax and soybean to see what benefits their peptides have to offer.”
Aluko says he’s grateful for the funding and support his research
has received from Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers,
who recognize the value his product contributes
to producers, processors, retailers,
consumers, and “a healthier
Canadian society.”
THE POWER OF PEPTIDES
As a result, FAST graduates have told
Richot they enter the workplace better
prepared, and with greater confidence
in their ability to adapt and innovate.
“And that’s not only better for industry,”
she says, “it’s better for consumers,
who benefit from the functional foods
and nutraceuticals our graduates go
on to help create.”
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“ A big part of our focus is on professional development.”
Throughout the Discovery Centre, inter-
active exhibits take visitors on a journey
that explores modern farming and the
science and technology that provides
healthy, sustainable food for Manitoba
and the world. The centre provides tours,
workshops and special events aimed at
middle-years students and the general
public. The centre’s programming also
showcases ongoing U of M research.
Myrna Grahn, the Discovery Centre’s
manager, says she’s excited by the
opportunities the centre will create for
U of M students. “Our students have so
much knowledge and information about
agriculture and the agri-food industry.
It’s vital for them to learn how to make
that knowledge accessible to audiences
of all ages, including producers and the
general public.”
For instance, a practicum course at the
Discovery Centre would show students
how to share what they are learning
in their agricultural and food sciences
programs by adapting it into scripts for
presentations and tours. “They’ll learn
how to translate specialized information
and research into a form that anyone
can digest and understand. Students
will have plenty of face-time putting
those skills to use by speaking and
delivering presentations to the centre’s
many visitors and tour groups.”
The new curriculum will feature media
workshops aimed at arming students
with skills and techniques for speaking
LET’S TALK ABOUT FOOD
The Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre is the first hands-on facility to explore how food is made in Canada. The Discovery Centre opened in 2011 at the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment
(NCLE), located at the U of M’s Glenlea Research Station.
with reporters. The Discovery Centre’s
multimedia classroom will give them
hands-on experience enhancing their
presentations with video, props, and the
Internet. They’ll learn the ins and outs of
social media, including blogging.
Grahn says the Discovery Centre’s
programs and facilities have enormous
potential to evolve and grow as needs
and technologies change. Today, it’s
already the ideal place to hone students
into effective, proactive communicators
who are comfortable writing and speak-
ing with knowledge and confidence
about their industry. “No matter what
career they choose to follow, or where
their path takes them, the communications
skills we give them here will serve them
well in their professional lives.”
Nematodes are tiny, mostly harmless worms. They can be found almost anywhere. But some species, such as the stem and bulb nematode, are causing big problems for Canada’s pulse industry. The damage they
do to crops can result in significant yield loss. Small wonder, then, that the stem and bulb nematode has been on India’s quarantine list for more than a decade. And here’s the real trouble: India is one of the largest importers of Canadian pulses – and although the tiny worms show up in shipments only rarely, the market access issues they create has cost the pulse industry millions of dollars every year.
In 2009, the industry turned to the U of M’s Soil Ecology Lab to help determine why nematodes were showing up in exported yellow pea grain. And now they’re glad they did.
Mario Tenuta, Canada Research Chair in Applied Soil Ecology, surveyed 500 yellow pea grain samples from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. His research team found only 11 that contained the nematode. But some samples also contained Canadian thistle seeds. When the researchers separated the weed seeds from the yellow peas, they found the nematode in the weed seeds, but not the yellow pea seeds. Then, in 2010, Russian and American researchers published a paper about a new species of nematode that infects Canadian thistle – a species almost, but not quite, identical to stem and bulb nematode. Tenuta and his team proved that this new nematode was responsible for the Canadian pulse industry’s market access woes. Based on these findings, Pulse Canada and Dr. Tenuta worked with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to update testing methodologies, resulting in elimination of instances of quarantined or rejected pulse shipments and creating a win-win situation for growers, exporters and importers alike.
More recently, Tenuta and
his group are examining
nematodes across the
Canadian Prairies, including
the thistle nematode, to find
out how much of a threat,
if any, they pose to pulse crops.
So far, no major issues have
been discovered.
CATCHING THE WORM
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Nematodes Ditylenchus dipsaci from garlic on the left compared to Ditylenchus weisheri from pea harvest samples and creeping thistle on the right.
“NuEats promotes a culture of healthy
ingredients and food innovation in
Manitoba,” explains Kay Gardiner,
Program Manager at MAHRN. To be
considered a NuEats project, a product
has to be unique and add value to
producers by offering enhanced
nutritional properties, a new means of
delivery, or a recipe modification that
helps a food reach new audiences.
Concepts that meet these requirements
can then be developed into a market-
able product, guided by experts from
the Food Development Centre, the
Richardson Centre for Functional Foods
and Nutraceuticals, and the Canadian
Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health
and Medicine. Focus groups are used to
test products, then samples are offered
to a wider audience. “U of M students
have proven to be the perfect test market
for NuEats,” says Gardiner. Products that
get a thumbs-up are then packaged
under the NuEats label and sold on the
U of M’s Fort Garry campus.
Students leave the program with a
wider perspective on the realities of
research and development, food
production, marketing, health and
nutritional standards, and a solid
preliminary business plan. Budding
food developers have used their
experiences with NuEats as a spring-
board to commercialize their products
on a larger scale. But even unsuccessful
products have something to offer.
“Failure forces you to look at your product
differently and consider alternatives,”
Gardiner explains. “What if your not-so-
great human food product actually works
as a great animal feed? One thing we
want to teach is that entrepreneurship
is often a circular process – and that it’s
important to keep exploring what our
Manitoba foods and crops have to offer.”
THE FUTURE OF FOOD INNOVATION
NuEats, a program created by the Manitoba Agri-Health Research Network, helps develop and market novel food products, including those created by students in the U of M’s food science and human nutritional
sciences programs. Since NuEats began in 2011, students have helped launch several tasty and innovative products, including healthier chocolate chip cookies, gluten-free pita bread, and soy bean spreads.
Cutline would go here and here and here
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Roasted buckwheat snack
And that benefits not
only the students, but producer groups
and advocacy boards who seek new
avenues for innovation. “For instance,”
says Gardiner, “Manitoba has only ever
exported its buckwheat crop. But one
of our teams discovered that roasted
buckwheat makes for a tasty treat.
No one ever tried it before, and now
our Buckshots treats have won a place
in the market.”
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“ It’s important to keep exploring what our Manitoba foods and crops have to offer.”
The University of Manitoba’s School of Agriculture is committed to improving farm safety across Manitoba in new and innova-tive ways. The need is urgent: according to statistics from the Workers Compensation
Board (WCB), a whopping 30 per cent of all worker-related acute-hazard fatalities in Manitoba are in the agriculture sector.
Thanks to funding from the WCB, and in
partnership with other provincial and
federal safety organizations, the School
offers an Introduction to Farm Safety
course to its agriculture diploma students.
“Many of our students will go on to work
on farms or manage farming operations
of all shapes and sizes,” says Thea Green,
the course’s lead instructor and curricu-
lum designer. “We want to arm them with
knowledge about safe work procedures
THE NEXT GENERATION OF FARM SAFETY
and current safety legislation and make
farm safety a way of life.”
Since the course was first offered in 2013,
Green says the curriculum has evolved
to include a dynamic online component.
Following a brief in-class lecture, students
watch videos and read content online.
They also engage in online discussions
about farm safety. “It’s a more interactive
experience for them,” she explains. “The
online discussions are a safe place for
students to openly ask questions and
discuss their experiences.”
In the final phase of each lesson, students
are asked to apply what they’ve learned
to their own farm. For instance, in one
assignment, Green asked students to
watch a segment of the Rick Mercer
Report in which the popular TV host
visited a farm to learn about agricultural
production. She then asked students
to review their own farms and report
on how they would prepare for a visit
from Mercer.
The online course is being built with
existing tools, “but more funding will
help us expand what we offer and how
we promote and deliver it,” Green says.
“For instance, we’d like to boost the
technological capabilities of our faculty
research stations at Glenlea and Carman
to put our remote learners in touch with
the latest research taking place today.”
Going forward, the course holds the
potential to connect with any Manitoba
farmer with an Internet connection.
“We’re not just reaching out to a wider
audience, but across a generational
divide. Farmers trust the School of
Agriculture and value the information
we provide. Now we can provide them
with resources to help adopt a more
safety-conscious farm culture.”
“ We want to arm them with knowledge about safe work procedures and current safety legislation and make farm safety a way of life.”
Faculty of Agriculturaland Food Sciences
Faculty of Agriculturaland Food Sciences
CONTACT USFaculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
256 Agriculture Building
66 Dafoe Road
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada
umanitoba.ca/afs