Congratulations to Dr. Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein of Lethbridge, Alta., who was named the 2022 Metacam 20 Bovine Welfare Award winner for her work in improving beef cattle welfare. Her extensive research has been instrumental in the development of animal welfare standards and has contributed to updated guidelines and regulations for the Canadian cattle industry. The Metacam 20 Bovine Welfare Award is presented annually by the Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians (CABV)/Association Canadienne des Vétérinaires Bovins (ACVB) in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. Schwartzkopf-Genswein is a senior research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada where she leads research on beef cattle and welfare. Her research interests include pain/stress assessment and mitigation strategies associated with routine management procedures such as transport, castration, dehorning and lameness. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan, University of Calgary and UNESP University in Brazil. Schwartzkopf-Genswein shares her passion for cattle welfare with the next generation of researchers and scientists by mentoring, training and guiding undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral fellows who are making their own significant contributions in academia, government and industry. She also provides training and consultative services to cattle industry stake-holders and speaks at scientific and industry conferences around the world.
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Congratulations to Dr. Émile Bouchard, who recently received the Brian MacNaughton Memorial Award (sponsored by Elanco) for his outstanding contributions to bovine veterinary medicine in Canada. Born into a famous hockey playing family, Bouchard graduated in 1981 from the Faculté de médecine vétérinaire (FMV) of the Université de Montréal. Bouchard led, along with his colleagues Drs. Michel Bigras-Poulin and Denis Du Tremblay, a large R&D project which resulted in the development of the dairy herd health software DSA, now used by the majority of dairy veterinarians in Quebec. He also developed the Dairy Population Medicine Residency Program at FMV in 1991 and contributed to the launch of the Cana- dian Bovine Mastitis Research Network, headquartered at FMV, in 2001. He also represented Canadian veterinarians as the director of District 12 of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners from 1995 to 2001 and was instrumental in making the 1997 Annual AABP conference in Montreal a great success. Bouchard also acted as a Canadian representative to the World Association for Buiatrics (WAB) since 1998 and was the president of the organizing committee for the 2004 World Buiatrics Congress in Quebec City. He was most recently president of the WAB, with his 2018 term ending at the Madrid World Buiatrics Congress in September 2022.
This award is named in memory of Dr. Brian MacNaughton, an outstanding bovine veterinarian from Ontario who had the vision of a national bovine veterinary organization that would represent the interests of bovine veterinarians in matters of national scope. MacNaughton passed away in September 2014 after struggling with cancer.
John Barlow, MP for the southwestern Alberta riding of Foothills, remains in his post as the federal Conservatives’ “shadow minister” for agriculture, agri-food and food security. Pierre Poilievre, who was named September 10 as the official opposition party’s new leader, named Barlow to a shadow cabinet of 51 shadow ministers and 20 associate shadow ministers from a 118-member caucus. Barlow — who in February announced his endorsement for Poilievre’s leadership bid — is no stranger to the agriculture file, having served as then-leader Andrew Scheer’s associate ag critic (2017-18) and lead ag critic (2019- 20). The party’s next leader, Erin O’Toole, dropped Barlow from the shadow cabinet in September 2020 — replacing him with southwestern Ontario MP Lianne Rood — but then brought Barlow back as ag critic last November. Rood is also in Poilievre’s shadow cabinet, as his critic for the feds’ regional development agencies operating in southern, central and eastern Ontario.
Tessa Geier has signed on to the Canadian Beef Grading Agency as office administrator. Geier has a background in agriculture and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in HR. She brings a strong administrative skill set, work ethic and willingness to learn. She also possesses excellent communication skills and thrives in a team environment. Having grown up in rural Alberta, Geier enjoys spending time on the farm, a multitude of outdoor activities in all seasons, and can be found hiking, camping, boating, skiing, and playing and coaching volleyball in her spare time. She commenced her official duties with the Canadian Beef Grading Agency in October 2022.
Last month Canada’s underground live culinary battle series The Chef Collective announced Ontario Beef has signed on as a title sponsor of its kick-off battle at Boehmer (93 Ossington Ave. in Toronto). During the Chef Collective Toronto Battle, hosts Chef Joe Friday and Chef Devan Rajkumar will engage and entertain guests as three prominent Toronto chefs battle it out for the competition title, prizes and bragging rights. The three competing chefs, Chef Jerome Robinson, Chef Sam Medeiros and Chef Imrun Texeira, will have one hour to create two original dishes, using a secret ingredient, which will then be judged by a panel of industry experts. The judges, Top Chef Canada season nine winner Chef Erica Karbelink, grill master Chef Robert Rainford, restaurateur and Iron Chef Canada season six winner Chef Paul Boehmer and Canada’s premier cheese expert Afrim Pristine, will announce the winning chef live that evening.
