Current Projects Comprehensive Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Assessment of Ontario’s Sheep Industry Applicant: University of Guelph – Bassim Abbassi Timeline: January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2022 To evaluate the overall environmental and economic impacts/benefits from a life cycle perspective, of the Ontario Sheep Industry To quantify greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication potential, energy demand and water demand based on farming/operational practices To estimate the statistical distribution of environmental and economic impacts of Ontario’s sheep farming practices To develop statistical correlations between environmental footprint, economic output (for each of the sheep products) and farming/processing practices that allow end-users to predict environmental and economic impacts based on given inputs To compare the environmental impacts of the products generated by the sheep industry to competing products To create a set of benchmarking criteria which qualify farmers/producers for an “eco-label” To develop a formal LCA report, and present key findings at events and in industry magazines Metabolomics and genomic identification of predictive biomarkers related to sheep parasitic infection Applicant: Olds College – Sean Thompson Timeline: September 1, 2021 – June 30, 2024 Identification and quantification of a panel of predictive blood markers of sheep parasitic infection Utility of the carbohydrate larval antigen (CarLA®) saliva test to lower the risk of gastrointestinal parasitism in Ontario sheep flocks Applicant: University of Guelph – Andrew Peregrine Timeline: September 1, 2021 – January 31, 2026 To determine if replacement ewe lambs with medium to-high CarLA® salivary values at the end of their grazing season, have lower levels of gastrointestinal parasitism in their second grazing season, compared to ewe lambs with no to low CarLA® salivary values (L-CARLA) , in a variety of breeds and farm management systems. To standardize protocols for CarLA® phenotyping in Ontario sheep, with resultant data that can be used in future studies to develop heritability estimates for genetic improvement programmes such as GenOvis To compare the levels of gastrointestinal parasitism and growth performance of offspring of primiparous medium to-high CarLA®and low CarLA® ewes. Impact of maternal diet and stress on small ruminant colostrum bioactives and postnatal health Applicant: University of Guelph – Niel Karrow Timeline: January 2022 – January 30, 2025 To assess impact of dietary selenium (Se) or fish oil (FO) supplements on colostrum quality and postnatal lamb growth and health. 1) Characterize colostrum bioactives 2) Assess passive transfer of bioactives from colostrum to postnatal lamb 3) Associate colostrum bioactives with lamb robustness Characterize the colostrum bioactives from variable stress phenotyped ewes augmenting postnatal growth and health 1) Characterize colostrum bioactives 2) Assess passive transfer of bioactives from colostrum and postnatal lamb 3) Associate colostrum bioactives with lamb robustness Efficacy of Ovipast Plus Vaccine in reducting bacterial pneumonia in preweaned lambs and feedlot lambs Applicant: University of Guelph – Cathy Bauman Timeline: February 1, 2021 – July 31, 2022 Evaluate the efficacy of Ovipast Plus bacterin to reduce morbidity and mortality from pneumonia in preweaned lambs by vaccinating ewes twice prior to lambing to boost colostral immunity Evaluate the efficacy of Ovipast Plus bacterin in weaned lambs to reduce morbidity and mortality from pneumonia by vaccinating them twice, at weaning and boosting them a few weeks later Smart handheld technology for automatic blood analysis: Innovate prediction of sheep pregnancy and litter size Applicant: Lakeland College – Susan Markus Timeline: August 2, 2021 – July 30, 2023 To develop a single handheld point-of-care device capable of accurately detecting both sheep pregnancy and estimating litter size at ~50 days