Getting a GRIP on agriculture research

Research results don’t flow naturally from the lab to the barn.

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In the 1990s, government driven extension services delivered research results to producers. Researchers didn’t often meet the farmers their work would help and farmers didn’t have ready access to researchers to be sure the findings were topical and practical.

That disconnected system of communication is being replaced with more of a cycle, known as GRIP, where each step feeds into another.

Why it matters: Researchers and farmers need to communicate regularly to ensure research is meaningful and practical for the farm.

Kelly Somerville is the industry services manager for the Livestock Research Innovation Corporation, better known as LRIC. The not-for-profit organization cultivates and encourages innovation and research through the livestock value chain, Somerville told a recent meeting of the Poultry Industry Council at the Grandway Events Centre in Elora.

LRIC was founded by the Beef Farmers of Ontario, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Pork, all four poultry feather boards as well as sheep and equine representatives. Together with industry, government and academia, LRIC works where these groups intersect, to bring together the different cultures and languages of Ontario livestock producers.

“Extension services kind of died out,” said Somerville. “Extension is now happening in a different way.”

GRIP stands for Getting Research Into Practice. Knowledge transfer used to happen only at the end of research but GRIP needs to be embedded into research from the beginning and throughout the process. Researchers talk to farmers; farmers talk to researchers.

Collaboration is the key word.

“Farmers are the end goal, but we’re not expecting the researchers to go door-to-door. That would be cumbersome,” said Somerville. But there are intermediaries who can bridge the gap between farmers and researchers, such as veterinarians, nutritionists, sector organizations and the provincial agriculture department.

In an LRIC podcast, well-known poultry researcher Tina Widowski, who holds the Egg Farmers Research Chair in Poultry Welfare, described the vast number of connections that affect her research.

To get adoption of research, it’s important to understand how farms work, said Widowski, and that is achieved by visiting farms, getting students on those farms and connecting to end users. Farmers are pleased to show off and have researchers visit, she said, and urged researchers to get to know the farmers for whom they do the work.

Another area of connection is to get involved in scientific advisory committees and bring research into discussions used to set policy, and attend industry talks and conferences to make people aware of research work and the people who do it.

The GRIP program is in its early stages of building relationships between industry and faculty and finding places where answers can be found and shared across sectors.

“Everyone in this room is part of it,” said Somerville.

She noted that not all collaboration is in an obvious direct line. What about engineering a better farm – what are current farm challenges that could use an engineering solution?

This idea was taken to Windsor, Waterloo, Western and Guelph University engineering departments.

Three producers per sector were asked a question: what are some challenges you have on your farm that might have an engineering solution? The plan is to encourage a response that can be broken down by species.

As for artificial intelligence, GRIP and information sharing, Somerville predicts it will all come down to people using AI to find information that may no longer be available through extension services.

It can’t replace personal engagements or industry and researcher connections, she said, but AI functions can find related material and help connect ideas and people.

For GRIP to work, research must be related to industry challenges. Good ideas are no good if research dies in the lab. While all sectors of the industry need to be involved, Somerville recognized that not everyone has the skills or opportunities to share information.

“Stick to your lane. That’s OK,” she said. “Rely on intermediaries to help fill that GRIP void.”