Getting research into practice
CEO Commentary by Mike McMorris
Back in 1907 the Ontario government hired Agricultural Representatives to “take knowledge already gained and spread it all over the country”. Not much in today’s rural Ontario looks like it did 115 years ago, including what was then called extension.
Over time, the role of getting research results and knowledge to farmers to help them have better businesses with better crops, livestock and soil has shifted dramatically. There are many players involved now including industry, academia and government. Farmer feedback gathered through several current initiatives suggest that we need to be doing a better job of getting research into practice (GRIP), but how to start?
LRIC has been working with many partners including Poultry Industry Council and the University of Guelph to develop resources to help. We hope that you make use of these resources and share them widely.
The Horizon Series of webinars focused on the big topics facing livestock agriculture:
- Each webinar is 20 minutes plus questions
- To date, thirteen topics have been covered
- Each webinar is accompanied by a white paper that provides sources of credible information
The GRIP (Getting Research into Practice) podcast series:
- Ten interviews with researchers and industry leaders on their experience in innovation and getting research into practice
- Hear their thoughts on what works and what doesn’t work
- Twenty-two interviews with producers across many sectors of the livestock industry
- Perspectives on innovation and what drives adoption for them
If you have thoughts on how we can all work together to do a better job of getting research into practice, please let us know.