Focus on: producers within OAHN

How do producers figure into the Ontario Animal Health Network?  This is an awesome question that we get frequently.  The answer: the exact involvement differs by sector, but producer and industry group expertise is crucial to OAHN. 

In some species sectors, such as bees, and fish, producers are heavily involved in the OAHN network.  Jim Coneybeare, president of OBA, and also a honey producer, is the co-lead of the bee network.  Our fish network has three producer members on the network: Gord Cole, Kana Upton, and Arlen Taylor.  All three are active leaders in the Ontario Aquaculture Association and work full time as commercial producers.  In the swine group, we have veterinary representatives from Ontario Pork, Ontario Swine Health Advisory Board, and an industry rep from Swine Health Ontario. In other sectors, the co-leads interact with the industry group before and after the veterinary call. 

The network group structure is unique in each sector, no two are identical. In all cases, the industry group is the key voice for the producers in Ontario and we value their expertise and attention to current issues producers are facing with regards to health and welfare.

If you are a producer in Ontario, we have several touch points you may be interested in for species specific information about what diseases are happening now.

  • Producer reports: publicly available on OAHN.ca under “networks”
  • Social media: we post disease news and updates from across Canada and worldwide on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.
  • Disease alerts/updates: available on our website under “News”, we post any disease advisories and useful information here. We also curate all of our weekly news updates here in our “Top Animal Health Links” each Monday. 

How can you be more active in the OAHN networks as an Ontario producer? 

  • If you have concerns about disease issues, call your industry group, with whom we have relationships.
  • Tag us in posts on Facebook and Twitter
  • Send emails to oahn@uoguelph.ca, if you think we’ve missed something.