Extraordinary Students Doing Extraordinary Research - Ashley Henderson

Welcome to the "Extraordinary Students Doing Extraordinary Research" podcast series, which highlights students from the UM’s RBC Scholars in Sustainable Agriculture Program and their research.

In this episode, host Peter Frohlich, research development coordinator with the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment (NCLE) talks with RBC Scholar Ashley Henderson, a student in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. She shares how food production co-products and other materials can be used to enhance diets of laying hens and how using these materials in feed contributes to creating sustainable agriculture systems in Manitoba and beyond.

Transcript

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Peter Frohlich 0:04

Hello and welcome to the Extraordinary Students Doing Extraordinary Research podcast. This podcast explores how students at the University of Manitoba are contributing to research that enhance the sustainability of food production in the province and beyond. My name is Peter Frohlich. I am the research development coordinator for the National Center for Livestock and the Environment located right here at the University of Manitoba. Today I am joined by Ashley Henderson , who is working on her Bachelor of Science and Agriculture degree with a focus on animal systems. Ashley's also 1 of 11 students, both graduate and undergraduate, who are the recipients of research funding through the RBC Scholars Sustainable Agricultural Program. This program, in its first year at the University of Manitoba, provides opportunities for students to carry out research and receive hands-on training at the University of Manitoba state-of-the-art, livestock, and cropping facilities. In the program, the students also engage with producers and commodity groups, and this is where I met Ashley, just this week, as she delivered an update along with the other RBC scholars on her work to a group of industry representatives. Ashley is working with Dr Anna Rogiewicz, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Manitoba. Welcome, Ashley. Before we dive into this cool project you're working on, please tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get interested in this area of study?

Ashley Henderson 1:21

So I am from a small agricultural community around two hours southwest of the city. It's called Manitou and it's very agriculturally based . So I was exposed to agriculture at a very young age, so many different sides of it , more so on the grain and animal production. And when I graduated high school, I really didn't know what I wanted to go into. I had a lot of different interests, a lot of interest in environmental sciences, conservation, but I also was interested in biological sciences. So when I was entering university, I really didn't know where to start. So when I was thinking about going into agriculture, I took a lot of influence from the people I grew up with and the people that were around me. And I found that a lot of people, regardless if they were born into agriculture or they chose to enter it after high school and if they're really truly passionate about the industry, they showed a lot of drive and ambition to continually innovate and advance the technology. To really sustain the industry and to really preserve the rural lifestyle. And I really liked that mindset and that ideology. And I see that a lot of... I see that mindset and a lot of my role models including my dad. And I wanted to surround myself with this. So when I was looking into joining agriculture in the program, I really saw a space for myself and a space for my career to really flourish and that's how I ended up.

Peter Frohlich 2:38

That's a really great answer. I see and I hear a lot of passion about agriculture in your voice. That's wonderful to hear. But why animals? Why did you choose to work with animals?

Ashley Henderson 2:46

That's a really interesting question because I find a lot of people who ask me this just presume that I wanna go into veterinary sciences or you know, become a dog groomer... stuff like that. And I find that the animal industry or animal science itself can be considered a closed industry. It's like if you're not born into it, you don't really know what's happening behind the curtain. In animal science there are a lot of questions that don't have answers or if there is answers, there are a lot of ways that we can expand on it. So it's such a diverse and such an expansive industry and no one animal is the same as the other. There are different physically, socially, behaviorally, and it's just a really interesting industry. And you know, when I first entered it, I was really interested in welfare and behavior. And I can attribute this to Anna, my supervisor. I'm more now creating a passion in nutrition. because it covers almost all sections of the industry. It covers like if you feed the animal something, it may affect its behavior, it may affect it physically. And it also goes on the food science side where what you feed, it could affect the quality of the meat if the consumer will buy the product. The industry is just so huge and there's so many possibilities for it. And so I like to propose the question of why wouldn't I want to work with animals.

Peter Frohlich 3:53

Great answer. So let's talk about the project. This is a really cool project. I got a chance to hear a little bit about it during the week. So what are the objectives of the study that you are working on this summer?

Ashley Henderson 4:03

So when I first joined Anna's research team, there were 2 preexisting trials that were already gonna happen in the summer. I was involved in the Laying Hen trial that took place at Glenlea and that was the first trial happened there since it was built last year. And the main goal of it were to take different feed ingredients and different supplements that were essentially waste within the agriculture and food industries and analyze and research whether they have high potential of being functional feed ingredients. So we explored 3 different diets and 3 different feed additives such as feed enzymes, cold pressed canola expellers and SCOBY. And so we created different variations of diets and we fed them to laying hen over a 6 week period.

Peter Frohlich 4:55

So maybe let's begin with SCOBY. What is SCOBY?

Ashley Henderson 4:58

SCOBY actually stands for the Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. And it is a byproduct of the kombucha tea fermentation industry. It contains a lot of bioactive properties that could help with poultry health and welfare. And it has a really high potential of increasing nutrient digestibility.

Peter Frohlich 5:15

Is it a probiotic or is it a prebiotic?

Ashley Henderson 5:17

It actually is a probiotic. So probiotics are good bacteria that can be used in feed supplements and it adds to already established bacteria populations within the animal's digestive system, prebiotics act as the food for that good bacteria. So by having a good establishment of this good bacteria, which SCOBY could contribute to, it promotes a good sense of a homeostasis and a good sense of balance within the animal's body. And it promotes high nutrient digestibility. The bacteria that is included in SCOBY , includes lactic acid producing bacteria.

Peter Frohlich 5:52

Okay. And the enzymes, why do we need to include enzymes in animal feed?

Ashley Henderson 5:57

Enzymes are really important in feed and diets. Feed enzymes help break down protein, fiber, starch, phytic acid that are all present within feed ingredients. And once you add those feed enzymes, they enhance their digestibility and the overall nutrient value of feed. And specifically within the study that I assisted with, we tested carbohydrates and wanted to see if they supported this release of the less complex polysaccharides or these simple sugars which could serve as prebiotics and improve other nutrient digestibility.

Peter Frohlich 6:30

And then my my last question on this is the cold pressed canola expeller, is that the same as canola meal ?

Ashley Henderson 6:37

No, they're produced differently. So canola expeller is the byproduct of the biofuel industry and this is when the canola seeds are mechanically pressed at low temperatures to extract the oil. So as there is still a high oil content within this byproduct, so it has more nutritional value, but it does contain more protein and higher dietary fibre, which can decrease the nutrient digestibility. So when we add this to the diet, we must add feed enzymes to balance that out.

Peter Frohlich 7:07

Very cool. So you've touched upon some of the implications and the importance of this , but in general terms, what are the benefits of using these types of ingredients in animal feed?

Ashley Henderson 7:18

The overall benefits is really we're finding ways to use waste that we didn't have before and overall maintaining or increasing the sustainability of these production systems.

Peter Frohlich 7:31

This is a very cool study. Can you tell me when producers will be able to find out information from the study and when the results will be available?

Ashley Henderson 7:40

The research is still ongoing, so I can't give you an exact date or an exact timeframe for when these trials and these studies will be done. But we are being funded by various partners within the industry and their main goal is to get this information out and to have education on sustainable agriculture. And so you'll be seeing it at some point. I just don't know when.

Peter Frohlich 8:01

I can't wait. So getting back to the RBC Scholars program itself, so what skills and new things have you learned while you participated in this RBC program?

Ashley Henderson 8:11

The RBC program is an extremely good program and I'm really happy that I got the opportunity to enter it. When I first applied to this program, I didn't really have a lot of knowledge about research and animal research bcause I find even animal research is kind of a taboo topic. If you wanna learn more, it's hard to do so yourself. So when I first entered it... it gave... it definitely pushed me into that environment and to see what's going on behind closed doors or what's... what the whole process is. And on the other hand, the RBC program allowed me to really make connections within the ag industry that I wouldn't have had prior to joining it. And it allowed me to really work on my communication skills and my public speaking skills and really feel confident in my knowledge of agriculture as a whole.

Peter Frohlich 9:02

And you're already transferring some of this knowledge to the industry as we saw last week when you presented to some industry representatives at the Glenlea research station during the meeting there. That was great. There may be some students that are interested in going into the program. What would be a message that you could give them , as they consider whether they want to join the RBC Scholars program?

Ashley Henderson 9:24

I would say that if you're thinking about it, regardless how confident you feel about getting in or not, I say apply anyways. It's a wonderful opportunity, it's almost a once in a lifetime to be able to have this connection with research and the industry and education all in one , especially at such a young age. If you're thinking about it, a hundred percent, go for it. The connections and the information you'll get from this is, you'll get it nowhere else.

Peter Frohlich 9:52

I like how you say connections because there's such a need for the researchers to work with industry, to work with producers, to make sure that the knowledge gets out there and everybody gets the benefits of it. Really well done. One last question. One of my favorite questions is to the young kids out there who are in junior high school and high school who are considering agriculture. You know, you've done so much already. What would be a message that you could give them as they consider going into agriculture?

Ashley Henderson 10:19

If you are considering agriculture, it doesn't matter what fields you're interested in, you could be interested more in the chemical side of things. You could be interested in more of the husbandry side of things. There is something for you in agriculture regardless of your... what your specific interests are. Like I said, I was more interested in the behaviour and welfare side of things. But I definitely found more of a niche in the biological chemistry nutrient side. But if you're interested in soil, there's a part for you. If you're interested in plants, there's definitely a part for you. And of course you don't have to just go into the research side, you can go into marketing, you can go into sales, you could go into the actual production systems and work for, you can be a barn manager. There's just so many endless opportunities that come with joining agriculture. And obviously the, like I said before, the mindset and the passion that is harvested within the industry, within the people that represent it, is wonderful to be a part of.

Peter Frohlich 11:16

Great. Thank you Ashley. It has been a pleasure to meet you and to hear about the project you have been working on this summer. We certainly are looking forward to hearing more about how food production core products and other materials can be used to enhance diets of laying hens and how these initiatives contribute to creating sustainable agriculture systems in Manitoba and beyond. And thank you all for listening. Please stay tuned for upcoming podcasts on University of Manitoba extraordinary students doing extraordinary research to enhance the sustainability of agriculture and food production.