New Specialist Joins OMAFA: Advancing Feed Ingredient and By-product Expertise

Dec 02, 2024

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) has welcomed Youngji Rho as their new Feed Ingredient and By-products Specialist. With a robust academic and professional background, Rho’s expertise is set to enhance innovation and efficiency in feed management, benefiting Ontario’s swine industry and beyond.

Academic Excellence in Swine Nutrition
Youngji Rho completed her MSc at the University of Guelph, focusing on optimizing the nutritive value of corn distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) for growing pigs. Her work explored liquid feed systems and fiber-degrading enzymes. Building on this foundation, she earned her PhD in 2021, further investigating the physicochemical properties of fiber in co-products and the effects of enzyme supplementation and fermentation conditions. These research endeavors align closely with the industry’s push toward maximizing feed efficiency and sustainability.

Hands-On Industry Experience
Before joining OMAFA, Rho served as a monogastric nutritionist at Grand Valley Fortifiers, specializing in swine nutrition. In this role, she collaborated with farms, formulated rations, solved on-site challenges, developed new products, and conducted research. Her dynamic industry experience equips her with the practical insights needed to bridge research and real-world application.

What This Means for Producers
Producers in Ontario now have access to a dedicated expert who understands the challenges and opportunities in utilizing feed ingredients and by-products effectively. Rho’s role will likely focus on advancing sustainable feeding practices, improving nutrient utilization, and fostering collaboration across the sector. Her appointment underscores OMAFA’s commitment to driving innovation in agriculture.

Get in Touch
Youngji Rho is eager to connect with producers and industry stakeholders. Reach out to her at youngji.ho@ontario.ca to discuss opportunities for collaboration or to learn more about her initiatives.

This addition to OMAFA’s team promises to strengthen Ontario’s position as a leader in innovative and sustainable agricultural practices, providing valuable resources for the swine industry and beyond. Stay tuned to Swine Web for updates on her projects and contributions to the field.

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Video: Selling Hay for 40 Years: Fritz Trauttmansdorff, Dunlea Farms

Fritz Trauttmansdorff came to Canada from Austria in 1980, bought a 45-cow dairy farm at Jerseyville, and within two years had more hay than he knew what to do with. He sold the quota in 1986, went debt-free, and built a hay business that has kept some of the same customers for forty years. Today Dunlea Farms runs about 2,500 acres — roughly 600 of it hay, the rest IP soybeans and grain corn — and Fritz makes the case that hay isn't the crop you grow when grain doesn't work. It's the crop that makes the grain work.

"If you grow corn, soybeans and wheat, you're on a three-wheeler. If you put hay in the rotation, you're on a four-wheeler."

WHAT WE COVER • Why the hay market moves independently of the Chicago Board — and what that does for farm-level risk
• The real cost of a mistake: five bushels in grain, versus the whole crop in hay
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