One of the roles of Banff Pork Seminar is education and linking with the latest science is an important part of that, according to Meristem Land and Science.

Each year, the Banff Pork Seminar (BPS) presents the R.O. Ball Graduate Student Award honoring emerging talent in research. The award was renamed in 2011 to honor Dr. Ron Ball, the recently retired University of Alberta professor who has served as programme director of BPS for 14 years.

First prize this year went to Janelle Fouhse, University of Alberta for her work on 'Dietary amylose affects gut microbiota and VFA concentration in weaned pigs'.

Second prize went to Xun Zhou of the University of Alberta for his work on 'Effects of feeding high- and low-fibre fractions of air-classified, solvent-extracted canola meal on diet nutrient digestibility and growth performance of weaned pigs'.

Third prize went to Garrett Rozeboom, University of Saskatchewan for work on 'The use of spray-dried animal plasma to mitigate the effects of DON in nursery pig'.

Janelle Fouhse, University of Alberta (left), Dr Ron Ball and Xun Zhou of the University of Alberta