Meet our speakers

Producer workshop

The biology of condemnations

2024/2025 VFO Veal Carcass Benchmarking Study summary
Aaron Hibma, MSc, Director of Food Safety and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) Services
Mallot Creek Group

Aaron has been helping clients with developing and implementing HACCP and Food Safety programs for over 26 years. Aaron has developed hundreds of food safety programs and HACCP plans for municipal, provincial, and federal facilities providing him with a thorough understanding of regulatory requirements within North American food plants – especially harvest and meat processing. With his extensive science background, Aaron has become well-versed in performing facility reviews and audits and program development for new products and production processes. He has led projects that include the assessment of compliance with provincial and federal regulations as well as readiness for upgrade to higher regulatory levels and/or Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) programs. Aaron is certified as a consultant for various GSFI schemes, including Safe Quality Foods (SQF) and British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standard for Food Safety, that are designed to promote a harmonized approach to managing food safety across the industry. Aaron has led the Veal Carcass Benchmarking Study three times – the first in 2002, then in 2015, and now the 2024\2025 update.

From arrival to abattoir: Understanding the drivers of carcass quality and condemnation in veal cattle
Dave Renaud, PhD, DVM
ACER Consulting

Dave Renaud is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph and consultant at ACER. He received his DVM from the Ontario Veterinary College and a PhD in epidemiology from the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph. His research focuses on identifying factors associated with improving cattle health, specifically in calves, and evaluating alternative management strategies to reduce the level of antimicrobial use. Dave is also practicing veterinarian working with dairy producers and calf raisers around the Guelph area.

From condemnation to communication: Learning from inspection observations to strengthen herd health
Tim Metzger, Meat Inspection Regional Manager – East
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Agribusiness

After several years in the livestock and crop industries, Tim Metzger joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness in 2013. He spent several years as a manager in the Agriculture Development Branch before holding positions in Policy and OMAFA’s Covid Agri-Food Secretariat. He is currently the East Regional Manager in the Meat Inspection Program with a team of four Area Managers who oversee approximately 70 Food Safety Inspectors that inspect abattoirs and free standing meat plants from Peel to Kemptville.

Market situation and outlook
Steve Duff, Chief Economist
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Agribusiness

Coming from a dairy and beef background in Ontario’s Northumberland County, Steve is an Ontario Agricultural College ‘94 grad who completed a Masters in Ag Economics from the Food, Agriculture, and Resource Economics (FARE) department at the University of Guelph in 1996. Steve joined the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) in late 1997 after a year as a policy researcher within FARE for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

During this time Steve chaired several federal-provincial-territorial committees including the Business Risk Management (BRM) advisory committee, the BRM administrators committee, and is currently the co-chair of the Farm Income Forecasting Committee. Steve is currently OMAF’s Chief Economist. Since 2011, Steve has been an Adjunct Professor in the FARE department teaching 4th year Agricultural Policy analysis. In 2016, Steve was the recipient of the first FARE distinguished alumnus award. Steve and his wife Robyn operate a beef and cash crop farm near Colborne, Ontario.

Hands-on workshop exploring common reasons for organ condemnation
Dave Renaud, PhD, DVM
ACER Consulting
Doran Kirkbright, DVM, DVSc
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Agribusiness

Dr. Doran (Dory) Kirkbright obtained a DVM degree from Cornell University and completed a Doctor of Veterinary Science in anatomic pathology from the Ontario Veterinary College. In addition to teaching pathology to veterinary students, Dr. Kirkbright also spent one year as a fish pathologist at the Animal Health Centre in British Columbia. For the last four years, she has worked as a veterinary scientist supporting the Meat Inspection Program in the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness.

Upcoming webinars

Managing liver abscesses in cattle: Practical strategies for producers
Gabriel Ribeiro, DVM, PhD, PAg
Associate Professor and Saskatchewan Beef Industry Chair
University of Saskatchewan

Dr. Gabriel Ribeiro is an associate professor and the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Chair in the Animal and Poultry Science Department at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Ribeiro comes from a family of beef and dairy farmers in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He obtained his DVM, and MSc and PhD in Animal Science (ruminant nutrition) from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil. After the completion of his PhD, he worked as post-doctoral fellow at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research and Development Centre. Dr. Ribeiro research interest is in beef cattle production and nutrition. His research focuses on uncovering nutritional strategies to improve health, performance, and profitability, while simultaneously lessening the environmental impact of beef cattle production.

Upcoming podcasts

“One cough Is enough”: Rethinking respiratory health and antimicrobial use
Bart Pardon, DVM, PhD, Dip. ECBHM
Associate Professor
Ghent University

Bart Pardon is a veterinarian (Ghent University, 2007) and currently affiliated with Ghent University (Belgium) as associate professor in large animal internal medicine (2020). He is an EBVS recognized specialist in bovine health management (diplomate of the European College of Bovine Health Management (ECBHM (2016)) and next to his work in the clinic he offers herd health consulting in the areas of calf health and infectious diseases. His PhD work dealt with morbidity, mortality, and drug use in white veal calves with emphasis on respiratory disease (2012). His work unintendedly became a reboot of veal calf research as it coincided with the increased pressure to reduce antimicrobial use in food animals in the European Union. His research group focuses on calf health, specifically respiratory disease, with focus on improved diagnostics and decision support tools with the eventual goal to rationalize antimicrobial use. The veal calf industry remained a common thread in his work over the years with topics like antimicrobial use quantification, Clostridial infections, Mycoplasma bovis, on arrival risk classification, and more recently on the practical applications of quick thoracic ultrasonography (qTUS) to evaluate vaccination and antimicrobial treatment. Bart has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications and is a frequently asked speaker on international conferences. In 2023 he co-founded qTUS, a UGhent spin-off company bringing his work on the control of respiratory disease to practice with emphasis on training in lung ultrasonography.

Feeding veal cattle: Fibre, ratios, and rethinking nutrition
Holly McGill, MSc
Ruminant Nutritionist

Holly McGill is the Commercial Additives Leader for Canada with Diamond V. Having completed both a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and a Master’s degree in Dairy Nutrition from the University of Guelph, she was a ruminant nutritionist focused on beef and veal nutrition for almost 10 years after graduation before joining Diamond V. Holly is an active member of the Guardian Network, a volunteer, peer-driven community of mental health advocates that support Ontario’s farming community, and was incredibly excited to be elected as the new Board Representative on the Leadership Group of the Nutrition Committee for the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada in May of 2025. In her spare time, Holly volunteers as Secretary on her town’s Parks and Recreation Committee, as well as on the organizing committee for the Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada. Holly enjoys archery, mountain biking, and reading, and lives just north of Barrie, Ontario with her partner Dane and their three cats.

Questions for our speakers? Email them to events@vealfarmers.ca and the responses will be shared in the Finishing grain-fed veal in Ontario private Facebook group.