Abstracts due January 29th, 2026. No late abstracts will be accepted.
All abstracts must be submitted electronically via the submission portal under the “Abstract Submission” tab of this website. Please review the Guidelines before submitting an abstract.
Each abstract should contain:
Additional abstract information
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Abstract Submission Guidelines
Abstracts must be submitted as a .doc or .docx file format. This file should include the following: Title, authors, author affiliations, abstract (max. 200 words), funding sources, and a word count). An example, below, has been included for reference (please follow this format):
Abstract ExampleA survey of dairy calf rearing practices in British Columbia Elizabeth R. Russell1, Marina A.G. von Keyserlingk1, and Daniel M. Weary1 1. Applied Animal Biology, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada Decades of research have established best practices for dairy calf care; however, adoption of these practices on commercial farms remains poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to describe calf-rearing practices and methods used to assess calf growth on dairy farms in British Columbia (BC), Canada. An online survey was distributed to all 437 dairy farms in BC between June and December 2023, with 63 responses received (14.4%). On average, 2.8 ± 1.5 employees were responsible for daily care of pre-weaned calves. Most farms housed calves individually (63.5%), while 25.4% used social housing and 11.1% used a combination of both. The mean maximum milk allowance was 9.4 ± 2.8 L/d, with 87.1% of farms offering more than 8 L/d. Teat feeding was used on 71.7% of farms, including 16.3% using automated feeders. Mean weaning age was 75.8 ± 16.3 d, primarily based on calf age. Only 52.4% of farms measured pre-weaning growth, and few had defined growth targets or access to scales. Overall, BC dairy farms largely follow science-based milk-feeding recommendations, but substantial opportunities remain to improve adoption of social housing and monitoring of calf growth to support upcoming regulatory changes. Supported by NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Cattle Welfare Word Count: 192 words |
Oral and Poster Competition
All submitted abstracts will be reviewed to ensure compliance with the guidelines. Abstracts indicating an interest in being considered for the competition will also be anonymized and evaluated by reviewers, with presenters for both competitions selected based on reviewer recommendations.
Students who will be eligible to participate in the oral and poster competitions will be contacted directly on the day the abstract results are released, and their names will be posted on this website.
Awards
The Dean will present an award for the 1st and 2nd place winners of the poster and oral competitions. Please indicate on the registration page if you wish to be considered for the competition (during abstract review).
Support
Technical questions regarding electronic submission should be directed to the Conference Coordinators at lfs.gsc@ubc.ca.