🗓 Wednesday November 26th ⏰ Time: 14.00 CEST 📍 University Foundation, Brussels
👉 Register now and be part of the conversation!
👉 The agenda is available here!
Speakers & talks:
Sabine Scully — UCD School of Veterinary Medicine (Teagasc Walsh Scholar)
Talk: Calf health and the microbiota: exploring early life to support life-long health and performance
How do early-life microbiomes shape heifer development and future performance—and what can farms do now? Drawing on HoloRuminant cohorts from birth through pre-weaning to first pregnancy, this session connects colostrum management, pre-weaning diarrhoea, and respiratory disease to microbial community dynamics, highlighting practical measures to improve outcomes.
Bio: Sabine is a final-year PhD scholar, award-winning presenter, and skilled in knowledge transfer.
Prof. Veerle Fievez — Ghent University
Talk: Connecting rumen and faecal microbes to metabolic triad challenges in transition cows
The transition period is a physiological stress test—not all cows adapt without metabolic or inflammatory issues. This study links rumen bacterial and faecal archaeal profiles to metabolic/inflammatory status across health clusters. A small set of indicator genera emerged, suggesting potential for risk flagging, targeted feeding/management, and longer-term breeding perspectives.
Contributors: Veerle Fievez, Jeyamalar Jeyanathan, Muluken Girma, Xiaoping Jing, Mingqi Zhang & Stijn Heirbaut.
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Joni Van Mullem — Ghent University & ILVO
Talk: Effect of extruded linseed on methane emissions and rumen microbiota under two basal diets
Adding fat can mitigate enteric methane, but effectiveness depends on fat type and the basal diet. This in-vivo trial compared maize-silage vs grass-silage with extruded linseed, measuring methane output and profiling rumen microbiota to uncover diet–supplement interactions. Because PUFA can influence specific microbes, community shifts were examined for links to emissions—supporting clearer, on-farm recommendations.
Bio: Joni’s PhD research targets feeding strategies to reduce methane and the nutrition–microbiome dynamics behind them.
Contributors: Joni Van Mullem, Jeyamalar Jeyanathan, Bart Ampe, Veerle Fievez, Nico Peiren, Leen Vandaele.
What this event brings you:
Sharper decisions, sooner. Get concise updates on early-life management and microbiome development, methane mitigation, and transition cow, distilled for people who make real-world choices about health, feed, breeding, and policy.
A fast route from research to practice. Meet researchers behind current results and explore how to trial or scale solutions in your context—without reinventing the wheel. Networking that matters. Structured small-group conversations (World-Café style) help you find partners for trials, data sharing, funding applications, or joint communications.