I find it ironic that fall, which is typically referred to as an ending season, always seems to be the start of something new. For students, it is the start of a new school year. For our company, it is ...
Launched in 2013, the proAction Initiative allows Canadian dairy farmers to collectively demonstrate responsible stewardship of their animals and the environment in order to produce high-quality, safe ...
A lovely poem (see below) was sent to me by a farmwoman who found it late at night as she pondered her new role on the farm. She is about to become an “empty nester.”
At the same time, her father-in-law ...
It’s great to come up with an idea, but it’s useless unless the ideas get implemented into reality.
In the past five years, the thing that has surprised me the most is the low rate of implementation ...
Why are some managers and employers successful while others are not?
Garrison Wynn, author of Amazon.com best-seller The Real Truth About Success, answered this question while keynoting the Professional ...
It seems to be all the hype today. There are as many seminars as there are questions, each bringing a perspective on ways to transition the family business from one generation to the next.
Many individuals ...
Throughout his career, Dr. David Kohl, professor emeritus, Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, has worked with agricultural enterprises from all over the world.
In a webinar hosted ...
I recently had the great honour to deliver the keynote address at the New York State Agricultural Society Forum. In this article, I share what I told that audience of agricultural leaders.
My goal, ...
Last year, an activist video showing deplorable animal treatment emerged from one of the largest dairies in Canada. One comment in an article about the incident struck a chord with me.
An “industry ...
Visiting many farms annually provides me with the unique opportunity to observe differences between farms. From the outside many farms operate very differently, but there is a common thread among the most ...
Recently, I read a piece in the e-version of a major business publication which, by title and implication, suggested that 70 percent of Americans hate their work.
The piece used as its factual anchor ...
Owning and operating any kind of farm is a tough job. The last thing you need is a farm-related fire.
Whether it’s a fully engulfed barn, a silo that ends up a towering inferno or a combine that got ...
Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, said: “McDonald’s is not in the hamburger business but the real estate business.” There have been several books written on Mr. Kroc’s life and the founding and establishing ...
Robotic milking systems provide an incredible amount of data by measuring more than 100 variables per cow per day. For some, all of this new information can be overwhelming to the point they’d rather not ...
As robotic dairies in North America continue to grow and advance, we have had the opportunity to greater learn and make advances regarding the proper way to feed these operations.
Today, the most common ...
Animal scientists from the University of Saskatchewan have found supplementing a dairy cow’s diet with extruded flaxseed products is an effective strategy for increasing the concentration of healthy fats ...
In intensive dairy production, feed costs represent up to 60 percent of the total cost of producing milk. Continuous improvement in dairy efficiency is vital to the success of the dairy enterprise.
Reliable ...
Forage will always be an important and key point of dairy nutrition. With constant fluctuation in forage quality crop-to-crop and year-to-year, it can be perplexing to try to determine how cows will respond. ...
The dairy industry has become increasingly precise in identifying and meeting the protein requirements of dairy cattle. Most notably, the industry has moved from focusing on the diet’s content of crude ...
The Kuntz family likes to keep things simple at Ikendale Farms Ltd. in Walkerton, Ontario. This third-generation family farm milks 330 purebred registered Holstein cows in a 30-stall rotary parlour and ...
Yeast-derived carbohydrates (YDCs) indirectly act through a number of mechanisms to alleviate production issues. YDCs block the entrance to the gut subway, preventing pathogens from boarding trains and ...
Forages are the foundation of all dairy cow and heifer diets. The ruminant digestive system must retain a mat of fibre from forages in order for rumen microbes to proliferate and ferment feedstuffs.
However, ...
Making consistent, high-quality corn silage requires sound management decisions and attention to detail. Moisture content, harvest maturity, kernel processing, chop length and ensiling methods have a direct ...
Time is money. Business owners and managers know that time management is the basis of a successful business, and good recordkeeping is vital to provide direction.
When it comes to taking care of your ...
When it comes to lameness, most dairy herds have room for improvement.
More than 40 percent of cows have “something on their foot,” according to University of Minnesota associate professor Dr. Gerard ...
Hoof health remains one of the most critical issues for dairy farmers today. Mobility is directly tied to hoof health, and it behooves (pun intended) dairy farmers and veterinarians to do all they can ...
Digital dermatitis (DD) is known by many popular names – strawberry heel, foot fungus, hairy heel wart, Mortellaro’s Disease – but they all refer to the same painful, infectious, contagious disease farmers, ...
It is now becoming common on dairy farms to have a dedicated area for hoof-trimming cattle. This is perhaps not surprising given the importance of lameness prevention to overall successful herd management. ...
Even with excellent nutrition, cow comfort and management, the best dairies deal with lameness to some degree, often occurring as a lesion in the rear outside claw.
“For dairy cattle housed on concrete ...
The next time the hoof trimmer tells you a cow has an abscess, ask him to be a little more specific. It is important to understand the underlying causes of these conditions in order to develop effective ...
Over the years, I have come to understand that nutrition and foot health go hand-in-hand. I learned that rations are directly related to laminitis, and laminitis is often the reason we have sole ulcers, ...
Hoof health is a top priority for the Canadian dairy industry right now. An online questionnaire in 2014 revealed lameness is considered the number one health issue by Canadian dairy producers.
The ...
Many dairy producers rely on footbath programs to help prevent and control active and chronic infectious claw lesions, such as digital dermatitis (DD), in their herds.
Maximizing the effectiveness ...
From birth, it is an art and a science getting a viable calf to her first lactation. Unfortunately, it is also a large farm expense that can lead to some poor choices and, ultimately, a less productive ...
Group-housing calves is becoming a more common way to house and manage calves. Part of managing a group of calves is being able to scan the herd effectively for individuals that need more attention.
Monitoring ...
Imagine an employee wearing gloves in a clean, dry pen skillfully administering high-quality colostrum to a calf born just minutes ago.The calf’s navel has already been dipped, the calf dried, and all ...
Water may be the most overlooked aspect of many calf-raising programs. Research has shown that it takes 15.3 days for the average U.S. dairy to first offer calves water. However, most experts agree that ...
Recent research by Cornell University is taking a fresh look at the first 60 days of the calf’s life. The focus of the research is on perinatal programming, or what happens after birth that determines ...
Neonatal calf diarrhea is a concern on many dairy farms and is caused by a combination of nutritional and infectious problems. The bacteria E. coli can cause diarrhea within the first couple days of life. ...
As producers move away from hutches and look into building new or remodeling an existing barn to house nursing calves, they have the opportunity to consider two housing management strategies: automatic ...
Henria Holsteins Inc. is a family-owned dairy business in Grey County near Conn, Ontario. Henk and Maria Pastink, their daughter Reba and son Gerrit are the proud owners of this large modern facility. ...
Do I feed hay? Would my calves grow better on a TMR? With industry experts arguing both sides of the issue, it’s sometimes hard to figure out which road to take.
The truth is: At this point, we don’t ...
Most people like consistency in life and work. Consistency should be a major goal in how we feed our baby calves. Here we will discuss how feeding consistently can improve your calf-rearing program.
In ...
When I was in my teens, I saw an old surfer movie. I don’t remember the plot, but I do remember a scene where a group of teens were dancing.
The rock-and-roll music blared and the dancers hopped around, ...
In hindsight, I could have avoided being kidnapped.
He seemed to be about the same age I was at the time. He had a shaved head, suspenders over a white shirt, and tattoos on his neck and arms.
People ...
Wheel loader maintenance is a complex practice because it requires different plans and schedules for a number of systems on the same machine.
For instance, fuel system requirements are completely different ...
There’s no wonder why nearly 50,000 people come out to a field in Woodstock, Ontario, for three days each September. Each year, the show organizers up the ante and deliver more than the year before.
It’s ...
Created on 27 August 2015
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