Search - Progressive Dairy: Canada

Read the Progressive Dairy Canada digital edition

1. New beginnings, old connections: (Editor’s Notes); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
2. DFC launches new website in support of proAction: (Organizations); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
3. Getting ready for new roles: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
4. Burning money: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
5. Are you doing what successful managers do?: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
6. Passing on the family farm: Where not to start: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
7. 10 practices for a top-performing dairy CEO: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
8. Agriculture in the 21st century: Challenges and opportunities: (Management); 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, ...; Created on 28 August 2015
9. Creating a winning culture on your dairy: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
10. Characteristics of successful farms: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
11. Three things that will improve employee engagement: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
12. Prevent a fiery nightmare: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
13. Agriculture is a material-handling business: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
14. How to manage the data dump from robotic milking systems: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
15. How to choose the right pellet for a robotic dairy: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
16. Improve the nutritional value of milk with flaxseed: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
17. Evaluating dairy rations through in vitro fermentation model: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
18. What a campfire can teach us about fibre digestion: (Feed & Nutrition); 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. ...; Created on 28 August 2015
19. Increasing nutrition precision by focusing on amino acids: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
20. Simple structure leads to good results: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
21. On-farm applications of yeast-derived carbohydrates: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
22. Predicting feed intakes with forage and fibre digestibility: (Feed & Nutrition); 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, ...; Created on 28 August 2015
23. Get the most value from your corn silage crop: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
24. Hoof-trimming records are worth the time: (Herd Health); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
25. Four factors for fewer lame cows: (Herd Health); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
26. Mobility matters – pay attention to hoof health: (Herd Health); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
27. Create an action plan to hit digital dermatitis head-on: (Herd Health); 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, ...; Created on 28 August 2015
28. Dairy farms need a dedicated space for hoof trimming: (Facilities & Equipment); 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. ...; Created on 28 August 2015
29. Crack down on claw lesions: Sole ulcers, white-line disease: (Herd Health); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
30. Is it a sole ulcer or white-line disease?: (Herd Health); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
31. Feeding for better feet: (Feed & Nutrition); 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, ...; Created on 28 August 2015
32. Genetic selection can improve hoof health on dairy farms: (A.I. & Breeding); 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 ...; Created on 28 August 2015
33. Strategies to prevent and control infectious claw lesions: (Herd Health); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
34. Manage the nutritional needs of heifers: (Calves & Heifers); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
35. Stockmanship is important with calves and heifers: (Calves & Heifers); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
36. Managing your calf-care employees: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
37. The importance of water to calf growth: (Calves & Heifers); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
38. Maximizing health and profitability of your future herd: (Calves & Heifers); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
39. Screening, diagnosis and treatment of diarrhea in dairy calves: (Calves & Heifers); 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. ...; Created on 27 August 2015
40. Calf housing: Automatic group feeders vs. individual pens: (Calves & Heifers); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
41. System trains calves to automatic feeders at Henria Holsteins: (Calves & Heifers); 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. ...; Created on 27 August 2015
42. Feeding forages to young calves to add a ‘scratch factor’: (Calves & Heifers); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
43. Consistency pays when feeding baby calves: (Calves & Heifers); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
44. Just dropping by ... Of broken cisterns: (Yevet Tenney); 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, ...; Created on 27 August 2015
45. The Milk House: The punks of Belfast: (Ryan Dennis); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
46. Mechanics Corner: Evaluate wheel loader maintenance to improve efficiency: (Facilities & Equipment); 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 ...; Created on 27 August 2015
47. Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show offers new demonstrations: (Event Coverage); 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