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What’s your dairy cow’s milkfat content? It’s an easy question, right? You likely have milkfat records from generations on your farm and could readily explain how your milk components have changed over the years or pinpoint what management and feeding practices caused reductions or increases in milkfat.

As we approach 2020, the ability to extract data from a dairy barn continues to grow. Advances in artificial intelligence are already being implemented on farms and can impact how farm management decisions are made.

Farming around weather patterns is a constant challenge for dairy producers. The frequent rains this year are resulting in very tight windows for fieldwork.

Marcel and Annika Steen, owners of Celmar Dairy Ltd., have relied on automation ever since they started farming near Norwich, Ontario, in 2006 with two milking robots.

As I travel around the country working with youth to hone their fitting skills, the one area everyone wants to know more about is how to get a straight, full topline and how to complement that with just-right belly hair.