A.I. & BREEDING

Early in 2012, Peartome Holsteins of Haldimand County, Ontario, joined the ranks of an elite few when it received its third Master Breeder shield from Holstein Canada.

Using technologies to automate routine tasks is common in every industry because automation increases productivity, quality and consistency by minimizing a task’s variability.

Concerns associated with inbreeding have recently received more airtime than usual due to genomics. Read on to have your questions answered about this popular topic.

Editor’s note: This article is the first in a two-part series about how to monitor and, if necessary, change a herd’s reproductive management. Click here to view the second part of this series.

As the dairy industry continues to consolidate into fewer but larger farms, the demands for effective management and leadership skills have increased.

Genomics – they’re here to stay. This tool to accelerate genetic improvement has reinstated an intrigue for genetics and has become a very popular topic. But why is genomics such a big deal? Because it really works.

Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace – and technology in the dairy industry is no exception. Some is considered “disruptive” technology, defined by Clayton Christensen of Harvard University as a process or product that takes root in simple applications at the bottom of the market and then relentlessly moves “up market,” eventually displacing established competitors.