John Brunsveld and Justin Bell found opportunities in the Ontario organic milk market, and they talked about it at the recent South Western Ontario Dairy Symposium. Brunsveld produces organic milk on his farm, milking 125 cows. Bell farms in Chatham-Kent and was accepted into the Organic New Entrant Quota Assistance Program and hopes to be […] Read more
Tag Archives Dairy farming
Dairy farmers find opportunity in organic
At the 2019 South Western Ontario Dairy Symposium two farmers shared why they decided to transition to organic dairy
Aim for consistency in mixed dairy cow rations
Avoiding variations in feed timing and TMR make-up means happier cows
Feeding dairy cows too little protein can be a problem if total mixed rations (TMR) are inconsistent batch-over-batch. That was one of the findings from a 2014 study of eastern Ontario farms, highlighted by University of Guelph Animal Biosciences Professor Trevor DeVries during a recent dairy farmer information session hosted by Wallenstein Feed and Supply. […] Read more
Getting the grass-fed dairy details right
Harriston-area dairy farmer focuses on pasture and grass forages and feeds no grain
Martin Pronk showed a slide of a cow that had been milking for over 700 days, and suggested to an audience at the recent Guelph Organic Conference that his lack of concern about either getting that cow pregnant or sent away for slaughter is what sets him apart from most fellow dairy farmers. But in […] Read more
Cameras provide base for dairy automation and monitoring
Dairy Focus: Companies are using the cameras to measure everything from feed intake to body condition
Cameras are helping attach milking machines to teats, monitor body condition score, heats and feed consumption on dairy farms, making it one of the base technologies of the dairy data revolution. Why it matters: Farmers need technology that can reliably work over many repetitions and in tough conditions. Cameras that see in three dimensions have […] Read more
More work needed to put dairy data gathering to good use, say researchers
Dairy Focus: University of Guelph researchers say cow health events can be predicted with data
The proliferation of artificial intelligence in today’s dairy barns should eventually lead to the ability to predict a daily disease probability for lactating animals, says University of Guelph researcher Meagan King. However, one of her University of Guelph compatriots Stephen Leblanc noted that “we’re not there yet.” King, a post-doctorate animal biosciences researcher and Leblanc, […] Read more
Dairy services partnership not yet finalized
The new name for the partnership has not yet been released and groups ask for patience
Board members and staff from Can West DHI, Canadian Dairy Network and Valacta continue to work toward finalizing their new partnership and collective new name and service delivery model. CanWest DHI Board Chair Ed Friesen told farmers at the CanWest DHI annual meeting to have patience. “Managing the process and doing things right is more […] Read more
Choosing calf housing options
Dairy Focus: There are strengths to both individual and group housing facilities for calves
Individual housing in hutches remains “the gold seal for health,” said a dairy farmer who recently switched to group housing for calves. But he insists the health drawbacks are manageable, and made the switch anyway for other reasons. “Labour savings? Big plus. Animal welfare? Big plus,” declared Oxford County’s Thomas Jackson, who moved his calves […] Read more
Processor investments should continue to grow Ontario milk market
The fluid milk market situation has prompted calls for better forecasting of quota allocation
Dairy Farmers of Ontario expects the demand for milk in the province to continue to grow, even with potentially significant new volumes of imports from trade deals. But unlike last year, there were no bold predictions of what that increase in demand means for quota levels. At last year’s annual general meeting, DFO board chair […] Read more
Getting more milk per cow nets environmental bonus
A study shows that increasing productivity on dairy farms decreases their environmental impact
Dale and Aaron Smith started focusing on improved herd health and feeding efficiency to boost milk production on their Mt. Hope, Ontario dairy farm — and they succeeded. Milk production increased 15 per cent, from 34 litres to 40 litres per cow per day from 2011 to 2016. What they didn’t expect to find was […] Read more
How to tell the sustainability story
Professor says production efficiency increases are legitimate argument
Increases in farm production efficiency continue to reduce the environment impact per unit of production. However, such messages are often technical. How well do they resonate with consumers looking at agriculture as an environmental villain? Why it matters: Farmers are trying several ways of telling their story about environmental impact. The bottom line is that […] Read more
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