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Tag Archives Dairy farming

Yield shouldn’t be the only determinant of corn silage hybrid purchase.
Crops

Putting value on the effect of undigestible forage fibre

Using highly digestible fibre corn hybrids usually makes financial sense, says researcher

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Dairy farmers who put digestibility at the top of their corn hybrid decision-making process should see more profit over those who look solely at yield. Mike Miller, a researcher at the W.H. Miner Institute in New York, says that a multi-year study that looked at the economics of emphasizing digestibility in hybrid decisions, shows that […] Read more
Farmers can see cow data, like this, within their line of vision using augmented reality glasses.
Livestock, News

Augmented reality system brings cows into full view

Company overlaying data and reality in new system to help information management

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Imagine looking over your barn full of cows and being able to tell instantly which ones were in heat and which ones are up and down in feed consumption or milk. There are ways to do this now, with a phone or a tablet computer feeding information to the farmer as they move through the […] Read more
The productivity growth on American dairy farms has increased the emphasis on exports.
Livestock, News

U.S. dairy industry continues to focus on exports

Milk price in the U.S. has increased slightly, providing some much-needed stability

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Reading Time: 3 minutes The American public is consuming more dairy products and that is, for now, using up any growth in milk production. That’s helped stabilize and even raise American milk prices for the first time in the past five years. Still, American dairy farmers continue to push aggressively into more export markets, says Tom Vilsack, president and […] Read more
The new barn at Maplevue Farms.
Livestock, News

Public invited to experience new dairy barn

North Perth farmers plan two distinct new-construction open house events

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Throwing open the doors of a newly built dairy barn for others in the agricultural sector to see is common practice; throwing open the doors for the general public is much rarer. The Johnston families of North Perth, operators of Maplevue Farms, plan to do both on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26. Why it matters: […] Read more
Farmer efficiency targets also help with areas of consumer concern.
Livestock

Consumer concerns driving livestock production discussion

Working towards trouble-free animals are often areas farmers are already working to improve

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Areas of consumer concern like climate change and animal welfare are driving the livestock discussion, but farmers are already regularly improving both areas while they make their farms more efficient. That was the message from recent interviews conducted by Farmtario with a member of the leadership team behind Lactanet’s annual ranking of herd management scores […] Read more
The biodigester at Harcolm Farms.
Livestock

Mini-biodigester offers big output for Ontario dairy farm

Ontario’s only mini-biodigester has been operating for more than a year and has changed how Harcolm Farms manages manure

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Reading Time: 3 minutes After about 18 months of operation, Ontario’s one and only mini-digester is going strong. It’s situated at Harcolm Farms near Beachville, Ont., and owned by dairy farmers Rob and Rachel McKinlay. Minis are a fraction of the cost of a full-sized digester (there are more than 40 here in Ontario) and require much simpler permitting. […] Read more
Researcher Gail Carpenter looked at feeding switchgrass to dairy cattle.
Livestock, News

Switchgrass can replace straw in dairy rations

However, researchers caution against feeding too much to lactating cows or milk production could drop

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Switchgrass has potential as both dairy cow bedding and feed – especially for dry cows. One of its benefits is that it is low in potassium relative to the more commonly used wheat straw. High potassium levels can cause problems for dairy cattle, especially if they are calving during a dry season. Gail Carpenter, a […] Read more
Lorenz Guntensperger in his new tunnel-ventilated dairy barn.
Livestock

More breeze in the barn makes for happier dairy cows

A new tunnel-ventilated dairy barn design puts the emphasis on air movement

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Reading Time: 4 minutes New dairy building designs are popping up across the province, that are shorter, sleeker and looking like they are wearing tinted glasses. Tunnel-ventilated free-stall barns have become more common over the past few years as a new design has come to dominate tunnel ventilation. Why it matters: Cow comfort is key to dairy farm profitability […] Read more
Dairy cattle are increasingly bred to beef bulls as sexed semen and genomics allow better choices on top dairy cattle.
Livestock

Dairy-to-beef breeding reaches new levels

Genomics cited as key factor in boosting the dairy farming trend

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Breeding of Holstein dairy cows to Holstein bulls has hit an all-time-low according to the Canadian Dairy Network — a clear indication of the growing popularity of using sexed semen for top milk-producing herd members and using beef semen on the rest. The trend is not confined to Canada. A recent article published by the […] Read more
Canada's dairy farms have faced difficulties as of late with declining milk prices and a lack of new quota growth.
News

Editorial: Dairy compensation plan announcement ill-timed

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Governments can be ham-fisted and tone deaf, a symptom of their huge, creaking architecture. They throw new coats of paint out to different areas of the economy just before elections. That lack of tact was in full display recently when Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada’s minister of agriculture and agri-food, announced a $1.75 billion, eight-year program for […] Read more

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