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Tag Archives dairy production

As employee numbers increase on dairy farms, farmers have to learn to communicate the process improvement that has been part of their own way of working.
Barns, Cow health, Dairy, Milking equipment

Make your dairy processes lean and clean

Stopping and observing are the first steps to efficiency

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Dairy farmers work through similar processes every day, but taking another look at ordinary tasks can yield significant time and financial savings. Process evaluation has many names, including lean, Kaizan or Six Sigma, but the concepts are similar: constantly improve, find bottlenecks and reduce waste, says Dr. Chris Church, a master’s student at the Lang […] Read more
Panelists discuss their diversified dairy farm operations at the Canadian Dairy Xpo’s Canadian Dairy Business Conference. They included Korb Whale, left, Joel LePage, Gilbert Matheson, Bonnie den Haan and moderator Dan Matheson.
Barns, Dairy, Milking equipment

Diversifying dairy means more than milking

Here’s how four dairy farms grew their businesses beyond milk production

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Farmers who diversify their dairy operations can make it work with luck, great planning and a willingness to take risks. The Canadian Dairy XPO’s new Canadian Dairy Business Conference brought together four farmers who have diversified so milking cows is just part of what they do. Why it matters: Dairy farmers who want to grow […] Read more
Paul Larmer led the Semex Alliance as CEO for 17 years, through significant growth and 13 straight years of record revenues.
Dairy, Genetics, News

Paul Larmer – the retirement interview

The CEO of the Semex Alliance led the organization during 17 years of growth into a global entity still owned by Canadian dairy farmers

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Paul Larmer retired as chief executive officer of the Semex Alliance on Dec. 31, after growing a farmer-owned Canadian company into a leading global player. Over 17 years as CEO, Larmer led the organization to become one of the top five dairy genetics companies in the world, and saw it through dramatic change driven by […] Read more
Dairy Distillery produces alcohols from a milk byproduct called milk permeate. It produces vodka, hand sanitizer, and will now be producing ethanol for fuel.
News

Dairy Distillery plans fuel ethanol plant in Michigan

The plant in Michigan plans to produce 2.2 million gallons of ethanol per year to displace 14,000 tonnes of carbon

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Ontario’s Dairy Distillery is moving into a new type of alcohol through a partnership with a Michigan dairy co-operative to process waste milk permeate into ethanol. Dairy Distillery is known for its transformation of whey and milk permeate into vodka, called VodKow, which is now available across the province at LCBO stores. Why it matters: […] Read more
Data can help identify the quietly profitable cows in a herd.
Livestock

Forcing dairy data to tell useful stories

Sports teams have taken old stats and reinterpreted them — and dairy farms can do the same

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Sports teams have seen a data revolution in which common statistics known for years have been reinterpreted into new metrics that have led to significant changes in how games are played. The dairy sector should see the same sort of revolution, says Jeff Bewley, dairy analytics and innovation scientist with Holstein USA, an organization that […] Read more
Dairy farmers have taken numerous steps to reduce costs due to COVID-19 uncertainty.
Livestock, News

Turning off the milk tap

Dairy farmers are learning to manage larger changes in demand due to COVID-19

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Signs that dairy markets may be stabilizing will come as welcome news for the industry. The past three months since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a roller coaster ride for producers, who have worked to match frequent shifts in demand, and changes in how much they get paid for their milk, with […] Read more
The 40,000-litre tower now in use at Grootendorst Farms near Maryhill sits atop a 12-foot by 12-foot concrete pad.
Livestock, News

Test period underway for vertical milk storage in Ontario

Approved sampling protocols must be expanded for towers to come into use

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A test period has begun on a 600-cow dairy farm near Maryhill for the use of a 40,000-litre vertical milk tank. It isn’t currently legal for use on-farm to cool and store milk in Ontario because milk truck drivers can’t see, smell and sample the milk as prescribed under the Milk Act. Why it matters: […] Read more
Researchers found that there was no relation between level of antimicrobial use and milk production.
Livestock

Kicking antibiotics out of the dairy barn

Contrary to popular belief, reducing antibiotic use has not resulted in lower returns to producers

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It has been 68 months — and counting — since a cow in the milking herd at Rosy-Lane Holsteins LLC near Watertown, WI, was treated with antibiotics. The owners are now taking a hard look at whether they can reduce or eliminate antimicrobial use in dry cows and calves. While the 1,000-cow Wisconsin dairy Lloyd […] Read more
The new DeLaval VMS V300 milking robot.
Livestock, News

Milking robot upgrade targets higher capacity, faster attachment

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DeLaval has introduced a new milking robot, upgrading its long-standing voluntary milking system (VMS) to increase capacity and improve attachment time. The VMS V300 was introduced to farmers and industry at the company’s VMS Pro North America conference in Madison, WI. Norwell Dairy Systems, the largest DeLaval dealer in Ontario, tweeted that they would be […] Read more
Amanda Davison told dairy goat farmers to look at poor performing goats as a place to start improving production.
Livestock

Seven tips for better dairy goat performance

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A herd’s average production may be a go-to parameter for many goat dairy managers, but Amanda Davison believes their focus should shift instead to the average among a select group of that herd. “Don’t look at average production,” advised Davison on March 21 in Woodstock, as she addressed producers attending the annual general meeting of […] Read more

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