Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Limited has confirmed its acquisition of Thornloe Cheese from EastGen. Located in Northern Ontario, Thornloe Cheese has been a local producer of cheese and cheese curds near Thornloe, Ont., for over 75 years. Employing about 30 people, Thornloe is known for its speciality cheese and recently introduced the first butter and… Read More
A new state-of-the-art dairy concentration facility will be built near Lacombe and Red Deer in 2021, with the capacity to accommodate up to 300 million litres of milk per year. The announcement was made this week at the Alberta Dairy Conference held at Edmonton, Alta. The facility is being dubbed Dairy Innovation West (DIW). It… Read More
Less than 24 hours back in the seat of Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau is starting off with bang. Bibeau took to Twitter to announce letters will be sent out today to all eligible Canadian dairy producers. The letter will outline the process for producers to access their compensation which is being administered by… Read More
It’s entirely possible that the United States Congress could ratify the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA/CUSMA) before Christmas, says Jim Wiesemeyer, Washington analyst for ProFarmer, as the votes are there — but will they? There is still work to be done in Congress ahead of the holidays, Wiesemeyer says, including passing a spending bill, so ratification before… Read More
While parts of Canada may have been looking for change, the move to a Liberal minority likely won’t change dairy producer priorities. “I would say it’s fairly status quo for us,” says Murray Sherk, Dairy Farmers of Ontario. “We work with whatever party (is) in power. We have good relationships with the Liberal Party…and they… Read More
The beverage landscape has changed remarkably in recent decades. In the 1970s, milk competed with three beverages — soft drinks, coffee, and juice. But today, consumer taste and choice knows no limits, whether it be sparkling juice, fusion drinks, pea protein drinks, cold brew coffee, or drinkable yogurt, the beverage list keeps growing. Can milk… Read More
Robotics are changing the dynamics of dairy businesses, and co-evolving along with them. “Today, conventional dairies spend 50-60 per cent of the total labour on the physical act of milking cows, (and) only 10 to 20 per cent on feeding cows, five to 10 per cent on health, and the other 10 per cent on… Read More
Ontario’s agriculture community has a lot to look forward to with the launch of the Canadian Poultry XPO scheduled for fall of 2020, and the next Canadian Dairy XPO set for April 1-2, 2020. Last year’s attendance surpassed 16,000 people. “I think the most rewarding part is the quality of the audience coming. They’re actually… Read More
Whether or not a cost can be considered an expense or an investment often comes down to not just the return, but also the length of time an expense can offer a pay-back. While hoof care may seem like a cost, Brad Ingram, sales manager for Vettec Animal Health, argues that a cow serves the… Read More
Chances are, if you’re the cook in the family you might have looked at the grocery store flyer at some point before hosting people for a big meal — especially a holiday dinner. One person who looks at the flyers on a frequent basis is Kevin Grier, of Kevin Grier Marketing and consulting. Why you… Read More
Dairy milking parlour maker DeLaval has taken a new approach to moving cows efficiently through the milking process. DeLaval’s P500 parallel parlour showcases the company’s efforts to reduce the size of parlour footprints, making it a strong choice for both new builds and retrofits, says DeLaval market solutions manager Pat Wiltzuis. Last week at the… Read More
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is a man of the people. There was no better evidence of that than this week when he sat with dairy farmers at the World Dairy Expo to listen to their concerns. Quite simply, U.S. dairy farmers are in a tough spot. After five years of depressed milk prices, producers… Read More
We are less than six months away from new federal livestock transportation regulations coming into force, and significant clarification is still needed surrounding the implementation of the rules. The existing rules for livestock transport within Canada have been overhauled from all sides, including: the angle of loading ramps, hours allowed in transit, restrictions on movement… Read More
Visual assessments are not enough to gauge feed quality, and a feed test is an economical way to protect against under or overfeeding certain critical components of a feed ration, such as protein or energy, says Andrea Hanson. Hanson is the beef extension specialist with Alberta Agriculture & Forestry, and says that feed testing all… Read More
Last week, the federal government announced it would be compensating supply-managed dairy producers $1.75 billion over eight years, for market losses expected through the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Much like many industry issues, there are divided opinions and viewpoints on the… Read More