They've built it, now it’s time to come. With the 2016 Canadian Dairy XPO just two weeks away, show organizers are getting ready to unveil the new WeCover Cow Coliseum and pedestrian bridge that will connect the building to the Stratford Rotary Complex. The steel bridge will carry the more than 15,000 visitors expected to... Read More
Category: Herd health
Cows aren't the only creatures that need to be trained to use a dairy robot. The value a dairy farm gets out of an automated system depends on all the people involved knowing how to utilize the machine's capabilities. "That robot is doing nothing more than milking your cows," explains Ben Smink of Lely North... Read More
North America’s first dairy milk robot was installed in 1999, less than 50 kilometres from Jack Rodenburg’s Woodstock, Ontario office. The long-time OMAFRA dairy specialist was sceptical at first, but he quickly realized that robot technology could revolutionize Canadian dairy farms. He says early models had their issues, but he quickly realized the potential for... Read More
How often do you assess a dairy cow’s body condition score? Sure, you’re looking at your cows everyday, but changes like weight loss can go unnoticed exactly because you see them every day — the change may be too subtle to pick up on. Why would you want to be assessing and recording body condition... Read More
Cattle will give you signals as to their health and well-being, says director-owner of CowSignals Training Company, Joep Driessen. Driessen was one of this year’s Canadian Dairy Xpo speakers, where he hosted a Robot Feeding Signals workshop. In it, and in an interview with Bernard Tobin, he emphasized the importance of good food and rest... Read More
Could Johne's disease be lurking in your dairy or beef herd? It very well could be, and you'd potentially never know it, or most of your herd could be infected before you have a positive test. The same can be said for beef herds, so those of you with all types of cattle need to... Read More