The 4th annual Canadian Dairy Xpo will be held the first week of April, 2016, a departure from the early February date of the first three iterations of the Stratford, Ont., show. The Stratford Rotary Complex venue will host the Xpo Wednesday April 6th and Thursday April 7th, 2016, the show organizers say. Check out… Read More
Category: Dairy
The great thing about social media — like Twitter and Facebook — is that it provides a megaphone for farmers, a group of people who have struggled for decades to be heard by consumers. The flipside is, of course, that technology doesn’t discriminate; a megaphone for farmers is a megaphone for everybody else, too. Which… Read More
What if you could get a two- or three-day notice on a dairy cow going into heat? Or be alerted to an impending infection or sickness days before a cow showed signs? As Nancy Charlton, with DeLaval, explains in this interview from the Canadian Dairy Xpo, the Herd Navigator software can do just that. The… Read More
With increasing scrutiny from both the public and regulators, it’s up to people involved in animal agriculture to explain how and why they use antibiotics, says a veterinary epidemiologist from southeast Saskatchewan. While media reports have been critical about antibiotic use in livestock and poultry production, Leigh Rosengren of Midale-based Rosengren Epidemiology Consulting says Canadian producers… Read More
Introducing Fleckvieh genetics into holstein operations can significantly improve the strength, fertility and productive life of dairy animals, says John Popp of Big Bear Genetics. As one of the exhibitors at this year’s Canadian Dairy Xpo, Popp showcased the results of a few Fleckvieh/Holstein crosses, ranging from 50% – 87.5% Fleckvieh, as well as one calf with… 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
Update — Sunday, February 15th: The CFIA says South Korea has suspended imports of Canadian beef, pending further information on the confirmed BSE find. Almost 12 years after the first discovery of BSE in a domestic cow, headlines containing the acronym for the fatal neurological disease in cattle still touch a nerve among Canadian cattle producers. Many… Read More
It’s an age-old question — which is the best dairy breed? Like most farming questions, the answer is rarely a simple A or B and is more likely to be a qualified “it depends,” but Elliot Currie, with the University of Guelph, headed up a project recently to try and answer the question of which… Read More
Editor’s note: There is an updated story on this news here. In it, John Masswohl of the CCA remarks on whether or not this finding will significantly impact trade. As of late Friday, February 13, the age of the cow was not released publicly, but the location was — northern Alberta. As of Sunday, February… Read More
Millions of dollars can be spent on marketing, but to build a strong brand, you still need a good product. Having a high-quality product is what helped the Cooper sports equipment brand reach a 70 percent market share in hockey globally and a 30 percent market share in Major League Baseball, explains Donald Cooper, who now… 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 by comparing dairy… Read More
Ontario’s dairy farmers — and those from across Canada — descended on the storied town of Stratford, Ontario, last week to take in the third annual Canadian Dairy Xpo. Bernard Tobin, our Ontario field editor, caught up with show president Jordan Underhill for a recap of what was new and exciting at the show this… Read More
Today, at the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference in Regina, Saskatchewan, Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart announced a nearly $3.8 million investment in livestock and forage research. “Investments in research help keep our livestock industry growing and strong,” said Stewart. “The knowledge that will result from the projects receiving funding will ensure our farmers and ranchers remain… Read More
The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) published a resource on body condition scoring cattle this week. Along with the video below, the BCRC’s body condition scoring resource provides an interactive cow graphic, enabling you to compare an animal along a changing scale, and see the gains and losses in pregnancy rates, value, antibody levels in colostrum… Read More
The government of Canada has committed $3 million towards helping the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) set up a research and innovation centre at the University of Guelph’s Elora research location. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made the announcement at DFO’s Annual General Meeting marking their 50th anniversary in Toronto on January 14, 2015. The federal… Read More