Blog
John A. Metcalf, PhD, Ruminant Portfolio Manager, Trouw Nutrition Canada Lameness is recognised as one of the biggest health issues on dairy farms, resulting in lower milk production and higher culling rates. Research in the Journal of Dairy Science in 2017 showed that lameness costs $235 – $423 per cow. Lameness is accentuated in robotic [...] Read More
For every dairy farm enterprise to be successful and profitable there are many details the farm owner and/or manager and employees must take into consideration. Optimizing forage quality, cow comfort, transition cow health and time budgets are factors which should always be taken into account. This is the foundation for our Dairy Nutrition Advisor (DNA) [...] Read More
Keep going foward Our second article is about Peggy and Ken Wilkes, a husband and wife business duo who knows how to dare. This couple is the fifth generation of Wilkes to work on this Eastern Ontario farm. Their three children are currently pursuing careers off the farm. Peggy and Ken Wilkes have completely changed [...] Read More
Dare to Embark on a Journey with a Conscious Awareness We went to the region of Yamachiche to meet with Jean-Luc Bellemare, Marc Bellemare, Éric Bellemare and Louise St-Yves, the owners of Beljie Farm. 4 years ago, this company “dared to” when they decided to install two milking robots in an entirely new building. With [...] Read More
Bob Reck, Dairy Sales Manager, Southern Alberta, Trouw Nutrition Canada As a member of the dairy team in Trouw Nutrition Canada, I have the opportunity to take part in the different training modules of our Dairy Nutrition Advisor program. Although I have been working in dairy nutrition for the last 15 years, I am never [...] Read More
John A. Metcalf, PhD, Ruminant Portfolio Manager, Trouw Nutrition Canada A key ALLY for your robot herd Trouw Nutrition has invested in robotic milking feeding programs right from the beginning. We have a proven track record on-farm with the knowledge, expertise and tools to help you achieve your goals. This includes training our teams – [...] Read More
Sunshine Colony has been in the dairy business since the 1950s, and Paul Walter has been the dairy manager for the past 15 years. His family, including his wife Leah and their five children also help with day to day chores. Paul’s brother Daniel helps also as the second man at the barn. Paul started [...] Read More
Pascal Roy represents the third generation of his family who has worked on the Des Grands Prés dairy farm. Even though he took over the farm’s management, his parents are still involved in the daily chores of the farm. In 2019, with the construction of a new barn, they made a transition to robotic milking. [...] Read More
Rickeen Farms has focused on slow and steady growth for their century farm. Owned by Rick & Doreen, and Brett & Jocelyn, and with Rick’s dad, Oliver, still helping with chores, this fifth generation dairy is a great example of how multiple generations can work together to achieve their goals. In 2010, they completed a [...] Read More
Dr. Greg Penner, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan Precision feeding of dairy cows is a concept that is often discussed with the implementation of robotic milking systems. Precision feeding relies on knowing the nutrient requirements of an individual cow and delivering a specific diet that meets those requirements at a given [...] Read More