Brian Van Doormaal has served the dairy industry for nearly 40 years. Following his retirement in December 2025, Progressive Dairy asked Van Doormaal a few questions about his career and future plans.
Q: How did you first become involved with Lactanet? What was your role and how has it changed in your time there?
VAN DOORMAAL: My career journey of nearly 40 years started as director of genetics at Ciaq in 1986. During that nine-year period, I was able to put into practice my graduate studies education from the University of Guelph, where I discovered my passion for genetics and teaching. Under the outstanding leadership of Robert Chicoine as Ciaq general manager, I advanced my management experience and skills. Living in the province of Quebec also gave me the tremendous opportunity to become bilingual.
Following a 1994 federal government decision to transfer its genetic improvement activities for all livestock species to each respective industry, the dairy sector partners created Canadian Dairy Network (CDN) as the national genetic evaluation centre for dairy cattle breeds in Canada. Under the leadership of Gordon Souter, as chairman of the inaugural CDN board of directors, I was selected as CDN's general manager and first employee in early 1995. Hats off to those early CDN directors for their vision, leadership and commitment to success, even though the early years required some significant restructuring and streamlining. The industry-led genetic evaluation services provided by CDN helped to support the recognition of and demand for Canadian genetics around the world.
In June 2019, the boards of directors of CDN, CanWest DHI and Valacta announced the creation of Lactanet Canada as our national organization responsible for milk recording services, genetic evaluations, herd management software solutions, knowledge transfer and dairy cattle traceability. My key responsibilities included all genetic services as well as Canada's traceability program, DairyTrace. As manager of CDN, I was fortunate to build strong working relationships with Neil Petreny (CanWest) and Daniel Lefebvre (Valacta) to expand the services and establish the foundation of Lactanet for a successful future in the dairy cattle industry.
Q: In your opinion, what was the most significant advancement you had a hand in at CDN/Lactanet?
VAN DOORMAAL: Over the 30-plus years since the creation of CDN, Canadian genetic evaluation services have expanded to include over 100 different traits and indexes, representing over a dozen trait groups. Recognizing the different genetic selection goals of dairy producers and breeders across the country, Lactanet is proud to offer its two national indexes of Pro$ and the recently modernized LPI, accompanied by its subindexes. Of all new genetic services introduced by CDN, the most significant was undoubtedly the introduction of genomics in 2009. The genomics era has clearly revolutionized genetic selection and breeding strategies and has more than doubled the rate of realized genetic progress in Canada. As a geneticist, it has been a privilege to be involved in the significant advancement of using an animal's DNA to contribute to own estimation of their genetic merit for a comprehensive portfolio of traits.
Q: Which project do you feel challenged you to grow most during your career?
VAN DOORMAAL: The 2019 creation of Lactanet Canada resulted from three years of discussions and planning by the management staff and boards of directors of CDN, CanWest DHI and Valacta. While all three organizations were independently successful and leading industry organizations, bringing them together into the Lactanet partnership was pivotal for the future success of the dairy cattle sector and the profitability of dairy farmers across Canada. The combination of services provided by Lactanet's dedicated board of directors, management team and 450-plus staff will enable Canada to be well positioned for the dairy industry going forward.
Q: What are your plans for retirement?
VAN DOORMAAL: My passion for genetics and love for the dairy industry remain strong. I see, however, that the dairy industry has significantly changed over my career of nearly 40 years, and so has our customer needs. My primary reason to retire now is that I'm very confident in the team that lead Lactanet's genetics and traceability services, which gives me the comfort needed to step aside for the next generation of industry leaders. I appreciate the strong and continuous support and understanding that I've had from my wife, Karen, and family. It’s also time for me to enjoy spending more quality time with Karen, my children and our current group of nine wonderful grandchildren.
