Alfalfa farmers who have purchased alfalfa seed from participating marketers have provided funding for eight new Alfalfa Checkoff research projects. The U.S. Alfalfa Farmer Research Initiative (USAFRI), better known as the Alfalfa Checkoff, recently awarded the fourth round of funding to projects submitted by researchers from a diverse collection of geographic areas of the country.

This month, literary lovers around the world remember a man who inspired reading in children one rhyme at a time. Theodor Seuss Geisel, more commonly known as Dr. Seuss, passed away in 1991, but his beloved books continue to live on.

This column brings you information regarding some of the research being done around the world and published in the Journal of Dairy Science (JDS). The objective is to bring to light areas of research that may have an immediate practical application on a dairy farm, as well as research that, even though may not have a practical impact now, could be interesting for its future potential application. The idea is to give a brief overview of select research studies but not go into detail on each topic. Those interested in further in-depth reading can use the citations to find each study.

As a farm family coach, I hear the struggles of farmers who are used to being able to quickly repair or fix problems that arise daily. When these hardworking, well-intentioned folks have a farming adult child who is not a good fit for the farm, great stress lingers far too long.

While the following five key trends are on our radar, there are many other trends helping to shape this year’s outlook for various sectors within Canada’s agriculture and agri-food industry. I encourage those in the industry to follow the trends that are most helpful in protecting and improving their business’s bottom line.

Across the dairy industry, every successful, profitable producer has a strong interest in reproductive efficiency. However, reproductive goals, protocols and procedures are different on every farm and are most often based on tradition, cost, labour availability and reproductive performance.

On Dec. 10 in Guelph, Ontario, researchers from around the world presented their recent findings and gave research updates for the Efficient Dairy Genome Project (EDGP).

Since dairy calves are born immune-deficient, successful passive transfer of immunoglobulin G (IgG) is essential to protecting calves from any disease challenges they encounter early in life.

Complications associated with dairy calf diarrhea are the leading cause of calf mortality in our industry. Successful recovery from diarrhea relies on the implementation of appropriate nutritional strategies in the early stages of the disease.