With Thanksgiving right around the corner, people will soon be making lists of the things they are thankful for. While it is good to take time once a year to recognize the many good things in our lives, I recently read an article that encourages a regular reflection of thanks, especially during times of challenge and change.

Six short fact sheets are now available describing DFC’s investments in research, governance and the expected outcomes from farmers’ investments in research.

Responses collected from two surveys to farmers revealed that lameness and other hoof health issues were among some of the top animal health concerns. In the Dairy Research Cluster’s Have Your Say survey and campaign in 2015, farmers asked 23 questions associated to measures to improve hoof health.

We all know feed consumption by dairy cows is critical for maintaining a high level of production. Given that, it is not surprising dairy producers put a lot of time and energy into making sure they have high-quality feedstuffs put together into rations for their cows.

Running the dairy operation at Tibben Farms in Brinston, Ontario, is Ralph Tibben and his two sons, Mike and Mark. Mike manages the dairy herd while Mark does all of the cropping. Ralph does “a little bit of everything,” Mike says.

For much of the dairy industry, the adoption of automatic milking systems has prompted the return of computerized concentrate feeding to the “dairy parlour,” ostensibly to entice cows to enter the machine to be milked.

With many feed ingredients available to producers, protein is still a sought-after nutrient, not necessarily due to lack of availability but the fluctuating yet increasing costs associated with protein. Although not a new crop for western Canada, for Ontario the faba bean is somewhat novel, and interest is rising.

The canola plant was developed in the 1970s to capture the beneficial properties of rapeseed oil and meal – but also to remove the anti-nutritional factors that limited the use of rapeseed oil and meal by the food and livestock feeding industry.