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It’s hot enough these days to fry an egg on the hood of a tractor. Heat stress is a major issue, even in Canada. Yet not much is said about the negative effects of heat stress in calves. Most of our effects focus on cooling the adult milking cows. However, heat stress can also negatively impact the calves. If the calf’s dam was heat stressed during the dry period, the negative consequences could last a lifetime.
Crossbreeding cows has become the new normal for Birkstead Holsteins in Elora, Ontario. Thomas Wantenaar and his family have been experimenting with Holstein crosses since the early 2000s, around the same time Wantenaar graduated university and began working on the farm full time. Of the farm’s 310 cows, only 55 are purebred Holsteins, the rest of the herd is a variety of Holstein crosses.
We hope you and your families are doing well. As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on, DFC continues to work with government and provincial milk boards on your behalf to ensure that dairy farmers can perform continue to meet Canada’s market needs for high-quality and nutritious milk and dairy products.
From 2008-14, there was a total of 1,163 agricultural-structure fire incidents in Ontario, resulting in financial losses totaling more than $200 million.
If I could show you a way to increase the family harmony on your farm and help you be more profitable at the same time, would you listen? Would you be courageous enough to look at your own issues, strengths and weaknesses? I bet you would if it was easy.
Life has never felt more ambiguous. If there ever was a time to know what your team members are thinking, it is now. Some people might actually enjoy a hermit-legislated lifestyle.
In a typical year, when the calendar flips to July I would be flipping through my stash of pie recipes to decide which ones I should enter in the competition at the local fair. (Sadly, it has been cancelled in 2020, like most other events.)
Recent research from dairy universities (such as Cornell University) suggests we’re still unsure of the “best” protocols for supplementing fresh dairy cows with calcium.
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