Building a new barn is not a quick venture. Years of research, life experience and dreams play into the move to build. For Nathan and Amy Yantzi of Tavistock, Ontario, they hoped to construct a barn that allowed their young family to participate in the dairy farming lifestyle and allowed for some time away from the cows.

Over my 38-plus years servicing dairy farms in southwest Ontario, I have always been intrigued by what strategies make some dairy farms more profitable than others. For the fiscal year 2025, I came to the conclusion that five main factors really stood out.

It’s been three weeks since dairy milk testers in British Columbia went on strike, and no progress has been made.

Many of us in the dairy industry endure the late nights, early mornings, less-than-ideal weather circumstances, faulty equipment and other inconveniences for one reason – the love of cows. The same certainly could be said for Tim Shearer and Irene Vietinghoff of Lynmark Farms, who earned the third-ever Canadian Milking Shorthorn Society (CMSS) Master Breeder award in 2025.

In a field outside Truro, Nova Scotia, a Holstein flicks her tail in the sunlight. The barn is quiet. The air smells of hay, damp earth and purpose. Above her, far above, three satellites glide invisibly across the sky. Together, they are measuring something that cannot be seen or smelled but is at the heart of the future of Canadian agriculture: methane.