When it came to the future of their dairy, owner Kenton Lindenbach says Robella Holsteins faced two options: upgrade their aging facilities or exit the industry.

Plastic recycling is an issue that concerns consumers in almost every industry, and agriculture is no different. A study released in 2011 found that Ontario farmers use nearly 7,000 tonnes of plastic as part of their yearly operations.

Some years, by some happy accident, producing forage goes well and the end product is not only marketable but of exceptional quality.

To supplement a 160-milking cow herd and diversify business, Ian Crosbie has ventured into new territory as he breeds animals from the farm’s Holstein herd with Japanese Wagyu to produce snow beef.

Changes to animal transportation regulations have laid out requirements for shorter journey times and mandatory rest periods. This has increased the need for more feed and water rest stops to accommodate livestock being transported.

In the same way that stores take inventory to assess their performance, plan for the future and detect any unaccounted-for loss of product, on-farm forage inventories can reap similar benefits for farms. During his webinar, “Tools for Helping to Determine On-Farm Forage Inventories,” presented by the University of Wisconsin – Madison Extension as part of their Growing & Feeding Alternative Forages webinar series in April, Kevin Jarek shared helpful tips on how to assess forage inventories and how they can be useful.