Cow people create environments for cows to thrive in. This is common knowledge to many in the dairy industry, but for Allen Bent and the team at A & J Bent Farms Ltd., it is integral to achieving a somatic cell count (SCC) of 56,000 in a herd of 150 Holsteins.

As I write this, I’m flying home from Florida. I’ve spent the past two days in a room full of fellow dairy enthusiasts at the Young Dairy Leaders Institute (YDLI). I signed up for this leadership opportunity seeking to connect with members of the dairy community my age and am leaving the program with exactly that and a new skill set I’m excited to utilize.

After building a state-of-the-art blueberry processing facility, Breanne Stobbe made her husband, AJ, promise that they wouldn’t undertake another large project for at least one year. As fate would have it, the opportunity to purchase a cheese processing facility would arise one month after the ultimatum was given, and together, they couldn’t say no.

« Aujourd’hui, nous avons le tiers du nombre de vaches que nous avions en 1960, et nous produisons plus de lait », a déclaré Dre Christine Baes, de l’Université de Guelph, lors de sa présentation principale à la réunion annuelle du Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council.

In a recent Progressive Dairy Podcast episode, Jamie Sullivan of Rippleview Hoofcare addressed some misconceptions surrounding hoof care, gave his thoughts on where hoof health priorities should lie and challenged the dairy industry to reframe thinking around lameness.

In a conversation with Matthew and Mike Flaman of Chris-Adie Holsteins, it’s obvious that their cows are top priority. Terms like “cow flow” and “cow comfort” pepper their descriptions of the operation. With an average of 38-40 litres of milk per day, the Holsteins of Chris-Adie are well cared for.

Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (DCRC) brought producers, academia and industry experts together for discussions, presentations and panels Nov. 12-14 at the 2024 annual meeting in Arlington, Texas. 

It took five years from concept to construction for Don-Mair Farms Ltd. of Mount Hope, Ontario, to start utilizing a compost-bedded pack barn, but owner Aaron Smith has been pleased with the outcome. This unique barn style has changed a few management aspects of the 80-cow herd but has proven to be a profitable change for the business.

“Today we have a third of the number of cows we had in 1960, and we’re producing more milk,” said Christine Baes of the University of Guelph during her keynote presentation at the 2024 Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council annual meeting. “That’s a pretty good sustainability story, but when you Google ‘sustainability and dairy cows,’ you see headlines about cow flatulence. Why is that?”