Maarten Wouters left his home in Holland to work in Luxembourg at the age of 19. He was given the opportunity to take over the farm where he worked, so he and his dad farmed together there.

A background in dairy farming and a love for science led Bill Vanderkooi to own and operate EcoDairy. This farm focuses on agritourism and research. In doing so, it regularly adopts systems that are new to British Columbia and sometimes Canada.

Eggnog … a sweet treat that is a traditional beverage for many at the Christmas season.

Western Canada’s Lakeland College at Vermilion, Alberta, recently opened its new, state-of-the-art Dairy Learning Centre. Described by former student Jake Vermeer as a huge upgrade to its predecessor, the new facility offers students greater opportunity to learn by doing.

Anyone who can more than double the average score in any field of endeavour must be doing something right. Some might attribute such success to luck, but in the field of breeding dairy cows, luck rarely enters the equation. Hard work, high standards and dedication to the task combine to produce a track record many can envy.

Gary Sutcliffe knew he wanted the farmer connection – but did not necessarily want to be a farmer. The Huron County resident arrived from England in 2002, settling near the village of Walton, Ontario.

The Janssens family came from the Netherlands, where the family mixed farm was too small to support another generation. Jim’s grandparents immigrated to Canada in 1949 with eight children; Klaas Mol, their hired hand, came along as well.

When R&D Garfat Farms decided to try something new on the farm, they went with something really new. The farm was the first in North America to install a GEA Monobox automatic milking system.

William Judge married his sweetheart Katrina on a Saturday in October – and moved his cows into his new barn on the following Wednesday.