On this episode of the DFD, I had the pleasure to talk to Joanne Fallis from Fallis Immigration Consulting. Joanne specializes in supporting and helping farmers in Canada steer through the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program. Labour is the number one concern in the Agriculture industry. Joanne and I cover lots of great topics related to navigati…

On this episode of the DFD, I have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Luiz Ferraretto. Dr. Ferraretto is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in Ruminant nutrition and Research at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. The 2024 Corn Silage season is upon us and it has been a trying season for growers and producers. Dr. Ferraretto and I have …

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Trent Westhoff. Trent is currently conducting research at Cornell University and will soon be defending his dissertation to earn his PhD. Trent and I have a fascinating conversation about colostrum, and why we sometimes see reduction in volume as well as a research paper that he …

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I had the pleasure of talking to Tom Kilcer from Advanced Ag Systems and one of the pioneers in the photosynthetic forage wilting process more commonly known as "Hay in a day" We have a great conversations about best management practices for this years forage crops with special attention paid to Winter Cereals an…

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Nick Thurler. Nick is the President of Green Energy Trading Corporation (GET-Corp). GET-Corp offers a viable avenue for dairy farmers to positively impact their sustainability efforts through the conversion of on-farm organic wastes to renewable natural gas (RNG), while creating …

On this week's episode of the podcast, we have something a little different for the listeners. I had the opportunity to host a panel where we discussed our careers. I wanted to say thanks to our participants, Dr. Sara Robson from Grand Valley Fortifiers, Justine Dodson MSc from Sharpe's Feed Supply, Dr. Bruna Mion from Lactanet and Dr. Chris Church…

On this episode of the podcast, I have a great conversation with Aaron Keunen. Aaron is part owner of Mapleview Agri, a milk replacer, animal health product manufacturer and veal/calf research facility in Palmerston Ontario, Canada. Aaron and I have a great talk about calves, what we are seeing in the country side currently and what is coming down …

On this episode of the podcast, I talk to Dr. Bill Mahanna. Bill is the Global Nutritional Services Manager with Pioneer, he is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. Bill and I cover all things corn silage, we touch on plant health, starch deposition, kernel processing and some new and exciting tech…

On this week's episode of the podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Michelle Durnin. Michelle is an agronomist and the owner of Prosperity Ag, located in Huron County, Ontario. Michelle has worked for several years in Ontario with a focus on forage crops. We have a great conversations about this years corn crop, whether or not we should look a…

On this weeks episode of the Dairy Farmer's Digest, I have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Geoffrey Dahl from the University of Florida. Geoffrey is the Director of the Feed the Future Innovations Lab for Livestock Systems and a Professor - Harriette B. Weaks Professor President of the ADSA. Dr. Dahl is the leading experts in the world when it comes…

On this week's episode of the Dairy Farmer's Digest, I talk with Gary Markus, who along with his wife and four kids run Markhill Holsteins in Ingersoll Ontario. In addition to milking cows, Gary also works as an Elite account manager with Alta Genetics in SW Ontario. Gary and I have a great discussion about developing a plan and choosing criteria t…

On this on the DFD podcast, I have a great conversation with Dr. Luis Ferraretto. Dr. Ferraretto is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Dairy Nutrition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The spring is one of the most important times of year, not only is it planting season but it brings the first opportunity to make high quality …

On this episode of the Dairy Farmer's Digest (DFD) podcast, I talk to Cox Wensink. Cox is the owner and herd manager at Hoenhorst Farms in Woodstock Ontario where her and her team milk 500 cows with 10 Lely A4 milking robots on two locations utilizing temporary foreign workers (TFW). We have a great discussion around how she came about using TFW an…

On this episode of the Dairy Farmer's Digest (DFD) podcast, I talk to Dr. Mike Hutjens. Mike is a Professor Emeritus in the department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois. Dr. Hutjens grew up on a dairy farm in Green Bay, Wisconsin and has a PhD from the University of Wisconsin and has focused his entire career on teaching dairy profes…

On this episode of the Dairy Farmer's Digest (DFD) podcast, I talk to Brad Gilchrist. Brad is the Beef Marketing and Product specialist for Semex. Brad is a graduate of the University of Guelph Ag economics and Business degree. He and his family also operate a purebred Angus cow calf operation in Lucknow Ontario. Breeding Beef x Holstein has become…

On this week's episode of the Dairy Farmer's Digest (DFD), I talk to Dr. Gerard Cramer. Gerard has a DVM, DVSc from Ontario Veterinary College and is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota in the department of Veterinary Population Medicine. Lameness is the most costly disease on modern dairy farms, Gerard and I discuss some of the s…

On this week's episode of the Dairy Farmer's Digest (DFD), I talk to Mark Gerber. Mark is an account manager and Technical Specialist with Zinpro. We cover a plethora of topics relating to hoof health, hoof trimming and lameness prevention and treatment. Lameness is the most costly disease on modern dairy farms, it's impact can be felt through prod…

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Andrea DeGroot from Farm Credit Canada. Andrea is a Business Advisor who specializes in farm transitions. Transitioning a multi-million dollar farm business is a daunting task, Andrea and I discuss where to start, what resources you may need and how producers can navigate this …

On this episode of the podcast, I talk to Dr. Bill Mahanna. Bill is the Global Nutritional Services Manager with Pioneer, he is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. Bill and I cover all things corn silage, we touch on plant health, starch deposition and how to cut, pack and store the most critical …

On this episode of the podcast, I talk to Dr. Sarah Parsons, she is the Colostrum Technical Specialist with Alta Genetics. Sarah provides technical support for clients right across North America. Dr. Parsons graduated from the University of Guelph with a BSc in Animal Biology and a PhD in Dairy calf management where she specialized in calf weaning …

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I talk to Bill Woodley. Bill is the owner of Woodley Dairy Direction, a consulting company that specializing in training nutritionists on the key concepts of dairy nutrition, Bill has spoken to, and consulted with Dairy producers all over the world. With hay and winter forage crops quickly reaching their harves…

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I have a great discussion with Dr. Stirling Dorrance, DVM from Nova Scotia, Canada. Along with being a practicing veterinarian, Dr. Dorrance works with Lactanet in Eastern Canada where he works with producers understanding and interpreting Profilab, the milk fatty acid report from Lactanet. Milk has a multitude…

On this episode of the podcast, I talk to Dr. José Santos, a Professor in the department of Animal Science at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Dr. Santos and I explore the world of DCAD diets for transition dairy cows and how it can work on your operation to help keep cows healthier and more productive. Dr. Santos conducts applied and basic …

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I talk to Tony Hall, Technical Services support from Lallemand Animal Nutrition. Tony and I drill down on the difference between forage samples when it all looks good on paper, and how CP isn't always the best indicator of quality. Tony has extensive experience when it comes too making high quality forages and …

On this episode of the podcast, I talk to Dr. David Renaud. Dave is a veterinary epidemiologist in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph. His research focuses on the health and welfare of dairy calves, Dave teaches in both the veterinary and undergraduate curriculum. As one producer put it to me, "raising calves can be t…

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I talk to Dr. Andy Skidmore from Lallemand Animal Nutrition about inoculant, what they are, how they work and how they can fit into your forage production systems. Dr. Skidmore is a Veterinarian with a PhD in Dairy Management from Cornell University. He has been in the dairy industry in the United States and ha…

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I have a great conversation with Dustin Grisnich. He is the owner of Windy Creek Dairy in Fort Macleod, Alberta. Dustin, along with his wife, four kids and two cats milk 45 cows under the new entrant program from Alberta milk. He is also the host of the Faraway Farmboy podcast, a podcast dedicated to networking…

On this week's episode of the podcast I have a great conversation with Dustin Gamble, the Procurement manager for Shur Gain Ontario. There are a lot of things that we can't control in our day to day lives and business, and the major global influences on feed price is one of them. Dustin and I talk about what influences the markets around the world …

On this episode of the podcast, I have a great discussion with Kristen Kelderman about mental health. Kristen is currently doing her Masters of Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health at King's College in London, UK. Mental health is becoming a more common and less stigmatized conversation in our daily lives. Kristen helps facilitate those con…

On this episode of the DFD podcast I have a great conversation with Kristin Benke, she is the Director, Economic and Product Development with the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. Kristin has spent the last 12 years at the DFO. We have a great conversation about how the new pricing schedule has been going for the past 8 months. We also talked about what sh…

On this episode of the podcast, I get to talk to Dr. Bill Mahanna. Bill is the Global Nutritional Services Manager with Pioneer, he is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. Bill has an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to making high quality forages, especially corn silage.…

On this week's episode of the podcast I talk with Gary Markus about how to set your farm up for Reproductive success! Gary, along with his wife and four kids run Markhill Holsteins in Ingersoll Ontario. In addition to milking cows, he also works as an Elite account manager with Alta Genetics in SW Ontario. you can reach him at gary.markus@altagenet…

On this week's episode of the podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Christine O'Reilly, the forage and grazing specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Christine is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to producing high quality forages. We have a great conversation about what is happening in the province w…

On this episode of the podcast, I talk to Dr. Mac Littlejohn and Dr. Reg Clinton from Kirkton Vet Clinic about how heat stress affects the cows. We have a great discussion of what to look for when monitoring your animals and what we can do to help them out. Dr. Littlejohn and Dr. Clinton are partners at Kirkton Vet clinic, where they are 2 of the 1…

On this weeks episode of the DFD podcast, I talk to my colleague Chelsea Gordon about the effects of heat stress on cows. The first week of June was a scorcher in Ontario so we had a great conversation about what we can do as a nutritionally to help these cows make milk and components. Chelsea is the Director of Dairy Technology Application for Tro…

On this episode of the podcast, I talked to Tom Kilcer, he is one of the pioneers of the "haylage in a day" or the photosynthetic drying concept. Tom is very passionate about helping producers make the highest quality feed possible, and has spoke to many farmers, researchers, nutritionists and equipment manufacturers all over North America. Tom wor…

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I talk to the man, the myth, the legend Bill Woodley. Bill is the owner of Woodley Dairy Direction, a consulting company that specializing in training nutritionists on the key concepts of dairy nutrition, Bill has spoken to, and consulted with Dairy producers all over the world. With protein and grain prices as…

On this episode of the podcast, Dr. Chris Church is back on the DFD. We have a great discussion about transitions cows. We touch on a few subjects including DCAD, transition diseases, feeding and grouping strategies. During this discussion, I pose a question to Dr. Church; Is 3.5 kg's (2.0 kg's of milk fat and 1.5 kg's of milk protein) on a herd av…

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I talk to the always energetic Kelsey Banks. She is an agronomist in Eastern Ontario, who has a keen interest in dairy forage crops. Kelsey is very passionate about making sure producers work as a team with their agronomist and nutritionist to make the highest quality forages possible. We had a great conversati…

On this week's episode of the podcast, I get the pleasure of talking to Dr. Matt Walker. Matt along his wife Jaqueline and four daughters own and operate Dairy Doc Holsteins in Woodstock, Ontario. Matt is also a Vet, and a partner in Oxford Bovine Veterinary Services one of the largest and most progressive dairy focused vet clinics in Canada. Matt …

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I talk to Tony Hall from Lallemand Animal Nutrition. Tony and I talk about how too make the highest quality silage possible, and how mitigating silage loss relates too profitability of your dairy. Tony has extensive experience when it comes too making silage and helping producers reach their goals. Tony is a wo…

On this week's episode of the podcast, I talk with Frank Louwagie from Hillmanor Farms in Mitchell, Ontario. Frank, along with his wife Heather and kids just moved into a state of the art, cross vented robotic milking facility. Along with robots, there is also a new calf nursery and Lely vector feeding system. Building a facility like this can be a…

On this week's episode of the podcast, I talk to Dustin Gamble, the commodity purchasing manager for Shur Gain Ontario about the commodity markets. The markets have been volatile lately, and Dustin helps shed some light on what factors are influencing it from a local and global perspective. I hope you enjoy this week's episode, if you have any ques…

On this week's episode of the podcast, I talk with Gary Markus, who along with his wife and four kids run Markhill Holsteins in Ingersoll Ontario. In addition to milking cows, Gary also works as an Elite account manager with Alta Genetics in SW Ontario. Gary and I had a great discussion about what criteria he uses to cull animals, it is a tough dec…

On this week’s episode on the podcast, Keith Schweitzer talk to Steph Towers, who along with her husband have taken on the responsibilities of rearing another producers calf from week old to short bred. Over the years, there farm has found interesting ways to expand their cash flow and maximize capital investment!…

On this episode of the DFD podcast, Keith talks with Kristin Benke. She is the Director, Economic and Product Development with the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. Kristin has spent the last 11 years at the DFO where she plays a key role in getting the milk from your farm to your customers homes.Keith Schweitzer

On this episode of the DFD podcast Keith Schweitzer talks with Dr. Mike Steele, Associate Professor in the department of of Animal Bio Science at the University of Guelph. Dr. Steele shares many great insights of calf husbandry and gut health. They also discuss some of the cutting edge research happening at the University of Guelph.…

(A note on this episode, it was recorded on Wednesday Sept 23 over a week before the episode was released.) In this episode we talk with Drew Thompson (agronomist with Pride seed) about some of the key factors to consider when buying seed for the coming year. We talk about what we are seeing so far this year with the silage that has already come of…

In this episode we talk with Dr. Gerard Cramer from the University of Minnesota about all things Hoof health. Dr. Cramer is a world renowned Hoof specialist that sheds some lite on what producers can do to prevent, treat and monitor lameness and improve overall cow health and profitability.lukemichalek

On this week's episode of the DFD (Dairy Farming Discussions) podcast, we have the man, the myth the legend Bill Woodley on too talk about all things Corn silage. Bill is the owner of Woodley Dairy Direction, a consulting company that focuses on teaching producers around the world how to improve their forages and their bottom lines. Corn Silage tim…