THE DFD (Dairy Farmer’s Digest) Podcast

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I have the honor of talking to Dr. Trevor DeVries. Dr. DeVries is a Professor and the Canada Research Chair in the department of biosciences at the University of Guelph. Trevor's research focuses on dairy cattle health, welfare, behavior, and nutrition. We have a great discussion about what can affect a cow's productivity in the feeding realm outside what is bal...

On this episode of the DFD, I have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Shari Van de Pol. She is a veterinarian and Computer Engineer and one of the founders and CEO of Cattleytics. Data management is becoming increasingly important when running a multimillion-dollar business, and Dr. Van de Pol and I have a great conversation about data management, human resource management, and how Artificial Intellig...

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Claira Seeley, an Assistant Professor in the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food System Department at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Seeley's research focuses on the integration of dairy cow biology and precision dairy technologies, with a specific emphasis on epidemiological methods. Her PhD was concentrated on the identi...

Today, I’m joined by Dr. Heather Dann, President of the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, NY. With over two decades at Miner Institute, Dr. Dann has led groundbreaking research in dairy nutrition, herd management, environmental impact, and animal welfare. In this episode, we dive deep into the transition period in dairy cows — a critical window that can make or break herd...

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Barry Bradford from Michigan State University. Dr. Bradford is a Professor, Researcher, and Extension specialist in the Department of Animal Science at MSU where he has a longstanding interest in data analysis and its use in making decisions that impact dairy farms on a daily basis. I hope you enjoy this episode of the podca...

This month's episode of the podcast features a conversation I had with Dr. Christine Baes, a Professor and Acting Associate Dean of External Relations at the University of Guelph. She is also the Canadian Research Chair in Livestock Genomics at the same university. Dr. Baes is active in teaching University students, but her main focus is research. Some of the areas she researches include GHG emiss...

On this episode of the DFD, I had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Adam Lock.  Dr. Lock is a Professor and researcher at Michigan State University in the department of Animal Science. Adam has spent his career researching and teaching students about fatty acid digestion and the metabolism of the dairy cow, along with the effect of bioactive fatty acids on animal production and human health. Dr. Lock...

Dr. Mike Steele is a professor and researcher in the Department of Animal Bio-Science at the University of Guelph. He is world-renowned for his work with young ruminants. In this episode, we discuss some of the experiments that his lab is currently conducting, as well as some of his past research and how it can be applied to today's dairy operations. I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast. ...

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Mark Carson, the Solutions Operation Manager at Semex. Mark and I have a great discussion about how genetics and data are influencing the dairy industry today and some trends that we will be seeing in the future. I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the...

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 navigating the rules and regulations involved in the TFW...

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 a great conversation about dealing with the chal...

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 worked on focused on pre-fresh and post-fresh nut...

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 and hay.  We also talk about a novel crop that he's...

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 nutrient dense fertilizer and providing revenue s...

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 from Trouw Nutrition Canada.   Also a special t...

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 the pipe with regards to calf health and calf per...

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 technology coming down the pipeline. He has an incred...

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 at fungicide and we also cover some options for f...

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 to the topic of heat stress and its impact biolo...

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 to cull animals, it is a tough decision to move...

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 forages for the upcoming year.  Luis and I touch...

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 and how to get the process started and the learnin...

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 professionals and producers how to make milk as effici...

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 the norm in the dairy industry in North Americ...

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 science behind foot bath, the challenges that heat...