THE DFD (Dairy Farmer’s Digest) Podcast

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 daunting task, Frank and I talk about the proce...

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 questions, you can contact me at keith.schweitzer@t...

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 decision to move on from these animals, but with t...

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.

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 off and we cover everything from planning, buying, p...

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. 

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 time is on of the most critical times of the year for...

Corn silage is one of the most critical periods on the dairy farm; on this weeks episode, Dr Renato Schmidt PhD. (Forage Product Specialist for North America), Keith Schweitzer and Hilary Prinzen talk all things Corn Silage. The podcast starts off with Dr. Schmidt talking about some of the issues producers are seeing with 2019 corn crop with regards to heating, wild yeasts and molds. Following tha...

On this episode of the podcast, Peter Johnson, Keith Schweitzer and I talk about how alternative forage crops can fit into your crop rotations and provide some excellent cow chow. The podcast starts with what you can grow to help build inventories after wheat, crops that can be planted after corn silage to help stabilize soil over winter and provide a great forage for spring, and what crops can be...

On this weeks episode we welcome Dr. Chris Church. Dr Church is a former partner in a dairy focused large animal practice. He now works for a large feed additive company focusing his time and energy on helping producers maximize their profitability by, putting an emphasis on transition cow health.

Local legend Dr. Reg Clinton DVM, gives some great advice on improving reproduction during the summer months. He also drives home the point to improve reproduction year round we need to focus on the transition period.

In this episode Co host Keith and I go over some of the info that he has found from a bench marking project that he has been running for the last several months.

In this episode Pedro Nogueira, Keith Schweitzer and myself discuss this summers coming heat stress challenges. We also get some great advice to make sure your farm is ready to handle them.   Also, please make sure you check out Keith Schweitzer on YouTube!!

In this episode Keith Schweitzer gives some great advice on making first cut haylage. He also gives some interesting thoughts on some forage alternatives that might be able to help maximize your land base.

In this episode Chelsea Gordon discusses a number of different topics, all revolving around Robotic or Automated milking systems. If you have Robot's, have thought about Robot's or are buying Robot's you will not want to miss this episode.