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Where does canola meal fit in a dairy diet? This Progressive Dairy-Canada newsletter discusses what recent research reveals about canola meal. Also, learn more about the "buttergate" controversy and see what's coming next. Lastly, see what management practices Canada's top dairy farms rely on. 

Can canola meal benefit early lactation cows?

Brittany Dyck and Essi Evans for Progressive Dairy

Most dairy feeding studies are conducted in mid-lactation, providing vital information regarding the nutritional needs of cows. Since 2000, 28 such feeding experiments have been conducted evaluating canola meal as an ingredient for dairy cows.

The results show that canola meal supports milk production as well or better than other plant protein sources, with typical yield improvements between 1 and 2 kilograms of energy-corrected milk per cow per day.

Can canola meal come up to scratch in a dairy cow diet?

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Farming practices Canada’s top herds can’t go without

Progressive Dairy contacted the top 10 high scoring farms on Lactanet’s top 25 dairy herds list and asked them to name one farm management practice they never want to give up and why.

Read more.

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How to utilise automation in order to improve feeding accuracy and efficiency

At Vir-Clar Farms they have been able to reduce the feeding time by about 2 to 3 hours a day by letting automation work in their favor. Grant Grindstead: “We looked at ways to improve the efficiency in our feeding. It’s amazing to see the accuracy and precision that we are able to accomplish today. Our feeding plan is set and our stationary Trioliet mixers take over from there every morning. We got a 3-year payback because we’re able to be accurate every single day.”

WATCH VIDEO

What happened? What’s next? – Concerns over hard butter leads to formation of industry working group

butterProgressive Dairy Editor Karen Lee

In this column, Progressive Dairy summarizes recent events or actions making dairy headlines that will have an impact on your farm business. Then we seek out experts and sources, putting that news into perspective and, most importantly, briefly describe how it might affect you.

“Buttergate" started with a few posts on social media questioning the characteristics of butter. In a matter of weeks, the topic gained international interest and a debate ensued on feeding palm-based supplements to dairy cows.

See what happens next.

3 Open Minutes with Dr. Gordon Atkins

In September, Dr. Gordon Atkins was awarded the “Mentor of the Year” award by Merck Animal Health and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP). Atkins shares his experiences mentoring and the evolution of dairy practice over his 47-year career.

Read more.

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Optimal immunization of your dairy herd: More than just vaccination

Elizabeth Doré for Progressive Dairy

We often take vaccination for granted and think it’s just something we have to do, but we don’t necessarily stop to think about what we are trying to achieve. By vaccinating your cows, you want to keep your herd healthy by preventing some infectious diseases, as well as ensuring productivity and profitability.

To put things in perspective, the term “vaccination” refers to the act of giving the vaccine. To protect our herd, immunization is the end goal we are looking to achieve when vaccinating. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), immunization is the process whereby a person (or animal) is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine.

Ensure your vaccination protocols are up to par to reach full efficacy.

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