THE DFD (Dairy Farmer’s Digest) Podcast

The big 5-0!

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 forage crops after this years wheat.
Michelle have several iron in the fire outside of being an agronomist.  She is the owner of Durnin Farm and Ranch wear (www.dfrwear.ca), a company that designs work and ranch clothes for women.  She is also the host of the Propsperity Ag Out Loud Podcast, you can find that on Apple Podcast and Spotify.  She can also be found across social media platforms.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer

It’s a hot topic

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 biology and physiology of the dairy production animals.  He has won a multitude of professional service honors and awards, he has also been sited more than 10,000 times for research that he has conducted.
Heat stress has both a huge physiological and financial impact on today's dairy operations and it is one of the most important management areas with regards to production animal agriculture.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer

Guess who’s back, back again .... Gary’s back, tell a friend.

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 from these animals, but with the right data we can make these decisions a little bit easier, and make your operation more profitable.
If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer
 

#cowchow23 is our Oyster.

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 several topics related to this years winter forages and hay crops.  We also touch a bit on the upcoming corn crop.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer

Takin care of business!

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 learning curve involved in going down this route.
Cox is a Mechanical Engineer with a Masters in Strategic Product development and she has worked in Canada and in Europe before returning to the farm to take over the family farm nearly a decade ago.
The main goal at Hoenhorst farms is to fill quota efficiently and maintain a positive team culture at the farm which lead her down the road of employing TFW to meet and exceed her goals.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer

Legend .... wait for it .... Dairy!!

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 efficiently and economically as possible. He has published several hundred if not thousand articles for publications like Hoard's Dairyman and other industry publications around the world.  Mike has won numerous awards and was a President of the ADSA (American Dairy Science Association). 
Our discussion on this podcast covers how to evaluate whether a feed additive is right for you farm, how do reduce feed costs from non feed factors (shrink) and his own list of must haves in your feeding program.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer

Where’s the Beef?!

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 America, Brad and I discuss how farmer are utilizing these genetics and how producers can maximize the calf value by breeding to the right sires.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer

Bustin myths and talkin hooves!

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 stress present and we bust some common myths around foot health.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer

60% of the time...It works every time

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 production, reproduction and overall herd performance.  Talking about, monitoring and measuring the lameness prevalence on your farm can have long lasting and beneficial impacts to your economic returns and bottom line performance.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer

Oh, the times they are a changin

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 crucial decision making process.
I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast.  If you have any questions about this episode or future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to reach out to me by email at keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on twitter @keithschweitzer