Agropur's Club of Excellence - Ferme Jolipré Holstein in Saint-Moïse is crowned Milk Quality Champion

 

Sixteen new regional champions received top honours at Agropur's 29th Club of Excellence gala, held in Québec City on January 26. The event paid tribute to dairy farms that recorded the best milk quality results among Agropur members.

 

 

For the second year in a row, Ferme Jolipré Holstein Inc., located in Saint-Moïse, Quebec, distinguished itself by achieving the best overall combined result for milk quality and farm inspection. The farm, owned by Marie-Josée Turcotte and Régis Lepage, has a herd of 90 Holsteins, including 50 lactating cows which produce an average of 10,500 kg of milk per animal. An honourable mention was also awarded to Braefield Farm, located in Penobsquis, New Brunswick.

 

Chosen among all members in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador, these new champions have been inducted into Agropur's Club of Excellence. Since its creation in 1988, the Club of Excellence has welcomed more than 2,000 award winners into its ranks. All Agropur members are eligible to enter the contest and a rigorous selection process is used to determine the winners.

 

 

"Our cooperative has always played a leadership role in on-farm milk quality amongst our members.  The excellence of the products offered to consumers by the Cooperative that begin with high quality milk is a must now more than ever. We can be proud of the efforts made in recent years." stressed Mr. René Moreau, Agropur president.

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.