Investing in improvements to practices and standards for dairy farmers

St. Albert, Ontario – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Canada’s dairy sector has a long standing reputation for sustainably and responsibly producing high-quality, safe, and nutritious milk and dairy products for Canadians. The dairy industry contributes $20.9 billion for the Canadian economy.

 

Agriculture and AgriFood Minister Lawrence MacAulay, and Member of Parliament for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Francis Drouin, were at Ferme Geranik announce an investment of up to $2.7 million to support Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) enhance public trust in dairy production through the continuation and implementation of their quality assurance program, proAction, as well as the pursuit of an industry environmental sustainability strategy.

 

Building on progress achieved to date with proAction, this investment will help DFC further develop and implement proAction, pursue stakeholder engagement, initiate an industry environmental sustainability strategy, and implement a plan to communicate with stakeholders, customers, and consumers on DFC’s quality assurance and sustainability activities. 

Video: Season 6, Episode 12: Veterinarians’ Perspectives on Managing Swine Herd Health Across All Phases

Identifying challenges in swine production and turning them into solutions through research and team development is the focus of this episode. Dr. Christine Mainquist-Whigham of Pillen Family Farms and DNA Genetics shares insights on herd health, biosecurity and trial work to improve pig performance. She also discusses her team’s research philosophy, how they evaluate rate of investment and how they gather feedback from employees to address challenges and maintain herd health across all phases of production. Dr. Carlos Roudergue of Country View Family Farms discusses the growing complexity of swine production, especially as technology increases and employee interaction decreases. He also shares how their workforce is shifting toward more specialized roles to support herd health and efficiency.