On The Cover:
Celebrating Quality
At the 2024 AGM in January, the DFO board recognized producer commitment to the production of high-quality milk and industry leadership at the DFO Recognition Dinner.
Five Ontario dairy producers with the best quality scores were recognized for their outstanding commitment to quality, and the DFO Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Don Johnston, (Cherry Crest Holsteins). Don’s Lifetime Achievement Award was recognized in the February issue of Milk Producer.
In this March issue, we are recognizing our Quality Award winners, who received Gold Quality Certificates for milk shipped in 2022:
More from this issue
What makes high-quality milk?
Dairy Farmers of Ontario staff members, Jeff Hyndman, Assistant Director, Raw Milk Quality and Quality Assurance Programs and Emily McDonald, Manager Field Service and Raw Milk Quality Programs answer some common questions about practices that produce high-quality milk, including many farm and herd management processes that Quality Award winners follow on their farms.
proAction® celebrates 10 Years of On-Farm Excellence
A decade ago, dairy farmers decided to proactively create a comprehensive verification program that demonstrates how our sector was meeting the expectations and values of Canadian society when producing high-quality milk. This new program would see Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC), our partners and farmers build upon a long history of high standards to create the proAction program.
Combating biofilms: Ensuring quality milk from farm to table
Recent studies from Dr. Gisèle LaPointe and her research team at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) suggest that biofilms – microscopic bacteria that form a thin film inside milking and storage equipment – can be found throughout the milking system.
Enhancing milk quality with free fatty acid research
What started as an issue with milk frothing (or lack of) has quickly developed into insights on how the Canadian dairy industry can improve milk quality.
Maximizing the value of male dairy calves
Dairy farmers play an important role in the veal supply chain. The veal sector continues to strive for responsible antimicrobial stewardship and reducing use, so we rely on dairy farmers to provide calves that are strong and healthy on arrival. Veal Farmers of Ontario has developed a pre-transport checklist to help producers decide if their young calves are ready to leave the farm. You can find it at https://calfcare.ca/is-this-calf-fit-to-ship and we’ll discuss it in more detail below.
