Today, I’m joined by Dr. Heather Dann, President of the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, NY. With over two decades at Miner Institute, Dr. Dann has led groundbreaking research in dairy nutrition, herd management, environmental impact, and animal welfare.

In this episode, we dive deep into the transition period in dairy cows — a critical window that can make or break herd performance. Dr. Dann shares her insights on how managing this period effectively can boost productivity, animal health, and overall farm sustainability.

It was a fascinating and informative conversation! 

I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast! If you have any questions about this episode or future ones, feel free to reach out:

📧 Email: [email protected]

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Barry Bradford from Michigan State University. Dr. Bradford is a Professor, Researcher, and Extension specialist in the Department of Animal Science at MSU where he has a longstanding interest in data analysis and its use in making decisions that impact dairy farms on a daily basis.

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer

This month's episode of the podcast features a conversation I had with Dr. Christine Baes, a Professor and Acting Associate Dean of External Relations at the University of Guelph. She is also the Canadian Research Chair in Livestock Genomics at the same university. Dr. Baes is active in teaching University students, but her main focus is research. Some of the areas she researches include GHG emissions, feed efficiency and genetic trait selection in dairy animals. We had a great time talking about DNA structure, methane emissions, and feed efficiency.

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer

On this episode of the DFD, I had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Adam Lock.  Dr. Lock is a Professor and researcher at Michigan State University in the department of Animal Science. Adam has spent his career researching and teaching students about fatty acid digestion and the metabolism of the dairy cow, along with the effect of bioactive fatty acids on animal production and human health. Dr. Lock and I had a great discussion about this topic, with the main theme being that not all fats are created equal.

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer

Dr. Mike Steele is a professor and researcher in the Department of Animal Bio-Science at the University of Guelph. He is world-renowned for his work with young ruminants. In this episode, we discuss some of the experiments that his lab is currently conducting, as well as some of his past research and how it can be applied to today's dairy operations.

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Mark Carson, the Solutions Operation Manager at Semex.

Mark and I have a great discussion about how genetics and data are influencing the dairy industry today and some trends that we will be seeing in the future.

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer

On this episode of the DFD, I had the pleasure to talk to Joanne Fallis from Fallis Immigration Consulting.  Joanne specializes in supporting and helping farmers in Canada steer through the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program.

Labour is the number one concern in the Agriculture industry.  Joanne and I cover lots of great topics related to navigating the rules and regulations involved in the TFW system.

If you would like more information regarding Joanne's business or need help with the TFW program feel free to reach out to her at [email protected]  or 1 (226) 929-2907

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer

On this episode of the DFD, I have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Luiz Ferraretto.  Dr. Ferraretto is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in Ruminant nutrition and Research at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

The 2024 Corn Silage season is upon us and it has been a trying season for growers and producers.  Dr. Ferraretto and I have a great conversation about dealing with the challenges the 24 season has presented to us, and how what we do at harvest can and will impact the crop throughout the next year.

Luiz has a plethora of knowledge and experience when it comes to making the highest quality silages for our ruminant herds and it was great of him to share some of those with us.

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Trent Westhoff.  Trent is currently conducting research at Cornell University and will soon be defending his dissertation to earn his PhD.

Trent and I have a fascinating conversation about colostrum, and why we sometimes see reduction in volume as well as a research paper that he worked on focused on pre-fresh and post-fresh nutrition.

Trent is an up and coming researcher in the dairy world, and I'm sure we are going to hear a lot more about his cutting edge work in the future.

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer

On this episode of the DFD podcast, I had the pleasure of talking to Tom Kilcer from Advanced Ag Systems and one of the pioneers in the photosynthetic forage wilting process more commonly known as "Hay in a day"

We have a great conversations about best management practices for this years forage crops with special attention paid to Winter Cereals and hay.  We also talk about a novel crop that he's been working with in Tennessee.

Tom has been doing work around making the best possible forages for ruminant producers for almost 50 years and brings a vast knowledge to primary producers all over North America.  If you want to learn more about Tom and his research, have a look at his website.  https://advancedagsys.com/

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 [email protected] by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer