THE DFD (Dairy Farmer’s Digest) Podcast

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: keithschweitzer@wfs.ca 📞 Phone: 1 (519) 872-0742 🐦 Follow me on X: @keithschweitzer 🎧 And don’t forget to follow the podcast on your favorite podcast player to stay updated on new episodes!

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 keithschweitzer@wfs.ca 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 keithschweitzer@wfs.ca 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 keithschweitzer@wfs.ca 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 keithschweitzer@wfs.ca by phone at 1 (519) 872-0742 and please follow me on your favorite podcast player and on X @keithschweitzer