High tech in the dairy barn

By Gary Sliworsky
OMAFRA Rep.

High tech comes to the dairy barn at a Conference planned for Toronto on March 2-5, 2010. Organizers expect this conference to attract speakers, and displays of leading edge technology from around the world for better managing and caring for dairy cattle. The conference will focus on all aspects of precision dairy management including RFID, robotic milking, precision management of health, reproduction and nutrition, calf and replacement management, in-barn sensors and monitors, and herd management and information integration.
The First North American Conference on Precision Dairy Management will be held at the Doubletree Toronto Airport March 2 to 5, 2010. This event also includes the Second North American Conference on Robotic Milking and the Progressive Dairy Operators Triennial Symposium.
The conference will be a unique opportunity for producers and other dairy professionals to learn about and discuss the latest technical developments in a North American setting. In designing the program, conference organizers have drawn on specialists around the world where precision technology is the best developed and involved researchers and developers who are leading the way in technology applications on dairy farms. Researchers, developers and producers will all have a part in the program that consists of oral presentations, posters and state of the art commercial exhibits.
The keynote speaker for the conference will be an address by Canadian NASA astronaut Roberta Bondar. Exhibitors will feature world leading technology, including robotic milking, cowside sensors and monitors, and cow management software. The conference finishes with a one day farm tour to view the new technology and equipment in action.
The Conference is being organized by a group led by the Progressive Dairy Operators and also includes the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, CanWestDHI, Dairy Farmers of Ontario and the University of Guelph. This group has organized highly successful conferences in the past including the First North American Conference on Robotic Milking which introduced automated milking to North America.
The most exciting aspect of the Conference promises to be the mix of dairy professionals from different countries getting together to discuss and improve precision dairy management.
For more information go to the Conference website www.precisiondairy2010.com or telephone 1-519-826-4047 or 1-877-424-1300 within Ontario.