A love of Shakespeare and the annual Stratford Festival are not the only attractions that draw crowds to Stratford, Ontario, year after year. Since 2012, the Canadian Dairy XPO (CDX) has provided an exemplary gathering place for dairy producers and allied industry from across the country and beyond.
This year, on April 2, the festivities commenced a day early as a group of dairy leaders at the beautiful and newly renovated Tom Patterson Theatre spent the day networking and learning from a broad array of experts.
Two-time Stanley Cup champion and current assistant general manager to the St. Louis Blues, Tim Taylor kicked the morning off by sharing his triumphs in professional hockey and the leadership qualities it has cultivated in him. To managers and those in leadership positions, Taylor emphasized the importance of looking beyond one’s own skillset and accolades for the greater good of the team. “Good leaders are not the best players. They're the people that make the other people surrounding them better,” he shared.
Speaking to a different kind of leadership, the event’s second presenter, Mohit Rajhans – a media and digital marketing consultant – offered his thoughts on the potential for those working in agriculture to become experts in artificial intelligence (AI) in the agri-food context. He predicted the emergence of AI consultant as a future in-demand role. As a burgeoning tool, AI needs input from rural and agricultural communities to feed its intelligence to maximize its utility for those working in noncorporate environments.
His session spurred numerous questions from the audience, notably: “How can AI improve communication with foreign workers?” This led to discussions on the potential of employing apps integrated with artificial general intelligence platforms to facilitate tasks such as contract verification and multilingual training video creation.
Other sessions at the summit included a presentation by René Döbelt, a German dairy producer and vice president of a German-based foundation dedicated to progressing research and innovation in food and agriculture – Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (DLG). Döbelt runs two dairies – one of which is organic – has a total biogas production potential of 1,300 kilowatts, utilises photovoltaic solar panels, markets direct-to-consumers and sells dairy products processed from the organic dairy’s milk. His best-selling product, he revealed, is non-homogenized fluid milk.
Döbelt shared the keys to his business success, which include regular veterinarian consultations held every four to six weeks to monitor herd key performance indicators (KPIs) like calving rate, body condition score and pregnancy rate. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) feed analysis is also implemented to provide greater precision between calculated ration and fed ration.
Urban sprawl has directly impacted Döbelt’s farm and drawn criticism from the public about his operation. This is an issue that has prompted him to take action to improve public perception of his dairy farm. Döbelt’s solution has been to invite the public to visit his farm and to “explain to them how we farm” face-to-face. This initiative manifests in an annual open house, which draws over 7,000 visitors to his dairy in a single day.
On the eve of the Canadian Dairy XPO, dairy producers and allied industry gathered at the Tom Patterson Theatre to learn from a dynamic lineup of multinational speakers. Courtesy photo.
After an extended lunch provided attendees with ample time to network and enjoy a hot meal, sessions resumed with a workshop in negotiation hosted by Columbia University Professor Beth Fisher-Yoshida. Here the biggest takeaway was challenging the audience to seek the “why” of those they negotiate with and to ask themselves: “What’s underneath the surface and how can I get people comfortable with sharing [their why]?”
The day concluded with a producer panel featuring four Canadian dairy producers who pull income from diverse revenue streams. The panelists were Korb Whale of Clovermead Farm and Mapleton’s Organic Dairy; Joel LePage of JM Valley; Gilbert Matheson, a Dairy Farmers of Canada board member and dairy producer; and Bonnie Den Haan of Haanview Holsteins and Sheldon Creek Dairy.
It was a positive note to end on, as the panelists shared stories of support from industry peers and their hope and optimism for innovation and progress in Canadian dairy.
Overall, audience engagement was high throughout the event, and attendees clearly took advantage of the many opportunities to network that were integrated throughout the day’s proceedings. CDX has announced its intention of expanding the event next year.
