Factors associated with the adoption of technologies by the Canadian dairy industry.

Data generated from Statistics Canada's 2016 Census of Agriculture and Census of Population were used to describe the adoption of 8 technologies by the Canadian dairy industry: computer/laptop, smartphone/tablet, auto-steering, auto-feeding, auto-environment, robotic milking, global positioning systems (GPS), and geographical information systems (GIS). Logistic regression was used to analyze the adoption of each technology by geographical region, operators' gender, operators' age, herd size, and number of operators per farm. Gender and age were marginally related to the level of adoption of each technology, whereas the number of operators per dairy farm and farm size were associated with increased adoption of most technologies.

Survey of gastrointestinal nematodes in breeding-age heifers on 6 Saskatchewan dairy farms.

To determine the prevalence, mean fecal egg count intensities, and predominant gastrointestinal nematode species, fresh environmental fecal samples were collected from 30 grazing heifers at monthly intervals (June, July, and August) on 6 Saskatchewan dairy farms in 2016. The population average strongylid prevalence ranged from 67.2% [95% confidence interval (CI): 49.

Endoparasite control practices on Saskatchewan dairy farms.

A questionnaire was administered to dairy producers in Saskatchewan in 2016 to determine basic pasture management practices, how producers use parasite control products, and attitudes towards the threat of endoparasites. All 161 dairy producers in Saskatchewan were invited to participate and the survey response rate was 39.8% (64/161).

Associations between digital dermatitis lesion grades in dairy cattle and the quantities of four Treponema species.

Digital dermatitis (DD) presents as painful, ulcerative or proliferative lesions that lead to bovine lameness affecting economic efficiency and animal welfare. Although DD etiological agent(s) have not been established, it is widely accepted that DD is a polymicrobial disease significantly associated with species of Treponema and the non-linear disease progression may be attributed to interactions among infecting bacteria. We postulated the morphological changes associated with DD lesion grades are related to interactions among infecting species of Treponema.