The high-performance herd certificate at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Agriculture is designed for just such an individual. The program will be highly interactive and designed to help improve the herdsperson’s animal and herd management skills.

The certificate includes training activities before and after the in-class and on-farm sessions. These activities will increase adoption of best practices on-farm and improve farm productivity and animal care.

“Having the opportunity to interact and work with progressive dairy producers, to learn with them, and to provide advice and services to those who want to improve their farm performance in terms of animal husbandry, health, nutrition, milk quality, and other goals is very rewarding,” said Dr. Frank Schenkels, a large animal vet with Fundy Veterinarians in Murray Siding, N.S., near Truro, and a sessional instructor with the Faculty of Agriculture.

Schenkels has been teaching dairy herd health and nutrition management at the Faculty of Agriculture for the past 13 years. He will lead the three-course, three-location high-performance herd certificate project and coordinate development of the certificate curriculum.

The certificate program is designed to provide any progressive and interested dairy producer and herdsperson with the opportunity to interact and learn with other like-minded individuals from across the Atlantic provinces.

“It is rewarding to see producers achieve greater financial stability and resilience and greater satisfaction producing high-quality, nutritious food,” said Schenkels.

This development project is funded through the Canadian Dairy Commission’s Workforce Development Initiative.

For more information on this certificate program beginning in October, contact Ashley Coffin by emailing Ashley.coffin@dal.ca or phoning 902-890-5369.

(Stephanie Rogers is the communications manager at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Agriculture.)