SPEAKERS
Aaron Volpatti
Hard Sh*t, Finding Grit and Kicking A$$: Life is unpredictable, and hard times are inevitable. Have you ever felt defeated and helpless in these times? Has adversity robbed your ability to dream?
In the face of adversity, the human mind has an incredible ability to adapt, overcome and emerge stronger than ever. Through real life examples, we will uncover the secrets of resilience and learn how to harness the power of the human mind through Cinematic Visualization. We will further discuss how this technique can build immense grit and belief in one's self - a prerequisite for achieving any type of goal, let alone a dream.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Aaron Volpatti is an Author, Cognitive Performance and Injury Coach, Speaker, retired NHL player, burn survivor, and a graduate from Brown University- B.Sc Human Biology.
A pioneer in Cinematic Visualization and athletic performance, Aaron’s unique practice has helped athletes all over the world.
Born and raised in Revelstoke, British Columbia, he is a guitar aficionado and wannabe rockstar. He’s a professional dabbler—spending his free time fishing, hunting, camping, golfing, playing squash, or learning a new musical instrument or language.
Aaron resides in the beautiful Okanagan in British Columbia with his wife Michelle, and sons Finn and Soren. You can visit him online at www.aaronvolpatti.com or on Twitter and Instagram @aaronvolpatti
Sponsored by Province of Nova Scotia
Paul Fox
Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Milk Production, is it a Win/Win for Dairy Farmers and the Supply Chain? : The challenge of reducing your carbon footprint in a world which is having to adapt rapidly to climate change, is one which we are increasingly being put under pressure to face up to in the dairy sector. Should we do this because we are told to, or because it also makes good business sense? There is a close link between technical efficiency and profitability, the farmers with healthy fertile productive cows demonstrate the best financial performance and also tend to have the lowest carbon footprints.
The “Bear” Necessities of Leadership: Recruit, Train, Retain. How do we find the right people to work with (recruit), how do we train and develop the skills in ourselves and our teams (train), and how do we build long term productive and sustainable relationships (retain)?
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Paul Fox studied Agriculture and Farm Business Management and after graduation also gained his BASIS and FACTS qualifications in agronomy. For the first 20 years of his career, he managed large farming estates with multi-site dairy, beef, sheep, and large-scale arable operations. He developed into senior management roles across several businesses in England and Scotland specialising in mixed dairy and arable estates over 2000Ha producing in excess of 10m litres of milk pa.
In 2009 he left farm management and started his own business and has had a successful consultancy career working closely with Kite Consulting. Kite are the UKs leading dairy supply chain specialists. In this role Paul has managed and worked on numerous training projects with farmers, processors and retailers. He is a very experienced trainer and facilitator with a wide technical knowledge and a high-level understanding of agricultural business management. More recently he has been involved in farm carbon footprint data collection and analysis working across the supply chain with farmers processors and retailers to improve business efficiency and profitability and drive down the carbon footprint of milk production to meet the UKs Climate Change obligations.
Paul is also a director of REAL Success which is a specialist recruiter and trainer in the UK dairy sector working with employers to recruit, train and develop the people in their businesses.
John Winchell
The Importance of Forage Quality: What all Dairymen Should Know: No matter if you have large breed registered cattle or smaller breed dairy cattle, Forage Quality is one of the most important aspects of dairying today. Whether it is at a cow show, or feeding cows at home, nutrition is paramount. This talk will go over what forage quality is from the rumen out. Why it is important for a proper balance of fuel and fill for our modern day dairy cattle. We will discuss corn silage, fall planted cereal forages, grasses, and alfalfa. This talk will come from the perspective of both the registered dairymen that show and breed registered cows, as well as all dairymen throughout Canada.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
John Winchell comes to us from Eden, NY. He is born and raised on a registered Holstein and Brown Swiss herd, and is a graduate of The Ohio State University, and John has been involved in dairy cattle nutrition for over 25 years. He has focused on forage quality and is nationally recognized for his harvest analytics and forage harvest timing. Very comfortable on the farm, he has a reputation for troubleshooting herd and forage challenges. John is a very popular speaker and speaks at many conferences and producer meetings, throughout North America. John also has many articles published in Progressive Dairyman and Progressive forage.
John currently is on the Alltech Global Support team, focusing on forages, inoculant, dairy nutrition, and mycotoxin management.
Dr. Jodi Wallace
Zero-Zero Calf Care: Can you envision raising calves with zero treatments and zero mortality? Having sick calves on the farm is not fun. It’s time consuming, stressful, expensive and emotionally draining. The closer we get to Zero-Zero, the more enjoyable calf raising can be. Is there room for improvement in your current practices? Are you able to improve calf health while reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics? Optimising health will enable your calves to grow faster and obtain their full genetic potential.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Jodi Wallace, DVM, MSc, grew up on a dairy farm in Herdman, Quebec. She graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Guelph in 2002. Dr. Wallace began her career at the University of Cornell, Quality Milk Production Services, before going to a dairy practice in Mirabel, Quebec.
In 2004, Dr. Wallace returned home to Ormstown, Quebec, where she began her work as a dairy veterinarian and associate owner at the Ormstown Veterinary Hospital. She completed a Masters of Veterinary Science from the University of Montreal in 2009. She also worked part time for Zoetis for a couple of years focusing on milk quality, calf health and genomics.
Currently, in addition to full-time everyday veterinary practice, Dr. Wallace performs calf health and milk quality consultations conferences, and seminars for dairy producers and veterinarians throughout Canada and abroad.
Dr. Wallace is also a 6th-generation dairy producer. She lives with her husband and four children on their dairy, Anderson Farms/Silverstream Holsteins, in Howick, Quebec. Anderson Farms is focused on Zero-Zero calf health and are a three-time medal winner in the National Order of Agricultural Merit competition, placing in 2010 (bronze), 2015 (silver) and 2023 (gold).
Jodi is the past-President of the Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians. In 2023, Jodi was awarded the Bovine Practitioner of the Year from the American Association of Bovine Practitioners.
Dr. Gavin Staley
The Maturity Problem: Many dairies are missing two key opportunities to improve profitability. Calving in mature heifers (we can call them “Platinum Heifers”) is the first step. Achieving this goal requires intentionality and attention to detail. Secondly, providing the management, nutrition, facilities and stockmanship to create and retain mature older cows (“Golden Girls”) allows the dairy the opportunity to produce more milk per cow, sell more heifers to dairy or beef crosses and reduce heifer inventory. Key objectives to economic sustainability. This presentation gives key information needed to help overcome “The Maturity Problem”.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Gavin Staley, BVSc MMedVet (Therio) DiplACT, graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa as a veterinarian in 1984. After a two-year compulsory military service, he joined the Faculty of Veterinary Science (Univ. Pretoria) as a lecturer in reproduction. Completed a M.Med.Vet in Reproduction and qualified as a Veterinary Specialist (Theriogenology). After 6 years in academia, he joined the largest dairy practice in South Africa in 1993 as a partner, with dairy and equine focus. Gavin emigrated to the USA in 1998 and joined a dairy practice in Door County, Wisconsin. While in practice in Wisconsin, qualified as a Diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists (2001). He then relocated to the Central Valley of California in 2003 and has worked in the industry for the past 19 years in Technical Services positions. Gavin enjoys international travel to learn more about dairying across the globe. He has presented at World Dairy Expo, AABP and various other national and international meetings. He has a particular interest in dairy record evaluation, heifer maturity and dairy productive life.
Sponsored by Clarence Farm Services
Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley
Science Based Strategies to Tackle Burnout: Burnout has been shown to have a significant impact on an individual's quality of life and can include everything from struggling to cope with daily stresses to an increased risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Studies suggest that burnout affects a substantial portion of Canadians working in agriculture, with estimates ranging from 20% to 50% of individuals facing stress and burnout. In this engaging presentation, Dr. Dayna tackles burnout by offering science backed solutions. Combining practical recharging strategies with the science of habit formation, Dr. Dayna offers actionable ways to address burnout, specifically for those working in agriculture. Delving into the science of behavior change, Dr. Dayna will review key psychological principles and neurological mechanisms underpinning habit formation and burnout. Attendees will review the latest empirically based skills and techniques that they can readily apply to their everyday lives that have been shown to tackle burnout and promote flourishing.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Dayna Lee-Baggley, Ph.D., R. Psych, is a Registered Clinical Psychologist with training and expertise in clinical psychology, health psychology, and organizational psychology. She is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the “ImpACTme” app. She has extensive applied experience and research knowledge on burnout, psychological safety in the workplace, behaviour and organizational change, and wellness leadership. She is an internationally recognized expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She also conducts research at Dalhousie University and at Saint Mary’s University. She has 55 peer-reviewed publications and over 140 scholarly presentations. She is the author of the book “Healthy Habits Suck: How to get off the couch & live a healthy life…even if you don’t want to.”