Three Eastern Ontario farms among Canada’s top-managed dairy herds

BAINSVILLE — Last year they cracked the top 10. This year they again had the best-managed herd in Ontario but are now the second-best in the country.

The Oeggerli family, who run Heidi Farms Inc. at Bainsville, east of Cornwall, have gone from win to win, scoring the second-highest herd management score from Lactanet (formerly CanWest DHI) in its 2019 rankings released on Jan. 28. They were the only farm in Ontario last year to break the top 10, ranking 7th overall.

The multi-generation farm’s winning ways aren’t new: Apart from their success last year, they’ve been consistently in the top-five best managed herds in their county. Milking 320 cows, they made top 25 from Lactanet in 2017 as well. Herd manager Ben Oeggerli said that the farm’s kept on keeping on for the most part, but swapped out its pasture mats for water beds for the cows and brought in bigger curtains to increase ventilation in the summer.

The mats were getting past their prime and the farm wanted to improve their hocks, hence the water beds, he said. He added that the news they were tops in Ontario was surprising, but not as surprising as last year’s success. “This year, I knew the cows had milked really well for us.”

With six family members plus employees on the farm, they’ve focused on playing to people’s strengths and honing in on details. It’s been paying off.
The Oeggerlis were also ranked as having the second-best managed free-stall herd in Canada.

Quebec may be Canada’s biggest dairy province, but Ontario acquits itself well when it comes to herd management. Ontario earned five of the top-10 herd management scores. And despite Western Ontario’s reputation as an ag heavyweight, Eastern Ontario took three of those spots.

After the second-place Oeggerli family, Rosenhill Farm Inc., run by the Hildbrand family at St. Albert, milk more than 150 cows, and placed 7th, but also ranked as having the second-best robotic herd in Canada.

Alexerin Dairy Inc., run by the Nixons at Osgoode, south of urban Ottawa, milk about 170 cows and ranked as the 10th best-managed herd in Canada.