State of the art dairy farm opening up barn doors for 'Breakfast on the Farm'

Frank Louwagie is proud of what he does, raising and collecting milk from 150 Holstein cows at his family's state of the art barn near Mitchell, Ont.

"We built this barn with all the best and the newest ideas of how to take care of the animals as best we could. As an example, they are laying on sand and they've got big, roomy stalls, and they're free to walk everywhere they want. They're fed by robots and even milked by robots," said the Perth County dairy farmer.

Louwagie's cows essentially milk themselves by walking into a robotic milker whenever they feel the urge. Each cow wears a "fit bit," which is tracking everything from their breathing patterns to how often they're chewing their food, helping Louwagie treat sick cows before they're even sick.

"Just like a mother might notice their child is unwell or just not right, well we have 150 kids here to look after. We don't always notice it, but the technology allows us to bring our attention to that animal right away," said Louwagie.

Robotic feeders measure how much food is in the cows’ mangers, feeding only to need, which has paid huge dividends for Louwagie and his herd.

"We've increased our milk production by 50 per cent over the past 10 years, which just blows my mind. These cows have always been capable of doing that, we were the ones standing in the way," said Louwagie.

Frank Louwagie, a Perth County dairy farmer seen on Sept. 4, 2024, is opening up his farm to the public on Sept. 14 for Breakfast on the Farm. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

All of this will be on display next weekend when hundreds of largely city dwellers will descend on Hillmanor Holsteins for Breakfast on the Farm. An event organized by Farm and Food Care Ontario that opens up farms for folks to see agriculture up close and personal.

The Sept. 14th Breakfast on the Farm at Hillmanor Holsteins will be the 25th such event in the past eleven years.

Louwagie said he signed up to host because he wants people to see what's happening at 99.9 per cent of Ontario farms, not the 0.1 per cent depicted in animal cruelty videos, as fewer and fewer people actually have any connection to agriculture at all.

"Nobody has that relationship anymore. The farm was two, three, four generations ago. Farming has really changed. As good as your grandpa treated the cows, we are treating them way better. No disrespect to grandpa," said Louwagie.

You can learn more about the next Breakfast on the Farm online, which will include displays and farmers from other sectors of agriculture ready to answer questions as well.

"We've embraced the technology as much as we could. And the cows have paid us dividends with health, more milk, longer lives, healthier lives, it's been a win-win," he said.