麻豆传媒

Skip to main content

Grads driving innovation in the dairy industry

Alumni are making significant contributions to the dairy industry, with many working at Lely North America, a leader in automated milking and feeding technology.

Posted: November 14, 2024

By:聽Stephanie Rogers

A composite of portraits of three agriculture alumni working for Lely. Mark Rose (BScAg'06, MSc'09), Amanda Greaves (BScAg'10) and Jakob Vogel (BScAg'14)

Within the dairy industry, one does not have to look far to come across an Agricultural Campus grad. From farmers to technicians, commodity representatives to nutritionists, Aggies are everywhere.

And that鈥檚 certainly the case at Lely North America, who currently count Mark Rose (BScAg'06, MSc'09), Amanda Greaves (BScAg'10) and Jakob Vogel (BScAg'14)聽as part of their team.

Although none had concrete plans to work in the dairy industry, Rose, Greaves and Vogel all knew they wanted to work with animals, ideally in agriculture.

鈥淟ike many, I wanted to be a vet,鈥 says Rose, who grew up in Change Islands, N.L., but now calls Lantz, N.S., home. 鈥淏ut a summer working at the Ruminant Animal Centre got me hooked on dairy cows.鈥

He hasn鈥檛 looked back since. After doing a Master of Science with Dr. Alan Fredeen, Rose went on to work directly in the dairy industry, and has been with Lely for the better part of a decade. In his current role as regional development manager, he manages the development of Lely Centres across English-speaking Canada and manages activities with the regional Lely team, which consists of farm management support, a technical specialist, a milk quality specialist, and two salespeople.

鈥淭he Canadian Lely team is exceptional,鈥 says Rose. 鈥淲hen farmers invest in a Lely robot, they鈥檙e not just buying a piece of equipment 鈥 they're buying a whole team of people to support them.鈥

Established in 1948, Lely specializes in automated milking and feeding technology for the dairy industry. There are currently over 2000 Lely robots in operation across Canada, milking just shy of 200,000 cows.

鈥淚t鈥檚 simultaneously exciting and challenging to work in innovation in agriculture,鈥 says Greaves, a Truro resident originally from Albert Bridge, N.S.

鈥淭echnology and innovation in agriculture is constantly evolving, and although it can be quite difficult to keep up with that, it鈥檚 a fascinating and rewarding field to be in.鈥

Greaves聽started her journey in the dairy industry with Shur-Gain in 2012, after a stint as a research and teaching assistant at the Faculty of Agriculture following the completion of her animal science degree. She鈥檚 been working in dairy ever since, starting with Lely as a milk quality specialist in March 2022. In her role she works solely with Quebec farms, which host almost half of the Lely milking and feeding robots within Canada.

鈥淢y role is to make sure the cleaning processes are done efficiently and accurately to ensure quality milk is being produced,鈥 she says. 鈥淎 big part of my job is milk optimization 鈥 making sure each cow goes through a quick, gentle, complete milking process.鈥

Vogel grew up in Apple Hill, Ont., and returned there after completing his joint animal and plant science degree at the Faculty of Agriculture. He has been working in the dairy industry ever since, but only recently joined Lely as a senior farm management support advisor in 2023. In his role, he provides coaching to Lely Centre farm management support teams on how to improve the overall efficiency, productivity, and profitability of the farms they service.

鈥淭here is so much diversity in needs and expectations within the dairy industry in Canada,鈥 says Vogel. 鈥淭he reality of dairy farming in British Columbia is vastly different from the reality of dairy farming in southern Ontario or P.E.I, for example. It鈥檚 not a one size fits all situation. The farm management support team understands this and is passionate about working for and with farmers to get them to the overall goal of being profitable, sustainable and successful.鈥

Bringing fresh ideas to dairy farming

It is a universal truth that innovation in agriculture is vital for the industry to thrive. Rose, Greaves and Vogel are proud to be part of that progress.

鈥淎ny innovation in agriculture makes it easier for a new generation to come on board and keep farms running,鈥 says Rose. 鈥淚n many situations, we are helping to keep lights on in dairy farms longer than they would have been able to without automation.鈥

Vogel agrees. 鈥淪eeing the results of automation in action is my favourite part of my job,鈥 he says. 鈥淭o know we had a part in that, whether it鈥檚 being right on the farm moving or grouping cows, fine-tuning settings, or having conversations with vets and nutritionists and getting everyone on the same page, just being a part of that success is awesome.鈥

Their work also provides them with the opportunity to gain a broad understanding of the dairy industry across North America and beyond.

鈥淚 love having the opportunity to learn new things,鈥 says Greaves. 鈥淲e have a way of doing things here based on our resources, our climate, availability of the workforce, etc. But how we do our jobs here is a lot different than how they do it in Texas, for example. So seeing the on-farm results is incredible, but seeing the bigger picture is also pretty great.鈥

Foundations set for a bright future

All three are grateful for the work they get to do, and grateful to the Faculty of Agriculture for providing them with a solid foundation from which to start.

鈥淭he knowledge I acquired in my animal science courses fully prepared me for my career,鈥 says Vogel. 鈥淭he fundamental understanding of cow behaviour and physiology is crucial to the day-to-day work I do now.鈥

On top of academics, Rose says that the network provided by the Faculty of Agriculture continues to amaze him. 鈥淵ou can go anywhere in this world and find someone who went to the AC. The number of people we meet in our sector that went to the AC or have some kind of connection to campus is amazing.鈥

Rose, Greaves and Vogel聽see a bright future for agriculture and are proud to be part of that future.

鈥淎t the end of the day, we have a lot of people to feed,鈥 Rose shares. 鈥淢ore and more people to feed all the time, and fewer and fewer resources with which to feed them. That鈥檚 where innovation and automation come in."

"We need to be innovative with the resources we have, and we all need to work together to get there.鈥