Whereas…

Whereas Lactanet is serving dairy producers and must be responsive to their needs.

Whereas it must be represented equitably by its clients, without any conflict of interest.

Whereas the financial contribution to Lactanet comes directly and indirectly from dairy producers.

Whereas producers annually invest more than 15 million in genetic tools.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is moved to change the governance structure by ensuring that all the Lactanet director seats are held by Canadian producers and not linked to other industry organizations. In order to avoid any conflict of interest in the decision-making process and to get Lactanet closer to the needs of its clients and not those of its partners. It is suggested to create with the partners an advisory committee for Lactanet.

Reference information provided by Lactanet:

The current Lactanet Board is comprised of licensed dairy farmer representatives from the following dairy farmer-owned industry partners: Holstein Canada, Semex, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Western Canadian DHI, Ontario DHI and Valacta. The Board may also appoint up to 2 external directors that do not need to be licensed dairy farmers (there are currently two appointed – one of which is a dairy farmer).

Whereas…

Whereas Lactanet is concerned with the succession planning in dairy production.

Whereas the road is very long and nearly inaccessible for young people to join the Lactanet board of directors.

Whereas young people are also clients and their vision is important for sound planning of the future.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is moved that the two seats considered as external on the Lactanet board of directors be reserved for young Canadians aged 35 or younger passionate about dairy production and genetics.

Reference information provided by Lactanet:

The age distribution of the Board will change over time. For reference, the current board members range in age from 33 to 65 years of age.

Whereas…

Whereas the weight of the breed associations (1) is well below that of the milk recording agencies (6) on the Lactanet Board of Directors.

Whereas the members of the breed associations express their concerns to their association.

Whereas the breeders are disappointed with the withdrawal of the DGV publication by Lactanet.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is requested that Lactanet better distribute the weight of breed associations on its board of directors in order to better represent the interests of breeders.

Reference information provided by Lactanet:

The current Lactanet Board is comprised of directors from the following partners:

-3 farmer directors appointed by Valacta (Quebec and Atlantic)

-2 farmer directors from Ontario (elected at-large by DHI delegates)

-1 farmer director from Western Canadian DHI (western provinces)

-1 farmer director from Semex (must be a current Semex Board member)

-1 farmer director from DFC (must be a current DFC Board member)

-1 farmer director from Holstein Canada (must be a current Holstein Canada Board member)

-up to 2 external directors that do not need to be dairy farmers (to be appointed by the Board)

-1 external director is a licensed dairy farmer

-1 external director is a staff member of a dairy services organization in the Netherlands

Each of the 10 licensed dairy farmers on the board are all long-time members of at least one Canadian dairy breed organization.

Whereas…

Whereas the Industry Standards Committee is composed of eight people, only one of whom is a producer (representing the Lactanet Board of Directors).

Whereas the Committee would greatly benefit from integrating producers whose profile correspond to that of milking system users and who actively participate in the discussions about industry standards.

Whereas a thorough knowledge of the use of the various data sensors would be useful for determining the minimal standards relevant to the industry.

Whereas the producers are the basis of this industry, they are competent, informed, and highly ethical and result-oriented players.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is proposed that Lactanet add a significant number of unrelated producers corresponding to a variety of profiles in order to carry out the vision of the Industry Standards Committee.

Whereas…

Whereas within any social, community or political organization, a member of a board of directors or advisory committee must normally withdraw from a decision when it is of financial interest for himself or an organization that he is associated with.

Whereas the decisions of the Genetic Evaluation Board (GEB) are of financial interest for producers and/or distributors of dairy bull semen in Canada.

Whereas the Genetic Evaluation Board is composed of 7 dairy producers, 5 members of the dairy genetic industry and 6 technical members who all have an equal share of voting rights.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is proposed that the voting members of the Genetic Evaluation Board be only the dairy members of the said Board.

Reference information provided by Lactanet:

There are a total of 17 voting members on the GEB (out of the total 18 members) of which 7 are producers/breeders.

Whereas…

Whereas Lactanet is the result of the merger of several milk production organizations.

Whereas the greatest share of Lactanet’s funding comes from the dairy producers using its services.

Whereas the number of dairy producers is decreasing each year.

Whereas mergers are not always a key to success in terms of operating costs.

Whereas it is essential to have quality service at a lower cost.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is requested that Lactanet develop a strategic plan for human resources for the next few years in order to ensure quality service but mostly a reduction in operational costs.

It is requested that in the interest of transparency, Lactanet disclose its strategic plan to producers in winter 2022.

Whereas…

Whereas Lactanet is the result of the merger of several organizations operating in the field of milk production and;

Whereas several previous employees of those organizations stayed with the new entity, but with different roles and;

Whereas the producers wishing to obtain specific information have difficulty finding their way.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is requested to make that chart available to dairy producers.

Reference information provided by Lactanet:

The Lactanet organizational structure includes the following key operational divisions:

-Operations division, Daniel Lefebvre, Chief Operating Officer – labs, innovation and development, information technology, Customer Service Desk and Centre of Expertise;

-Industry Services division, Brian Van Doormaal, Chief Services Officer – genetic evaluations, DairyTrace and industry data exchange;

-Sales and Services West, Ron Hurtubise, Director – milk recording services in Ontario and West;

-Sales and Services East, Guy Boyer, Director – milk recording and advisory services in Quebec and Atlantic, proAction validation services in Quebec;

-Business Development, Richard Cantin, Director – national business development, herd management software and proAction validation services in Ontario;

-Communications, Annik Perron, Director – national communications activities;

-Finance, Rob McTaggart, Director – national finance and facilities;

-Human Resources – Clement-Guy Bernard, Director – national human resources activities.

Whereas…

Whereas Lactanet is an organization open for innovations.

Whereas BCAs are outdated tools.

Whereas ranking indexes offered by Lactanet through milk recording do not take into account the overall performance of the animals.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is moved to issue an index comparable to the Herd Management Score for each cow having completed one lactation. A combined individual performance index (C.I.P.I.). This index must combine performance related to production, reproduction and milk quality and also compare it to Canadian individuals for the same age.

Whereas…

Whereas the Herd Management Score is a good indication of our herd management.

Whereas the improvement of our Herd Management Score has an effect on the improvement of the profitability of our operation.

Whereas having a Herd Management Score index for each animal, would allow us to identify the most profitable animals.

Therefore…

Therefore, it is moved that an Individual Cow Performance index be made available for each cow in the herd.

Reference information provided by Lactanet:

The development of a cow equivalent to the Herd Management Score is part of the Lactanet business plan. The project is still in early stages of concept and we are working on the challenges of finding an optimal solution based on science and economics. No details are yet finalized.