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KEMPTVILLE— This April saw eight participants graduate from the Dairy Herdsperson Apprenticeship Program at the University of Guelph, Kemptville Campus.  The apprentices spent the past two years working on a farm while going to school for four full days each month during the fall and winter.  Some of the highlights over the past two years include a hoof trimming workshop, AI training, on farm milking labs at farms ranging from 250-500 cows, touring over 45 dairy farms, as well as a milking goat farm, Ritchie’s feed mill, two veal farms, EastGen, Foundation Sires, the Animal Health Laboratory, and the Penta TMR manufacturing facility and a trip to Algonquin College to learn about plumbing.

The program has attracted attention from a wide range of farms with farmers milking between 25 and 500 cows sending their sons, daughters, and employees off to learn the theory behind what they are doing every day in the barn.  The program is beneficial to everyone, as the discussions in class involves farmers from all different systems including tie-stall, free stall, pack barns, robotic, organic and last year there was even a seasonal producer.  This wide range of students can allow for lively discussion and can reinforce the important points in a lecture or bring up debate involving new and interesting ways to handle problems on the farm. 

Talking to people working in the dairy industry is one of the best ways to learn and so the herdsperson apprenticeship program is full of guest speakers, farm tours and on-farm labs in the new Robotic Dairy Education and Innovation Center at the Kemptville Campus. 

The Dairy Herdsperson Program is subsidized by the Ontario government through the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities and apprentices may also qualify for funding from the Growing Your Farm Profits workshop.  While a grade 12 diploma or GED equivalency is required to enter the program, it is also possible to complete one-year of in-school and on-farm work while in high school if taken through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program.

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