Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

First Canadian Dairy Expo In Stratford A Big Hit, 11,600 Attendees

Canadian Dairy Expo News Release.

 

In a CTV interview, one producer from New Brunswick stated that the Canadian Dairy XPO was like “the dairy industry on steroids” and that he had “never seen the likes of this, here in Canada”.

“That producer statement fits the original vision of CDX” states expo Founder & GM Jordon Underhill. “The idea was to drive maximum value and wow factor for the dairy producer and family. After all, these are the people helping to feed the nation and deserve only the best”. 

Simply mention the words ‘dairy expo’ in any Canadian dairy community today and hear firsthand the genuine feedback and experience on the inaugural Canadian Dairy XPO. There is a buzz in the barn and mass enthusiasm around the 2014 event. The expo was held the first week of February at the Stratford Rotary Complex, Stratford Ontario. 

Massive crowds of dairy producers and pick up trucks congested the Stratford streets, parked on all roads up to 3km away. Farmers trenched through snow banks and slushy sidewalks to grab an early morning buttermilk pancake breakfast and finally experience the most talked about dairy show since the World Dairy Expo, held annually in Madison Wisconsin. 

CDX reports 89% of individuals that came through the gate were active dairy producers and 86% came with their families. A family affair, that mixed big business with a social element of a grass roots meeting place. Producers came from afar, with 22% traveling over 150km to attend and reported producer representation from 6 Canadian provinces and 11 countries.  

Attending producers came armed with $10 off admission coupons, compliments of exhibiting companies and CDX. They received significant value for the $15 admission.

“Our main marketing thrust was to drive a quality audience to the inaugural CDX” states Donna Powell, CDX marketing manager.  “We reduced the cost of admission for the producers, which are customers of our exhibitors. We created personalized admission coupons which our exhibitors distributed via their dairy databases. The top 3 exhibiting companies with the most redeemed coupons are Grand Valley Fortifiers, Ag Sourcing and Progressive Dairyman magazine. These 3 companies and many others went above and beyond to promote the inaugural CDX and we will ask them to rally again for 2014”.

“These dairy producers finally had a chance to experience what was long overdue for our Canadian dairy industry” states Underhill. “Attendance on our first day was 7,900 and the second day was 3,600; representing 11,600 dairy producers and family members. This figure does not include exhibitors, children under 6 or CheeseFEST attendees. That’s a lot of quota passing through in just a 16 hour period”.

The City of Stratford Facility Manager stated that the complex has never seen this volume of vehicles. Not even for established national events such as Skate Canada, The Tanker and Microsoft 3.0. 

Hard to comprehend when there are just over 4,000 dairy producers in the province of Ontario. “The family turnout was incremental; they came from both in-province and out of province. We also believe there was a number of producers that attended for both days”, states BriteSpan Cow Coliseum manager, Val Jones. 

The atmosphere in the BriteSpan Cow Coliseum felt like home to dairy producers. The massive free-span structure was built specifically for companies to showcase live, their innovation and leading genetics. 

Companies such as Drench-mate and Golden Calf Co. traveled across the border to perform live demonstrations with their leading innovations around rumen juice extraction and colostrum management. The four robot powerhouses stood strong and stayed actively engaged with producers for the duration of CDX. One genetic company in the BriteSpan Cow Coliseum reported the highest sales activity of any event in company’s history.  

Opening night in the BriteSpan Cow Coliseum also hosted a complimentary public CheeseFEST event. Hundreds of platters bearing high quality cheeses from four dairy species - cow, goat, water buffalo and sheep were available for sample. Celebrity Chef Jason Bangerter and Chef Lynn Crawford played off each other and performed a candid, live cheese cooking demonstration filled with plenty of comic relief.  

A significant fundraising campaign for 4-H youth was conducted throughout the dairy expo, raising over $10,000. Perth and Oxford County 4-H kids were a big help in the BMO Homegrown Kitchen, pumping out homemade milkshakes and grill cheese sandwiches. GenerVations gave away a high genomic testing heifer calf and in addition donated over $5,000 to the Wellington County Dairy Club. CDX also made a 3-year commitment to a dairy youth travel bursary of $2,500 administered though the Stratford Ag Society. The annual winner will get an interactive trip to the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI.  

Canadian Dairy XPO dates for 2014 are February 5th and 6th. Anyone who had doubts about the inaugural project, now look to the 2014 CDX with immense optimism. It was built and dairy producers came!

Views: 497

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by OntAG Admin on February 18, 2013 at 11:38am

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Bison may not have future on Great Plains

The Great Plains has functioned as an ideal habitat for the North American bison for thousands of years. But according to new research from South Dakota State University, the grasslands of South Dakota and North Dakota may no longer be the national mammal's model habitat by the end of the century. Earth's climate has changed throughout deep history, with periods of both warming and cooling. Currently, the North American climate is seeing an increase in temperatures and variability in precipitation. That change is causing some species to shift their range as living conditions become unsuitable. The research team's findings, published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, suggest that the center of suitable climate conditions for the North American bison will shift from the Saskatchewan-Montana/North Dakota border significantly to the northwest, near the Alaska/Canada border, by the year 2100. While Canada and Alaska will become more suitable for bison, much of the contiguous United S

Producers suffer egg woes

Key takeaways • After almost 21 million birds were affected by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza from January to March 2026, detections have decreased, with less than 10,000 birds affected so far in May. The resulting increase in egg supply comes during a time of softened demand. • Retail prices for shell eggs are currently 62 percent less than in 2025, while prices paid to farmers for shell eggs have decreased 93 percent. Prices for breaker eggs, used for the liquid-egg market, have decreased to just 8 cents per dozen. That’s 96 percent less than in 2025 and well less than break-even levels. • Prolonged periods of less than break-even prices could force farms out of the market and contribute to continued consolidation in the egg industry. Egg markets have encountered massive volatility since outbreaks of HPAI began in 2022. Retail shell-egg prices hit a record level in 2025 but are now almost 60 percent less than a year ago as supplies have strengthened and HPAI cases declined. Th

The world’s game on a Canadian ag canvas

Bert Bos, owner of the 165-acre Bos Sod Farms in Abbotsford, grew the nearly two acres of hybrid turf the players will play on

Pulse Market Insight #298

Third Quarter Scorecard Positive for Pulses More acreage and very high yields meant much bigger Canadian pulse crops in 2025. Pea and lentil crops were each nearly 1.0 mln tonnes larger than 2024 and chickpea production was up by almost 200,000 tonnes. And for each crop, the carryover from 2024/25 into 2025/26 was also large, which added to the big supplies. With pulse crops facing extremely heavy supplies, a serious increase in export volumes was needed in 2025/26 to keep markets from being pressured (even) lower. And early in the marketing year, prospects weren’t great. In fact, the most positive developments only started to show up in the third quarter of the 2025/26 marketing year. While that doesn’t leave a lot of time to “fix” the heavy supply situation, the outlook is certainly brighter than it was a few months ago. Prospects were especially dim for peas earlier in 2025/26, with Chinese tariffs essentially shutting off that important outlet for Canadian peas. Indian demand wa

Progress Accelerates in Lagging States as U.S. Corn, Soy Planting Remains Ahead of Average

U.S. corn and soybean planting continued to progress ahead of the average pace this past week as fieldwork accelerated in some states where it had been lagging. Monday’s USDA crop progress report showed the nationwide corn crop at 76% planted as of Sunday, up 19 points from the previous week and 6 points ahead of the five-year average. An identical 76% of the corn crop had been planted at this time last year. American soybean planting was pegged at 67% complete as of Sunday, a weekly advance of 18 points. That is 14 points ahead of average and 4 points ahead of last year. In Michigan - where producers had been bogged down by wet, cold conditions - corn planting surged 30 points from a week earlier to reach 47% complete as of Sunday. However, that remains behind 60% last year and 52% on average. Soybean planting in Michigan jumped 25 points on the week to 37% complete, versus 50% last year and 46% on average. North Dakota producers also made rapid progress after earlier weather-

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service