Gary Bowers is a born leader and visionary, which are undoubtedly his strongest assets.  Over the nearly 40 years that he was involved in the dairy cattle improvement industry, he often found himself in leadership roles on multiple committees and boards of directors. Gary’s passion and dedication to the dairy industry helped grow his involvement from Jersey Québec and the Québec Dairy Breeds Council to Jersey Canada, Ciaq, Semex Alliance, Canadian Dairy Network (CDN) and Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC). 

As Jersey Canada’s representative, Gary played a pivotal role that led to the 2005 establishment of the Multi-Breed Classification Program, which remains a valued service offered by Holstein Canada. Gary’s involvement at Ciaq and Semex led to significant efficiencies through the streamlining of bull housing as well as semen production and distribution within the Semex family of companies. 

As Jersey Canada’s representative, Gary played a pivotal role that led to the 2005 establishment of the Multi-Breed Classification Program, which remains a valued service offered by Holstein Canada. Gary’s involvement at Ciaq and Semex led to significant efficiencies through the streamlining of bull housing as well as semen production and distribution within the Semex family of companies.

During his 10-year mandate on the CDN Board of Directors, Gary’s leadership and vision led to the rapid adoption of genomic evaluations in 2009 and the development of Pro$ in 2015 as Canada’s profit-based economic index. He also laid the groundwork for the eventual partnership between CDN, CanWest DHI and Valacta for the creation of Lactanet in 2019.  As the CDN representative on DFC’s Board of Directors, Gary was named to the proAction Committee and chair of the sub-committee focused on the development and introduction of the Biosecurity module. He also had a major influence on the discussions between DFC and CDN, which led to the 2020 creation of DairyTrace as Canada’s national dairy cattle traceability program. 

 Gary Bowers becomes the fifteenth recipient of this prestigious recognition since its creation in 2008. The award presentation to Gary will take place during the 2024 Dairy Cattle Industry Forum on September 17-18 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Toronto. 

Lactanet Canada is the leading dairy herd improvement organization responsible for milk recording, genetic evaluations, herd management software solutions, knowledge transfer and dairy cattle traceability. As a farmer-run organization serving all Canadian dairy producers, Lactanet provides the dairy industry with products and services to help manage their dairy operation for maximum efficiency and profitability.