Posted: November 3, 2009 at 3:12 pm
By News Editor
A new study recently released by Nutrition Today suggests that the prevalence of lactose intolerance may be far lower than previously estimated.
The study, which uses data from a national sample of three ethnic groups, reveals that the overall prevalence rate of self-reported lactose intolerance is 12 percent – with 7.72 percent of European Americans, 10.05 percent of Hispanic Americans and 19.5 percent of African Americans who consider themselves lactose intolerant.
These new findings indicate that previous estimates of lactose intolerance incidence – based on the incidence of lactose maldigestion – may be overestimated by wide margins. Previous studies have found lactose maldigestion, or low lactase activity in the gut, to occur in approximately 15 percent of European Americans, 50 percent of Mexican Americans and 80 percent of African Americans.(2,3,4) The new study shows that lactose intolerance, based on self-reported data, may actually occur far less frequently than presumed.
“There’s so much confusion surrounding lactose intolerance,” said Theresa Nicklas, DrPH, of the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and lead study author. “By getting a better handle on the true number of people who deal with this condition every day, the nutrition community can be better equipped to educate and provide dietary guidance for Americans, including strategies to help meet dairy food recommendations for those who self-report lactose intolerance.”
Study: Nicklas TA, Qu H, Hughes SO. Prevalence of self-reported lactose intolerance in a multi-ethnic sample of adults. Nutrition Today 2009; 44(5):186-187
SOURCE National Dairy Council
Posted: November 3, 2009 at 2:47 pm
By News Editor
“White Gold” the star of the new rock opera, the Battle for Milkquarious, has great news for California high schools – a chance to win $20,000 for their school’s art programs!
California Milk Processing Board’s “the Milkdonkulous Giveaway” asks students to recreate scenes from the online movie, and then post them on YouTube.
High schools must upload their videos by Dec. 20. Winners will be announced on Jan. 25.
Grab a glass of milk and get creative! If you create a video, post a link here in the comments section so WDD can share your “milk-piece!”
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Posted: November 3, 2009 at 5:32 am
By Amanda Nolz
Here is an update on the Dairy COOL Act, which would add labeling on milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream and butter as reported by Heather Thorstensen, an Agri News staff writer. Without a doubt, dairy producers will be keeping a close eye on this act. I’m curious to know your thoughts on COOL and how it might impact the dairy industry. Read on for more details…
Bob Lefebvre, Minnesota Milk Producers Association’s executive director, said his organization is closely watching a bill U.S. Senator Al Franken helped introduce to the Senate Oct. 14 that would expand country of origin labeling to dairy products.
He’s confident Franken (D-Minn.) wants to help dairy producers. He agrees consumers should know where their milk comes from, as long as the legislation doesn’t inhibit exports. The challenge will be potential ramifications if other countries perceive the legislation negatively.
“I’m sure that Senator Franken is aware of that potential, too. It’s just one thing we always have to be aware of,” Lefebvre said.
Franken’s Dairy COOL Act, S. 1783, was co-sponsored by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Currently, the COOL law requires some retailers, such as full-line grocery stores, to label the source of muscle cuts and ground meat of beef, veal, pork, lamb, goat, and chicken; fish and shell-fish; produce; certain nuts and ginseng.
Posted: November 2, 2009 at 8:15 pm
By News Editor
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan has announced more than $19 million in grants have been awarded to universities across the country to solve critical organic agriculture issues through the integration of research, education and extension projects.
Merrigan announced the funding in Portland, Maine, and was joined by representatives from the University of Maine, the local grant recipient which is conducting research that will increase farmers’ capacity to produce high quality organic bread wheat. The announcement was made at Borealis Breads bakery where proprietor, Jim Amaral, benefits from the USDA funded research by using the locally produced organic bread wheat that meets the higher quality standards necessary for bread production. Supplying this expanding market for organic bread wheat represents a significant economic opportunity for this region’s farmers.
Launched in September 2009, the ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative emphasizes the need for a fundamental and critical reconnection between producers and consumers. ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ includes such major agricultural topics as supporting local farmers and community food groups; strengthening rural communities; enhancing direct marketing and farmers’ promotion programs; promoting healthy eating; protecting natural resources; and helping schools connect with locally grown foods.
Since the late 1990′s, U.S. organic production has more than doubled, but the consumer market has grown even faster. Organic food sales have more than quintupled, increasing from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $24.6 billion in 2008. More than two-thirds of U.S. consumers buy organic products at least occasionally, and 28 percent buy organic products weekly.
The Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), funds projects that will enhance the ability of producers and processors who already have adopted organic standards to grow and market high-quality organic agricultural products. Meanwhile, the Integrated Organic and Water Quality Program funds projects that demonstrate benefits to soil and water availability posed by implementing certified organic practices. Projects combine physical measurements of soil and surface and/or groundwater conditions at the field or farm scale with modeling information generated at the same spatial and temporal scale.
Posted: November 2, 2009 at 8:07 pm
By News Editor
From Drover’s Magazine:
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association(NCBA) urged Congress to pass legislation providing additional relief and permanency in the tax code for America’s farmers, ranchers and other small business owners. As part of these ongoing efforts, NCBA is supporting H.R. 3905, the Estate Tax Relief Act of 2009, introduced by Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), along with Representatives Kevin Brady (D-Texas), Devin Nunes (R-Calif), and Artur Davis (D-Ala.). Over a 10-year period, H.R. 3906 would increase the estate tax (“death tax”) exemption to $5 million while decreasing the rate to a level of 35 percent.
Currently, the death tax is set at 45 percent for estates worth more than $3.5 million (or $7 million for a couple). The president’s budget proposed freezing the estate tax at this level so it could be dealt with at a later date. If Congress does nothing, in 2011, it would revert to pre-2001 tax levels, and estates worth more than $1 million would be taxed at a 55 percent rate.
“This bipartisan bill is a step in the right direction towards a permanent solution that will allow farmers and ranchers to better plan for the future of their operations,” said Jill Davidsaver, manager, legislative affairs.” If Congress doesn’t act soon, it will be too late. Allowing the estate tax to revert to pre-2001 levels will be a death warrant for small-to-medium sized family businesses.”
H.R. 3905 would raise the estate-tax exemption through a phased approach, starting at $3.5 million in 2009, and increasing by $150,000 each year until 2019 when the exemption would permanently level off at $5 million. The phase-out of the tax would work the same way: decreasing from 45 to 35 percent by 1 percent increments from 2009 to 2019. The bill is indexed for inflation after 2019.
The death tax is considered one of the leading causes of the breakup of multi-generation family farms and ranches. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), farm estates are 5-20 times more likely to incur estate taxes than other estates. In fact, according to ERS estimates, one in ten farm estates (farms with sales of $250,000 or more annually) are likely to owe estate taxes in 2009. Most of the time, these assets have already faced taxes two or three times over the course of a lifetime.
NCBA continues to support H.R. 3524, the Family Farm and Conservation Preservation Act, sponsored by Congressmen Thompson (D-Calif.) and Salazar (D-Colo.), as well as additional estate tax relief for agriculture operations in tax extender legislation. NCBA also supported an amendment by Senators Lincoln (D- Ark.) and Kyl (R- Ariz.)—which passed earlier this year as part of the Senate budget resolution—to raise the death tax exemption to $5 million per individual and $10 million per couple, indexed for inflation. While the amendment wasn’t included in the final bill passed in conference, its passage in the Senate demonstrated strong bipartisan support for death tax reform.
Posted: November 2, 2009 at 6:40 pm
By Amanda Nolz
Be sure to catch Oprah tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. CST to watch Martina McBride return to her old high school job at Dairy Queen. I’m interested to watch this segment and see if any positive comments are made about dairy products. Who could say anything bad about ice cream anyway? Regardless of McBride’s comments, it will be exciting to see CMT and Oprah put together a nice segment on one of the dairy industry’s best customers.
Martina McBride will appear on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show about first jobs on Tuesday (Nov. 3), returning to the Dairy Queen in Hutchinson, Kan., where she worked after high school. In the episode, McBride works the counter and the drive-through window of the restaurant, which is still owned by the same couple who once hired her. McBride also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Oct. 26 during a visit to the State Fair of Texas.
Posted: November 2, 2009 at 6:01 pm
By Amanda Nolz
Here is a positive feature recently published in the Daily Record, Dairy farms moo-sic to her ears, written by Bobby Warren. A city girl fell in love with dairy cattle and decided to pursue her dreams despite her urban upbringing. Here is an excerpt from this exciting story…
Despite being a “city girl” while growing up in Worthington, Dianne Shoemaker fell in love with dairy cows, and it led to her studying dairy science, becoming a dairy farmer and a dairy education specialist.
As a child, Dianne Shoemaker remembers her parents taking the family to her grandparents’ in Wisconsin. Shoemaker grew up in Worthington, a suburb of Columbus, but loved looking at the dairy cows grazing in pastures along the roadways between Ohio and Wisconsin. Those fond memories of the dairy farms, barns and cows has turned into a career for Shoemaker, who recently joined Ohio State University’s Wayne County Extension Office as a dairy specialist.
While dairy is her profession, it is also her life. She and her husband, Steve, milk 170 head on their Mahoning County farm, where they have a mix of Jerseys and Holsteins. Despite being a city girl, her father told her if she wanted to study dairy, then she should study dairy. So, off she went to The Ohio State University and pursued a degree. (Photo courtesy Daily Record)
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