World Dairy Diary

Humor For the HEART of Agriculture

“Humor for the HEART of Agriculture,” was the title of the humorous entertainment during the general session dinner at the 2010 Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth, MI last week. Behind the jokes and stories of the evening entertainment was Damian Mason. Mason is a comedian with enthusiasm for the agriculture industry. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in agriculture economics and has since studied comedy writing and improvisation at the prestigious The Second City Training Center in Chicago.

Mason did a fantastic job of combining his farm background and knowledge with his comic routine. His presentation was both relevant and uplifting, and he had the whole gang laughing the entire time. He told stories of selling beef steers and teaching his city wife the ins and outs of agriculture with Farm Camp! (A great idea, if you ask me!) He was also great at his Bill Clinton impersonations! It was truly an enjoyable meeting, and I know he got everyone in the conference excited to be in the agriculture industry once again! (Photo provided by Celeste Laurent)

Dairy Down Under: Comparing the U.S. and Australian Dairy Industries

Nicole Schaendorf, 2009 Senior Michigan Dairy Ambassador, shared her experiences of her study abroad trip to Australia in her presentation during the Partners’ Program at GLRDC titled, “Dairy Down Under: Comparing the U.S. and Australian Dairy Industries.” Here are a few facts that I thought would be of interest to World Dairy Diary readers:

When comparing the U.S. to Australia, dairy contributes $31 billion to the U.S. economy, while Australia dairy producers contributes only $3.3 billion to their economy.

77% of dairy farms in the U.S. have fewer than 100 cows, while the average size of the Australian dairy farm is 214 cows.

There are 60,000 dairy farms in the U.S., with 99% being family owned. There are only 7,950 farms in Australia, down 50% from 25 years ago.

Just some interesting tid bits from down under, mate. I hope you enjoyed it!

Dairy Farmers Make One Request: Competitive Milk Pricing System

Here is some information about a group of dairy farmers from across the country who traveled recently to Washington D.C. to lobby for a competitive milk pricing system in the future, an effort to save more dairy farms from closing their doors. As told by Farm and Dairy in their article, Dairy Farmers Make One Request: Competitive Milk Pricing System, here is some information about their trip to discuss the dairy crisis with Congress.

More than 100 dairy farmers from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee traveled to Washington, D.C., Dec. 2 to meet with congressional representatives and other officials to present solutions that would end the worst dairy crisis since the Great Depression.

Dairy farmers met with members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Education and Labor Committee and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to urge immediate action to restore fairness in the dairy pricing system, enforce anti-trust laws and ensure that dairy farmers receive a fair price for their product. Dairy farmers also called on the USDA to quickly distribute emergency assistance aid that was authorized by Congress and President Obama under the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill in October.

More Dairy Products For Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica

It sure sounds like Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica did very well in the cattle market with their acquisition of a portion of Ft. Dodge Animal Health. To tell us about is Tim Bettington, Director Livestock Marketing. I spoke with him at their recent media day in St. Joseph, MO. He says that although BIVI has been a long standing player in the cattle business it has only been in certain segments like the stocker and feedlot sector. But now he says they have great opportunities in the cow/calf and dairy sectors.

According to Tim, the stand out products will be Cydectin, Today and Tomorrow Mastitis Tubes and newer vaccines like Triangle. He says that although there is an integration of staff, customers will see the same look and feel of the products and deal with the same representatives they were dealing with.

You can listen to my interview with Tim below.

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Organic Dairy Farmers Create Brand: MooMilk

Molly Line at Fox News recently posted a report on a new brand of organic milk called MooMilk. MooMilk will be sold in Maine and New Hampshire to start but, the farmers hope to eventually distribute throughout New England. Check it out!

In the midst of a crisis hitting the nation’s dairy industry a group of organic farmers in Maine, dropped by their big distributor, are joining together to create their own brand and save their family businesses. Mark McKusick, a fourth generation dairy farmer out of Dexter, Maine signed on to the ambitious effort.

“We’re gonna give the consumer, the real organic consumer, the real product. It’s fresh, it’s local and we’re going to strive on quality and taste,” McKusick said. “The best part of this is we’ve got control over our product.”

Dubbed MooMilk- short for Maine’s Own Organic Milk- the new brand will hit store shelves by mid-December. Ten farms have signed on to the start-up operation along with a local processor and a distributor.

Source: MooMilk

Novus International Launces Podcast

More and more agricultural companies are joining the social media platform. Now Novus International Inc., announces the launch of a bi-weekly podcast series titled, “What’s New with Novus.”

The topics of “What’s New with Novus” will focus on issues facing the global agriculture community today. These issues include the global food crisis, Stratum Nutrition (Novus’s human division), sustainability and key industry events. Every other podcast will focus on ALIMET® feed supplement, Novus’s leading product. These topics include the benefits in various species and the importance of ALIMET® for animal nutrition.

The next edition of “What’s New with Novus” will be available November 30, 2009 on iTunes, Zune and www.novusint.com/podcasts. Novus’s Global Ruminant Market Manager Stephanie Gable will be discussing oxidative balance in the cow.

Source: Novus International, Inc.

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Grows Into Dairy

With the acquisition of Ft. Dodge Animal Health products and facilities, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica has really expanded their business in the dairy industry. The head of the U.S. cattle business is Colin Meyers. He spoke at the media event I attended in St. Joseph, MO.

Colin says the main thing the acquisition of Ft. Dodge Animal Health means to the company is that they now have a much broader range of products to offer. For the dairy sector they now offer Pyramid, Triangle, Presponse, Today and Tomorrow mastitis therapy, Cydectin and more.

Colin says they’ll have a larger sales and veterinarian force to reach out to customers and a bigger distribution network. They’ve spent the last three weeks bringing in new staff, distributors and others to help enable a smooth transition for customers.

You can listen to my interview with Colin below.

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Media Day Photo Album

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Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Sees Value Through Innovation

Now that Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica has taken over a significant portion of Ft. Dodge Animal Health you may be wondering what it means to the company and dairy producer customers. To help us find out, BIVI brought a group of media representatives into St. Joseph, MO to hear the story.

I spoke with BIVI President, George Heidgerken (pictured on left), about changes in the company after the acquisition. He says the purchase is a big deal for BIVI here in the United States and globally since it essentially doubles their business including their ability to innovate in the future. While merging the two company cultures he says they will maintain the BI vision and mission and how they achieve them.

George says they can take the best of both companies, put them together and get excited about what they can achieve. They’re calling it the “new BIVI.” He says that full integration may take a couple years although they hope to achieve that sooner. The products they’ve acquired fit in perfectly with their existing portfolio and expand their cattle, dairy and pet business. The vision for the future of the company he says, is “value through innovation.”

You can listen to my interview with George below.

Here’s a group of photos from the media event last Thursday Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Media Day Photo Album

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Study looks at dairy industry’s impact on society

Carol Ryan Dumas recently wrote an article, Study weighs dairy industry’s social impact, published in the Capital Press. The reported study indicates the growth of the Hispanic workforce as a key part on the discussion. This has some interesting findings that are definitely worth reading. Check it out…

Unprecedented growth in Idaho’s dairy industry over the past decade brought both economic gains and concerns about the community impact of a growing Hispanic workforce. Paralleling the industry’s expansion and geographic concentration, Southern Idaho’s Hispanic population has grown by 85 percent since 2000.

Perceptions that foreign workers are overburdening schools, health-care services and the justice system led dairymen to fund a University of Idaho study of the community impacts of a changing industry and a changing demographic. The two-year study, costing more than $60,000, was released this week.

“We asked the university for the study to quantify perceptions and offer solutions,” said Bob Naerebout, executive director of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. “We wanted the study to try to understand what the actual impacts are. We knew there would be positives and negatives.”

What resulted was a long, complicated study on those community impacts, the only one of its kind, said Priscilla Salant, UI outreach and engagement coordinator and one of the lead researchers.
What the study found was mostly positive, she said.

Predicting Changes for Parasite and Vector Induced Animal Diseases

A featured article at the Dairy Site, Predicting Changes for Parasite and Vector Induced Animal Diseases, discusses climate change and the livestock industry. Eric Hoberg, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) zoologist at the Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, discusses how climate change could have a major influence on animal health, by affecting parasites and vectors that spread disease. This is an interesting read for anyone in the dairy cattle industry. Check it out.

Climate change can alter an animal’s relationship with parasites and vectors. These changes can influence where parasites and vectors thrive, making certain geographical regions more or less amenable to them. Climate change can also alter when and for how long parasites and vectors pose a threat to agricultural animals. Climate can determine how pathogens are distributed, transmitted and evolve, and can influence the factors associated with emerging disease and how animals respond to those diseases. Significant environmental changes have been well documented in recent decades, and some of these changes are causing trouble for livestock.

Dr. Eric Hoberg is one of many ARS scientists investigating the probable impact of climate changes on agricultural parasites and virus vectors. Their research is generating information that could help producers prepare for and respond to heightened disease threats.

In one study, Dr. Hoberg collaborated with several Canadian scientists to investigate the influence of climate change on parasitic lungworms known as Protostrongylus stilesi in Arctic mammals. Although the lungworms had never before been observed in muskoxen, the scientists observed them in muskoxen that share habitat with Dall’s sheep. Environmental changes that bring the two animals into contact more frequently could result in larger parasite populations.

Dairy COOL Act introduced to Senate

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.

Supermarket News Examines Pros, Cons of COOL

Fresh Market Editor Matthew Enis with Supermarket News dives into the pros and cons of labeling dairy products in grocery stores. He offers up some interesting insights, and this is your opportunity to share your opinions, as well. Link here to read the entire column and voice your opinion in the comments section.

Earlier this month, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Al Franken, D-Minn., introduced a bill that would extend mandatory country-of-origin labeling to all dairy products. All three senators have said that a new COOL law would help American dairy farmers compete more effectively in U.S. supermarkets and would help them weather the current economic crisis facing the dairy industry.

In a press release, Sen. Feingold added that “with the discovery last year of widespread use of melamine in Chinese dairy products, consumers deserve to know whether the milk used to produce the dairy products they buy meets the high safety standards used in the U.S.”

Passage of this bill might make some great campaign ads, but it will do very little to help U.S. dairy farmers, and it won’t make the U.S. food supply any safer. According to data from the International Dairy Foods Association, the U.S. did import more than $1.2 billion of dairy products during the first six months of 2009. Fluid milk accounted for $3 million of that total. Yogurt, butter, ice cream, dry milk and condensed milk combined for about $70 million more. To put this in perspective, according to recent IRI data, annual U.S. sales of these products total more than $20 billion. In the U.S., the vast majority of these products are already produced domestically.

High Volume Dairy Implements Robotic Palletizing

Packworld.com recently released this information about a new plant packaging for butter products using robots. This is pretty cool. For more information, download the white paper on this topic here.

California Dairies’ Turlock, Calif., plant produces more than 170 different SKUs of butter in case sizes ranging from 8 to 55 pounds. This Motoman case history describes the plant’s transition from manual to robotic palletizing.

“The robot system has improved our ability to run in a consistent manner,” says Eric Snoke, Vice President of Operations. “We calculated that the payback for the system would be two years or less, based on direct labor savings alone, and that does not take into account the reduction in workmen compensation claims.”

Dairy Farmers Launch Organic Brand

E.B. Solomont with the Mother Nature Network recently published an article titled, Dairy Farmers Launch Organic Brand, in The Olympian in Washington state. This is an exciting new brand of organic milk products featured by several dairy farmers in the state of Maine. Check it out!

In the annals of rural farming, 10 organic dairy farmers in Maine are showing entrepreneurial spirit in trying economic times: After their contracts with a major milk processor were abruptly canceled, the farmers will distribute and sell their own cows’ milk locally under the name MOOMilk, short for Maine’s Own Organic Milk Co. MOOMilk is set to hit stores in Maine and Massachusetts by early November, just 18 months after the farmers faced far bleaker prospects, according to the Bangor Daily News.

It all started when H.P. Hood Inc. axed the dairy farms from its organic line for economic reasons. Furious, the farmers urged the milk processor to reconsider, particularly since many converted to organic at Hood’s urging. Hood refused, but rather than fall prey to a ravaged economy, the farmers banded together to form a cooperative with investors, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the Maine Farm Bureau and the Maine Department of Agriculture. With a price tag of $3.99 per half-gallon, the milk will be sold at standard organic prices and will take roughly 96 hours to get from the cow to the shelf.

Live Dairy Cattle Exports Down

ABC Rural recently posted a report on live dairy cattle export numbers, and like many areas in the agriculture industry, it’s not looking positive. (Photo courtesy of Allyson Horn) Here is the most recent news…

Live dairy cattle exports are 10,000 head below expectations so far this year. Cameron Hall, from LiveCorp, says it’s likely that just 40,000 dairy heifers will be exported from Australia this year. It’s a long way short of the 58,000 that were exported to more than 15 countries last year.

“Now that’s been an impact of the global financial crisis without doubt,” he says. “You know, we’ve seen an increase in the second half of the year on Australian currency rates, we’re seeing an increase on oil prices, all of which go into increasing the cost to supply Australian dairy cattle.”

Dairy Producers Market Methane

Tom Lutey at the Billings Gazette recently published a very interesting, thought-provoking read titled, Dairy farm utilizes alternative income sources on the next environmental step for cattle producers. It’s all about utilizing the methane for cattle and converting into reusable energy. This is a great example of just that, and from the comments about the article, I would say the general public supports this production practice, as well. (Photo courtesy Billings Gazette) Here is a piece of the article…

A farmer in tough times has to squeeze every penny from his operation, but Huls Dairy is squeezing in places few farmers have. Dairy cows at the Corvallis farm produce 6 million gallons of manure a year, which this fourth-generation farm in Northwest Montana’s Bitterroot Valley taps for methane fuel and a bagged, organic lawn-and-garden fertilizer sold as Afterburner Boost. The methane generates enough energy to power Huls’ 350-cow dairy operation, plus one home.

“Our farm has tried to utilize our cows, to market whatever we have,” said Tim Huls, who is facing the lowest payments in nearly three decades for his farm’s milk. “It wouldn’t be enough to offset the dairy crisis, in terms of taking you from being in the red, but at this point it’s paid its own way, particularly in fertilizer. Afterburner Boost does very well in the marketplace.”

Finding small ways to save or make a buck has become crucial for Montana farmers struggling with feast-or-famine market prices. Huls likens the erratic price behavior of his commodity to a seismograph reading for Yellowstone National Park. After receiving a record high price for his milk two years ago, Huls would now need dairy payouts to increase a third just to break even. For Huls Dairy, the decision to go into the methane energy business was as much about squeezing a dollar as bracing for environmental change. Methane from livestock is increasingly being viewed as a liability for farmers, one they might be penalized for producing possible federal legislation to curb global warming.

Dairy Producer Masters Social Media to Tell Story

Here is a positive story about a dairy producer in California who is standing up and speaking out to tell the real story of production agriculture. Her name is Barbara Jackson, and her story was recently printed in the Modesto Beef in an article titled, “Ag Tries Twitter,” a feature by Robert Rodriguez that describes how farms are feeding info to the public and their peers via social media outlets. (Photo courtesy Modesto Bee) Here is Barbara’s story…

With a hand-held video camera, a computer and 800 cows, Barbara Martin of Lemoore is letting the world into her life as a dairy operator. No, it’s not a new reality television show. And Martin isn’t craving her 15 minutes of fame. But she is joining a growing number of farmers and others in agriculture who are using social media tools to communicate with each other, send out information and educate the public about agriculture.

Dairy operators have become especially skilled at launching Facebook pages, blog posting and using Twitter, a microblogging site. Martin uses all three to tell the public about the family’s 800-cow dairy. She launched “A Dairy Goddess’s Blog” in late August.

For Martin, using social media and blogging is a way to dispel some myths about farmers and encourage a greater understanding of the slumping dairy industry. She’s blogged about everything from fixing the pricing structure for milk to sharing her childhood memories about growing up on a farm. Her most recent post is a video diary about her heifer Chica.

Attending Pioneer Hi-Bred Forage Day

Pioneer Hi-Bred has invited ag media to attend a day filled with information on their forage products.

The Pioneer Livestock Nutrition Center (PLNC), Pioneer experts will provide the latest updates on technologies designed for producers and forage growers to get the most return on their investment.

Pioneer provides the entire range of seed genetics, crop-specific forage additives, revolutionary Corn Fiber Technology, silage know-how and local services – all dedicated to the goal of producing more nutritious feed for livestock.

Cindy and I are on location and will be covering the event throughout the day here and on World Dairy Diary.

Outgoing Pa. Ag Secretary Dennis Wolff Heads to Lobbying Firm

Dennis Wolff, Pennsylvania’s outgoing secretary of agriculture, is joining the partnership at the lobbying firm of Versant Strategies. He had announced his resignation in August.

Wolff’s role at Versant is effective Sept. 14, where he will work with the network of producers, consumers, and private and public organizations that make up the state’s agricultural community.

Wolff joins Versant Strategies’ current partners: John Barley, a Master Farmer with 18 years of experience as a leader in the state House of Representatives; and MeeCee Baker, the firm’s chief operating officer and veteran agricultural educator.

Source: Farm & Dairy

Novus Unveils DairyBalance.com

The first presenter this morning at the Novus International Media Day was Stephanie Gable, Marketing Manager, Ruminants. Stephanie gave us the lowdown on how Novus is helping dairy producers achieve “oxidative balance” in their herd. They’ve found that just like with human beings, when dairy cows come under stress from oxidation they become less productive. So to prevent it and maintain a healthy balance they recommend the use of antioxidants like AGRADO Plus feed ingredient.

They feel so strongly about the importance of dairy nutrition that they’ve created a new website on the subject where you can learn a lot more about this oxidative balance issue.

You can listen to my interview with Stephanie here:

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