World Dairy Diary » Biotech

House Ag Hearing on Biotech Focuses on Alfalfa

Cindy Zimmerman — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:44:22 +0000

The future of biotech alfalfa was in the spotlight as the U.S. House Agriculture Committee held a hearing Thursday to review the biotechnology product regulatory approval process. Prior to the hearing, committee chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) joined Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting that the department “return to [...]

USDA Issues Impact Statement on GM Alfalfa

Cindy Zimmerman — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:52:20 +0000

Roundup Ready alfalfa could be headed back to a field near you by next spring. On Thursday, USDA released the long-awaited final environmental impact statement (EIS) that evaluates the potential environmental effects of deregulating genetically modified alfalfa resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Announcing the EIS, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said they are considering two possible [...]

Energy Effiecient Proposals Sought

News Editor — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:42:57 +0000

Dairy companies and suppliers of technology and equipment are being invited to form consortia to research and demonstrate new energy efficient technologies in both CIP and homogenization. The Carbon Trust will provide up to £500,000 per project to fund a maximum of 60% of project costs, depending on State Aid rules for the project type [...]

StollerUSA’s Alfalfa Program Features Bio-Forge

News Editor — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:13:29 +0000

Spring is in the air, and it’s time for dairy farmers to think and plan for the 2010 crop. Read below for information on StollerUSA’s Alfalfa Program. Stoller’s Director of Bioscience, Dr. Ron Salzman, explained the Stoller technology while reviewing university research results and showing images from field trials. StollerUSA field representative, Don Stork also [...]

Biodiesel Plant Receives Grant

News Editor — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:02:15 +0000

HERO BX, formerly Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC, is the country’s largest producer of biodiesel. Last week, the company announced it has been awarded a $1,640,250 million grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to complete the company’s expansion project – increasing their yearly output of low-cost, high quality biodiesel, from 45 million gallons to 55 million [...]

Deferred Payment Loan Now Available for Silage Inoculants

News Editor — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:02:51 +0000

Customers of Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, now can buy silage inoculants using the Pioneer Deferred Payment Loan program. This program will provide payment options specifically designed for dairy and livestock producers as they face economic challenges. Talk to your Pioneer sales professional for details. If you don’t have an existing line of credit for [...]

New Zealand Study May Find Production Increase

News Editor — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:23:43 +0000

A new scientific study being conducted in New Zealand could yield a natural, non-hormonal supplement that will significantly increase milk production. The study is being co-funded by the country’s governmental lab AgResearch Ltd.. and Ancare Scientific. The study with Ancare Scientific Ltd. will take a year and cost more than NZ$500,000 ($377,000), Andy West, chief [...]

Ohio Department of Agriculture Issues Emergency Rule on Dairy Labeling

Andy Vance — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:59:17 +0000

The Ohio Department of Agriculture has issued an Emergency Rule with the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) that regulates on dairy labeling regarding recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), a supplement used for milk production. The issue of rBST labeling has become one of the hottest issues in Ohio agriculture, and Director of Agriculture Bob [...]

FDA May Approve Sale of Clones

News Editor — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:52:46 +0000

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could announce the release of meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring from a voluntary marketing moratorium as early as next week. Some consumer activist groups are wary of the pending approval, but the FDA says its decision is based on years of scientific research and study. [...]

Anti rBST Ads to Cease in Keystone State

Andy Vance — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:32:35 +0000

As the rancorous debate over acceptance of rBST treatments has spread across the country, more and more dairy marketers have jumped on the rBST-free bandwagon. The concern of dairyman has always been the clear lack of understanding from the average consumer as to what exactly rBST is, what it does, and what it means for them as consumers of dairy products. One state has now decided that the debate is over for them: Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolf announced this week that starting January 1st, marketers are prohibited from selling milk under the "rBST Free" label.

Igenity Adds to Profile

News Editor — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:37:10 +0000

Merial has announced two new analyses to the comprehensive IGENITY® profile. Added to the DNA profile are a multiple-marker fertility analysis and an optional diagnostic test for persistent infection (PI) of the bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) virus. DNA markers also have been added to the longevity and milk production analyses in the IGENITY profile — [...]

MSN Tackles bST

News Editor — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:49:48 +0000

A recent article on MSN.com gives an even rebuttal to the bST debate that has been in the news the last few months. The article aims to calm the fears of consumers and to lay out the facts on bST. What do you think of the points made? Growth hormones exist naturally in a dairy [...]

Cows May Produce Skim Milk Naturally

News Editor — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:42:30 +0000

It really is an exciting time in research for the dairy industry. New Zealand scientists have discovered that some cows have genes that give them a natural ability to produce skimmed milk. What a discovery! The researchers plan to use this information to breed herds of milkers producing only skimmed milk.The researchers also plan to [...]

Monsanto Files Complaint with FDA

News Editor — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:37:03 +0000

Monsanto Co., the producer of Posilac-brand recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), has filed a complaint to the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission asking these federal authorities to crack down on dairies that make “deceptive” claims that the use of Posilac bovine growth hormone leads to unhealthy milk. According to federal agency guidelines, [...]

Roundup Ready Alfalfa Put on Hold

News Editor — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 23:14:41 +0000

Monsanto Company expressed disappointment today for a preliminary injunction issued in a pending lawsuit on Roundup Ready alfalfa. The ruling could have an affect on the planting decisions of producers across the country. In this case, the court had previously ruled that USDA had failed to follow procedural requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act [...]

Save on Feed Costs

News Editor — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:34:53 +0000

With low milk prices, producers are looking for anyway to increase profits. Mycogen brand Silage-Specific BMR hybrids can help your herd produce 4.8 more pounds of milk and save money on purchased grain! Click here to use Mycogen’s online ROI calculator and hear producer success stories. Dairy producers who feed their cows Silage-Specific BMR hybrids [...]

Sugar Free Dairy Dessert

News Editor — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 23:29:11 +0000

Good news for those of us who love dessert, but are watching our sugar intake! Two U.S. food technologists, Drs Bruce Tharp and Steven Young, have developed what is believed to be the first dairy based dessert that contains no sugar, trans fat or lactose. Wonder if it tastes any good? Two top scientists claim [...]

It’s Not Easy Being Green

News Editor — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 23:05:14 +0000

Farmers are the original stewarts of our great land. In these changing times in agriculture, some farmers are stepping up and using so called “green” farming methods. Hybrids vehicles aren’t replacing one-ton pickups in mid-America, but many in the agriculture industry are reacting to the potential effects of global warming, developing new technology and farming [...]

Biotech Work In Australia

Chuck — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:09:16 +0000

I just received this photo from the folks with the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference that's just ending in Australia. I wanted a picture to illustrate the work they unveiled at the conference which I posted about yesterday. Those were on Bioactive Proteins In Milk and DNA Techniques.

Bioactive Proteins In Milk

Chuck — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 20:03:52 +0000

Here's some more news from the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference, ‘Unlocking the potential of agricultural biotechnology,’ that's going on in Melbourne, Australia. We know milk does a body good and apparently some researchers have discovered some new ways.

Australian Biotech Conference Features Dairy

Chuck — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:06:51 +0000

There's a big biotechnology conference going on in Australia this week. I was invited to attend but have to be in Kansas City and then on to Norway. Darn the luck, eh?

Merial to Expand IGENITY DNA Testing Partnership

Andy Vance — Tue, 09 May 2006 17:54:45 +0000

Merial is growing the partnership formed last year with Select Sires to co-market the IGENITY brand DNA test. Adding field consultant Ron Long to the Merial company as a liason between Merial and Select Sires field representatives, the company will offer training sessions, on-farm consultations, and customer meetings across Select Sires' 10 regional cooperatives.

Can we Breed Mastitis Out Forever?

Andy Vance — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 16:49:52 +0000

Maybe not quite, but USDA is working on a solution. The Ag Research Service is working to determine if we can genetically engineer our cows to resist the infection altogether.

A Dairy Interview From BIO 2006

Chuck — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 19:36:25 +0000

Hello from BIO 2006, the annual convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. It's taking place in Chicago, IL.

Blogging The BIO

Chuck — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 01:56:25 +0000

Beginning late Sunday I'll be blogging the BIO 2006 Convention in Chicago. This is a very large event that covers the full range of biotechnology, including agriculture. I'm going to be on the lookout for news related to the dairy business and will post it here.