Posted: November 1, 2011 at 6:44 pm
By News Editor
Do you give it your all in your sport and then reach for lowfat chocolate milk to help you rehydrate, replenish and rebuild your muscles? You can apply to become part of Team Refuel and have the got milk? Campaign’s Team Refuel sponsor you!
The elite athletes, coaches and trainers of Team Refuel know lowfat chocolate milk is nature’s recovery drink – a delicious and effective way to refuel your body after a hard workout. Now, we’re sponsoring athletes from across the country who are passionate about their sport and recovering with lowfat chocolate milk.
Why do you want to join Team Refuel, and how would a $250 Individual Athlete Refuel Grant or a $500 Athletic Group Refuel Grant help you reach your athletic goals? We’re awarding 10 grants each month to the individuals and groups who rally the most friends, family and fans to vote for them.
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Source: Refuel with Chocolate Milk
Posted: November 1, 2011 at 6:38 pm
By News Editor
Winfield Solutions, LLC is offering 20 scholarships worth $1,000 each. The scholarships will be awarded to 10 high school seniors and 10 first or second-year college students who demonstrate scholastic achievement, leadership in agriculture and a perceived ability to contribute to agriculture in the future.
The Careers in Agriculture Scholarship Program is available to high school graduating seniors and first or second year college students pursuing two- or four-year degrees in agronomy, crop production, or closely related fields.
To qualify for the program, a student must:
Be a high school senior, graduating in spring of 2012; or
Be a college freshman or sophomore;
Demonstrate leadership abilities and academic performance;
Complete an application including one character reference and one reference letter; and
Write essays describing the importance of farmer cooperatives, and why he or she is interested in an agricultural career.
Since its formation 22 years ago, the Careers in Agriculture Scholarship Program has awarded more than half million dollars to young adults who share the same commitment to agronomy, excellence and the cooperative system.
All applications must be postmarked by Feb. 1, 2012. Winners will be notified by mail in April 2012.
Source: Winfield Solutions, LLC, a Land O’Lakes company
Posted: October 31, 2011 at 5:01 pm
By News Editor
A new low impact pasteurizer (LIP) is now available from Bob-White Systems The LIP is an advanced and affordable system specifically designed to give small-scale dairies the option of offering pasteurized farm fresh milk directly to their customers.
The Low Impact Pasteurizer was designed from the ground up to give small-scale dairies maximum benefits. The LIP system completely automates most of the pasteurization process, a huge labor and time-saving advantage for farmers. User interaction with the simple, intuitive interface is minimal, and it incorporates self-cleaning technology that virtually eliminates time-consuming clean up, freeing farmers to do more important things.
According to Steve Judge, President of Bob-White Systems, “Our goal was to develop high- temperature short-time (HTST) technology that’s scaled to four-to-ten cows. The Low Impact Pasteurizer is the result of many thousands of hours of research, development and onsite testing under actual micro dairy conditions. We’ve put six years and over a million dollars into developing an affordable system that eliminates the price barrier to entry and gives small dairy operations the choice of offering pasteurized milk to their local communities.”
The Low Impact Pasteurizer system does not homogenize, separate or standardize milk the way commercial units do. And just as important, the system preserves the texture resulting in a product that is ideal for selling directly to consumers or for use in making the highest-quality cheeses, yogurts or other value-added dairy products.
Source: Bob-White Systems
Posted: October 27, 2011 at 5:30 pm
By News Editor
Having a Halloween party? Want to serve cheese, and also love zombies? Here’s the perfect appetizer for you! Zombie Head Cheese, created by Megan on the blog “not martha.” Click here for the recipe and full post.
Source: “not martha.”
Posted: October 27, 2011 at 3:08 pm
By News Editor
HolsteinWorld’s Collegiate Video Contest voting is now open!
The contest offered colleges around the country the opportunity to showcase what their school and dairy club have to offer.
The videos will be judged according to the following criteria:
Quality of footage: 1-10 points
Following the rules of content: 1-10 points
Interest level: 1-10 points
Entertainment level: 1-10 points
Presentation of cattle: 1-10 points
50%: Poll feature on www.holsteinworldproductions.com
The winning video will be selected to play on the homepage of HolsteinWorld’s website during the month of December!
Source: HolsteinWorld
Posted: October 21, 2011 at 6:57 am
By Chuck
Select Sires took their Select Detect activity monitoring system to a new level this year when they introduced the mobile optimized version at World Dairy Expo. I spoke with King Smith to learn more about it. In the photo he’s showing the new mobile app on an iPad.
This new mobile application allows dairy producers to access cow records from the barn, from the field or when they are on the go.
The mobile Select Detect application is optimized for iPhone®, iPod touch®, iPad® and Android™-based phones. It allows for a quick remote review of cows on the high activity list, low activity list and heat expectancy list. Both daily and hourly activity charts can be viewed to determine if and when A.I. should be performed. This removes the need for dairy producers to be in the office to review the software and allows for a quick snapshot of activity that is updated every hour.
You can listen to my interview with King here: King Smith Interview
2011 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Posted: October 13, 2011 at 7:33 pm
By News Editor
Hoard’s Dairyman has published its annual list of the top 50 dairy cooperatives in the country.
In 2010 just under 79 percent of the nation’s 192.8 billion pounds of milk was marketed through those 50 cooperatives, down from 79.6 percent in 2009 and the lowest market share those co-ops have had since 2007.
Dairy Farmers of America continues to be the biggest dairy co-op in the country with 37.8 billion pounds of milk, more than double any other co-op and 19.6 percent of the total milk produced in the country last year. California Dairies is second with 16.9 billion pounds of milk; Land O’Lakes is third with 12.87 billion pounds; Northwest Dairy Association of Seattle is the fourth largest handling 7.3 billion pounds of milk followed by New York’s Dairylea Co-op with 6.25 billion. Those top five cooperatives handled 42 percent of total U.S. production in 2010, down from 45 percent in 2009.
AMPI, Family Dairies USA, Foremost Farms USA, Manitowoc Milk Producers and Select Milk Producers of New Mexico round-out the top 10. The nation’s largest organic cooperative, Organic Valley/CROPP is number 26 with 1.15 billion pounds of milk.
Source: Brownfield
Posted: October 11, 2011 at 2:49 pm
By News Editor
Happy birthday to W.D. Hoard, who would have been 175 years old on Monday. Residents of Fort Atkinson, Wis. gathered this weekend to celebrate his birthday and remember the dairying legacy the late governor left behind.
The Hoard Historical Museum in Fort Atkinson hosted a program in conjunction with Governor William Dempster Hoard Day, which was being observed as an official state holiday today.
“As you may know, Governor Hoard’s birthday is Monday, Oct. 10. He was born in 1836 in upstate New York, and he wended his way here to Wisconsin, and, as we like to say around here, the rest of that story is history,” museum director Kori Oberle said in welcoming attendees.
Birthday cake, ice cream and milk punch were served during a reception that was followed by a 2:30 program. The keynote speaker was Ed Janus, author of “Creating Dairyland,” who discussed Hoard’s pivotal role in changing Wisconsin from a wheat-based agricultural state to one supported by dairying.
Source: Daily Jefferson County Union
Posted: October 5, 2011 at 3:44 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
The founder of an inner-city food science lab received special recognition in the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest during the awards reception and auction Tuesday evening.
Pastor Clinton Bush, founder of City Kidz Ice Cream Cafe in Jacksonville, FL was presented a special award for his organization’s Philly Vanilla ice cream entry in the contest, which won second place in its division. “Normally we don’t give special recognition to second and third place winners during the awards reception,” said Brad Legried of the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association, which sponsors the competition. “But Pastor Bush and the young people of City Kidz Ice Cream Cafe deserve the notice.”
Bush founded City Kidz Ice Cream in 2006 to foster financial literacy in inner-city communities and the group provides young people the opportunity to work in a dairy manufacturing plant and learn how to pursue career paths. The group received a special award from the competition and the 15 young people who helped manufacture their “Philly Vanilla” ice cream entry will all received special merit certificates.
“I think we all have a moral obligation to make sure we preserve our food industry, especially our dairy industry, because America has always been the global leader in food science,” Pastor Bush said, noting that the ice cream the students created is heading for supermarket shelves in the near future.
Listen to Pastor Bush’s comments here: Pastor Clinton Bush
Speaking of the future, a $2000 scholarship was also awarded at the event Tuesday evening. UW-Madison student Susan Hodgson received the sizable check to pursue her dairy-related studies.
The Championship Dairy Product Contest had over 700 entries this year. It’s the only contest of it’s kind in North America because it includes all dairy products. This year there were 74 classes for ice cream, cheese, yogurt, fluid milk, cottage cheese, whey, sour cream, butter, etc.
2011 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Posted: September 30, 2011 at 8:32 pm
By News Editor
The 2010 Dairy Management Inc.™ annual report – featuring highlights of how the dairy checkoff helped impact sales of more than 6 billion additional pounds of milk is now available online.
The annual report provides an update of various dairy checkoff programs, including strategic partnerships with globally recognized companies such as McDonald’s® and Domino’s® Pizza.
The report also includes examples of industry collaboration through the checkoff-led Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy™, which works to protect and grow sales by working through the industry.
Other sections in the report include:
· Fuel Up to Play 60 – an in-school program that aims to encourage healthy eating, including dairy, and physical activity for our nation’s children
· Export marketing – includes those programs led by the U.S. Dairy Export Council® that work to develop and grow export markets for U.S.-produced dairy products and ingredients
· Health and wellness communications – designed to inform health professionals and other thought leaders about dairy’s science-based nutritional benefits
· Dairy Research Institute – created to strengthen the industry’s access to and investment in the technical research needed to drive innovation and grow sales.
· Dairy image – programs that help maintain and build consumer confidence in the U.S. dairy industry.
“The dairy checkoff continues to show how it is leading change throughout the industry,” said Paul Rovey, Arizona dairy producer and chair of Dairy Management Inc.™, which manages the national dairy checkoff. “Thanks to the checkoff’s efforts, the dairy industry experienced unprecedented collaboration and innovation in 2010 that set the table for future success.”
Source: Dairy Management Inc.
Posted: September 30, 2011 at 8:27 pm
By News Editor
The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy®, in affiliation with the Dairy Research Institute™, has announced the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards, a new program that recognizes dairy farms, businesses and collaborative partnerships for efforts in delivering outstanding economic, environmental and/or social benefit, thus helping to advance sustainability of the dairy industry.
The awards are divided into three categories: dairy farm, dairy processing/manufacturing and energy conservation/generation. Nominations are being accepted through Dec. 1.
The winners will be announced in February and will share their stories and passion for sustainability on a national scale and will be featured online.
The awards are part of the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Commitment, an industry-wide effort to measure and improve the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the dairy industry. Launched in 2008 under the leadership of dairy producers, the Sustainability Commitment has the support and participation of hundreds of organizations across the industry and others from academic, government and nongovernmental organizations.
Source: The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy
Posted: September 19, 2011 at 6:32 pm
By News Editor
Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)’s School of Agribusiness and Agriscience has unveiled their new $4.3 million dairy.
The dairy’s features include a double-eight parallel milking parlor with rapid-exit gates that can milk 16 cows at a time and a computer-controlled milking system with individual cow-ID and cow-activity measurements, along with real-time milk weights and milk-quality measurements. The milking system includes an in-line heat exchanger to precool the milk to 58 degrees before it enters a 2,000-gallon bulk tank, where it will be cooled again to 38 degrees.
Source: MTSU News
Posted: September 8, 2011 at 2:08 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
With three of the nation’s top ten dairy states being impacted by major flooding resulting from the Hurricane Irene last week, the USDA is pledging support for affected producers.
“We continue to closely coordinate with many partners to meet the immediate and plan for the long-term needs of those affected by Hurricane Irene,” said Agriculture Secretary Tim Vilsack. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have suffered losses caused by this massive storm. USDA is ready to provide food, emergency assistance and other resources to the affected areas.”
On Saturday, Vilsack visited a New York dairy operation hit by flooding with Governor Andrew Cuomo, who pledged immediate aid of $15 million to New York farms devastated by flooding. USDA officials report that Hurricane Irene affected the ability of some dairy cooperatives and handlers in the Northeast to pick up milk at local farms particularly in Southern Vermont and Eastern New York.
In some instances milk was dumped on the farm when it was unable to be picked up on a timely basis or where loss of power impacted milk quality, rendering such milk as non-Grade A. Due to the impact of this natural disaster on dairy farmers in the Northeast, USDA is taking administrative action to include this milk as part of the Federal milk marketing order pool for the months of August and September as needed, although it was never delivered to a plant for processing. This decision will enable cooperatives and handlers to pay the Federal order blend price to affected producers on all the volume that they produced including any milk dumped due to Hurricane Irene.
USDA encourages all farmers, ranchers, producers, landowners and rural communities to contact their local USDA Farm Service Agency Service Center to report damages to crops or livestock loss.
Meanwhile, a measure has been introduced in Congress by members of the New York delegation to help farmers recover from losses incurred by Hurricane Irene. The Post-Irene Emergency Farm Aid Act would authorize $10 million to support the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and the Emergency Watershed Program (EWP) that provide emergency services and resources for agricultural communities following natural disasters.
(Photo from NY Farm Bureau Facebook page)
Posted: September 6, 2011 at 7:14 pm
By News Editor
World Dairy Expo is offering continuing education credits for the fifteen Expo Seminars and the Dairy Forage Tool Box Seminars to members of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS) and the American Association of Veterinary State Boards’ (AASVB) Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE).
All fifteen of the seminars are qualified for one continuing education credit for ARPAS members. In addition, the Expo Seminar series is qualified for the RACE program credits. Members of ARPAS and AASVB will want to take advantage of these continuing education opportunities by attending World Dairy Expo.
2011 Expo Seminar topics include Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) for dairy, genomics testing, communicating with consumers, robotic milking, calf nutrition, feed costs, somatic cell counts and carbon emissions. The Expo Seminars will be held each day, Tuesday through Saturday, in the Mendota 2 meeting room in the Exhibition Hall.
The Dairy Forage Tool Box Seminars topics feature improving forage harvest; corn silage fermentation time and starch digestibility; forage feeding in top-producing herds; fall-grown oat option; minimizing bunker/bag silage losses; feed cost benefits of reducing greenhouse gases; and capitalizing on forages to reduce purchased corn and soybeans. These seminars will be presented on stage in the east end of the Arena Building where attendees may also view the winning forage samples on display.
Source: World Dairy Expo
Posted: September 5, 2011 at 6:59 pm
By News Editor
To all of our American farmers and allied industry workers, World Dairy Diary wishes you a Happy Labor Day!
Labor Day, always the first Monday in September, is a yearly, national acknowledgement of the contributions American workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
This holiday was first celebrated in 1882 in New York City as a “workingman’s holiday,” complete with a parade of 10,000 workers. Over the next 12 years, Labor Day celebrations spread through half the country. By 1894, Congress passed an act that made Labor Day a legal holiday.
Today, many Americans view Labor Day as the unofficial end to summer, and celebrate with cookouts, parades, or a weekend getaway.
Source: Punchbowl
Posted: August 19, 2011 at 6:25 pm
By News Editor
Dairy farmers, and dairy lovers, will get a kick out of this video. A intrepid reporter is surprised when nature takes it’s course on live camera! After the laughter, a great message about dairy farming is still communicated.
KCCI Reporter Gets ‘Surprise’ In Dairy Barn – Video – KCCI Des Moines.
Source: KCCI Des Moines
Posted: May 13, 2011 at 2:46 pm
By News Editor
A topic that is first and foremost on the minds of Pennsylvania’s dairy farmers during these challenging economic times is how to protect in increase their profitability. The Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania is recognizing the need to help dairy producers understand and manage their risk with a special workshop on Thursday, June 2nd in Dauphin, Mercer and Bradford Counties, Pa.
To bring those factors into focus PDMP has enlisted respected Wisconsin dairyman, John Ruedinger and his profit team partners to share their experiences; successes, roadblocks, lessons learned and benefits realized. The morning educational program on “Protecting and Managing Your Profit” is a real life risk management case study and will even include a virtual tour of Ruedinger Farms in Van Dyne, Wis.
John, with his lender and broker, will share how an idea he had 10 years ago to broker his own milk, for an additional $30,000 in profit that first year, has developed into an integrated marketing team and strategy generating over $613,000 more income during the last three years.
And to bring this opportunity to interact and learn from the Ruedinger team to more Pa. dairy producers, PDMP will try a new format for this educational program by using technology to offer the June 2nd Issue Forum at three locations.
While John Ruedinger, David Mueller of Investors Community Bank, and Ruedingers’ Stewart-Peterson advisor Mark Ludtke will be on site at Harrisburg Area Community College’s Wildwood Center, they will also be video linked in Mercer and Bradford County locations so dairymen and women who can’t get to Harrisburg don’t have to miss out.
The program will begin at 9:15 a.m. at all three sites with a virtual tour of the Ruedinger Farm. The Wisconsin panel will then talk openly with attendees throughout the morning and the program will conclude with lunch. A tour of Brubaker Farms in Mount Joy, Lancaster County is also being offered to attendees of the Harrisburg meeting immediately following the lunch.
PDMP is offering “Protecting and Managing Your Profit” to position dairy farmers to make better personal decisions about their operations and empower them to take action. The $25 per person fee for PDMP members is designed to make it possible for a farm’s entire operation team can attend.
Source: PDMP
Posted: April 7, 2011 at 1:50 pm
By News Editor
Western United Dairymen (WUD) has secured $500,000 for water quality projects on dairies in California’s Central Valley. The funding is provided through the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP), part of the 2008 Farm Bill conservation title, and is administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
“AWEP is a voluntary conservation initiative that provides financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to improve water conditions and conserve valuable water resources on their agricultural land,” said Ed Burton, NRCS State Conservationist for California.
AWEP is a subpart of the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). AWEP differs from traditional EQIP in that proposals for funding are made directly to USDA by organizations on behalf of a group of agricultural producers. In this case Western United Dairymen applied for the funding and will help coordinate activities, although all the funding will go directly to the dairy producers.
Paul Martin, WUD’s Director of Environmental Services, says that despite the difficult economic climate, dairy producers in the Central Valley have worked hard to put in place all the required professional planning for manure management required by water quality regulations. “With this new funding we will begin to implement those plans and actually lay the pipeline and build the infrastructure to handle water and manage manure in a very environmentally protective way.”
NRCS California has 24 other AWEP projects from funds received in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. The projects are aimed at improving irrigation efficiency, nutrient management, groundwater quality and other conservation goals.
NRCS will announce sign-up information, for dairy producers located in the Central Valley from Redding to Bakersfield, in the coming weeks. A listing of NRCS offices statewide is available online.
Source: The Natural Resources Conservation Service
Posted: April 7, 2011 at 1:48 pm
By News Editor
Advanced Animal Diagnostics (AAD), recently received an investment of $11 million, the largest single investment in research and development to diagnose mastitis, the costliest disease for dairy producers worldwide.
The financing was led by Intersouth Partners and included Novartis Venture Funds as well as other private investors.
AAD is an innovative research and development company dedicated to bringing highly accurate, rapid animal diagnostic tests to the farm. The company’s first on-farm product will focus on improving milk production and quality by controlling mastitis, an infection of the milk-producing gland. Future products will monitor disease states, reproductive, nutritional and overall health status of production animals.
“With this investment, AAD will be able to bring to market a new generation of diagnostics technologies that will revolutionize the way farmers approach animal health, allowing them to detect and diagnose diseases in their animals more quickly and efficiently than ever before,” said Joy Parr Drach, president and CEO of AAD. “
The company expects this financing to support hiring for key positions, production and manufacturing, and on-farm economic trials of its first product line. The firm is currently seeking cooperators for those on-farm trials.
AAD technology represents a significant advance for control of mastitis because it allows early identification of infected quarters, or glands, immediately after calving, when the highest incidence of mastitis occurs. More effective and efficient mastitis diagnosis tools will also be an important resource for dairy farmers in the industry’s efforts to lower overall somatic cell counts (SCC) at the individual dairy level.
Source: Advanced Animal Diagnostics
Posted: March 29, 2011 at 3:43 pm
By News Editor
National All-Jersey Inc. is seeking a Manager for its wholly owned subsidiary, Jersey Marketing Service. The successful candidate will provide hands-on leadership meeting high ethical standards for all company activities, including on-site and online public auction sales (JerseyBid.com), private treaty transactions, cattle and herd appraisal services, and export marketing.
This is a full-time position based in the Reynoldsburg, Ohio office, requiring constant, nationwide travel. The position description has been posted on the USJersey web site. Benefits include health and life insurance, and 401k plan.
Persons with degrees or equivalent experience in dairy or animal science, agricultural marketing or ag business are encouraged to apply. In-depth knowledge of the Jersey breed, genetic and performance evaluation tools, and dairy cattle management are essential. Excellent organizational and computer skills are required, as are superior public speaking and writing skills.
Submit letter of application and résumé to Neal Smith, Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, National All-Jersey Inc. 6486 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, OH 43068-2362. Applications may also be submitted by fax at 614.861.8040 or by email with “JMS Manager” in the Subject Line of the message.
Applications will be accepted through Friday, April 1, 2011.
Source: National All-Jersey Inc.
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Do you give it your all in your sport and then reach for lowfat chocolate milk to help you rehydrate, replenish and rebuild your muscles? You can apply to become part of Team Refuel and have the got milk? Campaign’s Team Refuel sponsor you!
