Pete Heffering passed away on March 3, at the age of 80. Heffering was well-known in the dairy industry for his visionary breeding program.
Not only did Heffering win the coveted Klussendorf and Curtis Clark Awards for his achievements in dairy circles, he also had been inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame. In 2004, the State University of New York (Canton) also recognized Heffering’s unique abilities when it bestowed him with its first-ever honorary doctorate in animal science.
Heffering’s achievements in Holstein circles were nearly unmatched. Over the years, Pete Heffering’s Hanover Hill Holstein herd earned 144 All-American and 90 All-Canadian nominations which resulted in 31 All-American, 33 Reserve All-American, 23 All-Canadian, and 24 Reserve All-Canadian award winners.
For six consecutive years, beginning in 1983, Hanover Hill was named Premier Breeder at both World Dairy Expo and the Royal Winter Fair. Brookview Tony Charity, the cornerstone, was four times grand champion at both shows and four times supreme champion at World Dairy Expo. The herd also has proven an impressive 177 bulls in Canada — including Starbuck, Inspiration, and Raider.
In 1989, Heffering took his animal breeding talents to horse racing and developed a business that easily matched his famed Hanover Hill Holstein herd. And as any Holstein breeder knows, that is a very big statement.
Posted: February 26, 2012 at 10:25 am
By News Editor
Two educational webinars, planned for March 14, will examine finance issues and technology options for installing and maintaining anaerobic digester systems.
The webinars, each three hours in length, will address two critical issues in the decision-making process: financing installation and operation of a digester system, as well as the rate of return on the investment, and technology options–what they are and how they are used. The webinars are a collaboration of Farm Foundation, NFP, USDA Rural Development, USDA Office of Energy Policy & New Uses, the AgStar Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, and the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative of the University of Wisconsin.
Financing an Anaerobic Digester System: In this 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. webinar, dairy farmers and community leaders will share their first-hand experiences financing, installing and maintaining digester systems. You’ll also hear from commercial and private lenders with experience financing digester operations. Topics will include return on investment, private funding, government/private partnership funding options, cost of construction, potential revenue generation streams, avoided environmental costs, tax incentives and cost of operation, including management and labor costs.
Technical Aspects of Anaerobic Digester Systems: This 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. webinar will examine digester technologies–psychrophilic (covered lagoon), mesophilic (plug flow and completely mixed), and thermophilic (completely mixed). Farmer/operators will discuss why they selected a specific technology for their operation, as well as their operational and management experiences with those respective technologies.
Posted: February 13, 2012 at 2:30 pm
By News Editor
N.Y. dairy farmers – here’s an issue that needs your attention. Maybe Governor Cuomo should hear your side of the story too. We here at WDD encourage you to take action!
Music mogul Russell Simmons wants New York’s governor to pull the plug on milk from cows.
The hip-hop impresario writes in a letter to Andrew Cuomo that milk should no longer be the state’s official beverage.
Simmons, a vegan who has taken on several animal rights causes with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says milk from cows is less healthy than milk from rice, almonds or soy.
He tells The Associated Press he knows dairy is big business in New York but says other industries could spring up in its place.
Simmons and Cuomo go way back. They’re both from Queens, and they worked together a decade ago to help soften New York’s strict drug laws.
Cuomo spokesman Matt Wing said the governor’s office would not comment.
Posted: February 9, 2012 at 7:33 pm
By News Editor
The Dairy Calf & Heifer Association (DCHA) will be “Creating Golden Opportunities” at the 2012 Conference, March 20-21, 2012, in Visalia, Calif.
Conference highlights include: Three highly instructive wet labs, over 20 breakout sessions, sessions in Spanish on Tuesday, California farm tour, and a first-class trade show.
Posted: January 19, 2012 at 7:59 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
The Seventh Annual I-29 Dairy Conference coming up Feb. 8 and 9 in Sioux Falls will Focus on Global Dairy Issues under the theme, “Now and in the Future.”
The event is coordinated by dairy extension specialists from South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University, Iowa State University, University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska. Additional partners coordinating the conference include Midwest Dairy Association and Southwest Minnesota Dairy Profit Group.
Speakers and topics with global impact headline this year’s conference. Neil Baker, a dairy producer and sustainable agriculture award winner from the UK and a top-notch slate of dairy industry experts will focus on global dairy issues and sustainability topics at the seventh annual I-29 Dairy Conference. Noted University of Minnesota climatologist Mark Seeley, Stan Erwine, Dairy Management, Inc. as well as Dave Casper, SDSU; Marin Bozic, UM; and a panel of producers and industry stakeholders will cover issues affecting your future dairy business.
Interested producers should complete the online registration form by Feb. 1 to ensure room availability at the Ramkota Inn in Sioux Falls.
Posted: December 22, 2011 at 7:14 pm
By News Editor
The dairy industry lost another prominent leader this week, Carmine Catalana III, 81, the chairman of the Cumberland Dairy board.
Catalana spent more than half a century with Cumberland Dairy, from serving as his parents’ business partner to chairman of the board — the most recent position he held.
“For my family and our company, we are deeply saddened by his passing,” said company President Carmine Catalana IV, the oldest of the Catalana siblings. “He led our company for many, many years. Without his leadership, both our family and our company would not be where we are today.”
The storied history of Cumberland Dairy begins back in Bridgeton, N.J. in 1933. Charles Catalana and his wife Elizabeth formed the business in a garage at their home on South Avenue.
Carmine had grown up in the family business, spending three years with Cumberland Dairy before joining the U.S. Army in 1951 during the Korean War years. He returned from the service in 1954 and partnered with his parents to expand the business, which boomed in the following decades.
In 1974, McDonald’s called upon Catalana and Cumberland Dairy to pump up their production when the company’s main dairy supplier fell through. McDonald’s eventually offered Cumberland Dairy as many stores as it could handle. Cumberland Dairy later became a full-service distributor and processor for the company — a relationship that would stretch over three decades.
In 1985, Cumberland Dairy gained nationwide attention for installing an ultra-high temperature pasteurization system that gave products a longer shelf-life.
Some of his many appointments included the board of directors of the New Jersey Food Processors Association and past president of the Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey.
“He came to work everyday and still enjoyed the business, the people, our employees the suppliers,” Carmine said. “He lived life to the fullest and always was a glass-half-full type of guy and radiated that.”
Join James Maroney, author of “The Political Economy of Milk” on August 12, 2011 in South Royalton, Vt. Maroney will speak on the “get big or get out” theory and the governmental issues during the quarterly Bob-White Systems’ Cheese Night.
The Cheese Night will be held at the Bob-White Systems farmstead dairy store on the Town Green in South Royalton on Friday, August 12th at 5:30 PM.
Vermont cheese samples from the following local producers will include cheeses from Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vt., Blue Ledge Farm in Salisbury, Vt. and Turkey Hill Farm in Randolph Center, Vt. In addition, other unique farmstead cheeses will be available to taste from surrounding farms in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York. Bob-White Systems’ staff will be on-hand to discuss home and micro dairy cheese making and equipment.
James Maroney, a former Park Avenue art dealer, changed his roles and has been actively impacting the dairy world for over 25 years. Maroney and his wife live on a 800 acre farm in Addison County, Vt. where they ran their organic dairy, Oliver Hill Farm. The farm was considered to be the largest organic dairy in Vermont during the late 1980’s. Since the release of his book The Political Economy of Milk, Maroney continues his career as an American Art Dealer and remains a strong voice for the aspiring Vermont dairy farmer.
A recent news release from National Milk Producers Federation explains why the current federal dairy policies need to change, and how Foundation for the Future, including the Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program and the Dairy Market Stabilization Program, can help.
Dairy producers realize that the status quo protections offered by current federal policies have failed them during the past decade – especially in 2009 – yet some may understandably be apprehensive about advocating comprehensive reform of those policies.
The Dairy Product Price Support Program (DPPSP) and the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program combined constitute nearly 80 percent of the dairy budget baseline over the next ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. However, the DPPSP has become an ineffective safety net for farmers, and has created an unintended outcome whereby the U.S. has become burdened with balancing the world’s milk supply.
The MILC program also has been ineffective in providing a safety net for farmers, and treats farms and entire regions of the country unequally. More specifically, it does not address the rise in volatile feed costs, and has not prevented the exodus of farms during its decade of existence. In 2001, there were 97,460 U.S. dairy farms, but by 2010, that figure was 62,500 – a loss of 36 percent of the nation’s dairy farmers, almost all of which were small to medium-size operations of 500 cows or less. This clearly demonstrates the inadequacy of the current program and the need for better dairy policy.
The policy proposals contained in the National Milk Producers Federation’s Foundation for the Future (FFTF) eliminate the DPPSP and MILC programs, and create a more efficient and effective safety net in the form of a Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program, the costs of which are shared by dairy farmers and the federal government. FFTF also establishes a Dairy Market Stabilization Program to prompt producers to respond more quickly to economic signals from the marketplace and at no cost to the government.
Existing farm programs, including the dairy title within the Farm Bill, are expected to undergo further cuts as part of the new federal budget deal passed by the House and Senate. FFTF was created to achieve better economic protection for farmers, while also yielding a budget savings – compared to current baseline spending levels – precisely because farm safety nets are going to shrink in the future. The Congressional Budget Office says FFTF will save $166 million over the next five years, at a time when Congress has now pledged to cut more than a trillion dollars from federal spending.
Dairy producers have acknowledged that shrinking federal resources are the reality. Keeping the status quo is not an option, either economically, as the best safety net to producers, or fiscally, due to budget demands. Producers have been calling for something better for the past two years. We can’t stay where we are and change is needed, which is why Foundation for the Future was developed.
Many sympathies to the family of Norma Duffield Stong Lyon, better known as Duffy Lyon, or the “Butter Cow Lady.” Duffy passed away on Sunday morning.
Lyon sculpted the famous State Fair Butter Cow from 1960 until her retirement in 2004.
Lyon studied at Iowa State University and was interested in becoming a veterinarian but the program did not accept women at the time so she went on to study animal science.
Her artistic talents were discovered by campus sculptor Christian Petersen during a winter festival at the university when she helped sculpt a horse and sleigh out of snow.
Lyon started to sculpt the State Fair butter cow in 1960 and continued to sculpt both the cow and other famous shapes including Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks, John Wayne and a butter rendition of “The Last Supper” until long-time apprentice, Sarah Pratt took over in 2005.
“We always thought we were doing a great job of bringing entertainment to the fair and we were. We spent several hundred thousand dollars on attractions and then we might go and look at Duffy Lyon and find she had stolen the show from us once again,” former Iowa State Fair Director of Marketing Kathie Swift said.
Her apprentice, Sarah Pratt said Duffy did more than just pass down the baton. “She was very generous with her time and she gave me so much. She is the only art training I had. So, everything I know and have learned is from her. She was very patient with me and taught me so much about art and about life,”
In addition to Iowa’s State Fair, Lyon’s work was showcased at state fairs in Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin, California and Arizona.
She has appeared on national television shows such the “Today Show”, “Late Night with David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. Lyon’s work has also been featured in LIFE, Time, Newsweek and People Magazine.
There’s been a lot of press this month around school kids and chocolate milk. Many schools are considering taking the nutrient-dense offering from lunch lines.
As a dairy farmer, you should take action to stand-up for chocolate milk. Share information with teachers, school nurses, principals, the cafeteria management and school board members; as well as other parents.
Here are several links to online resources to help tell the positive story of chocolate milk. If you know of others, please share in the comments.
The Justice Department, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Daniel L. Allgyer, owner of the Rainbow Acres Farm, in Kinzers, Pa., for distributing unpasteurized (or “raw”) milk for human consumption in interstate commerce.
The complaint, filed on April 19, 2011, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, also alleges that Allgyer violated federal law by misbranding the “raw” milk containers by failing to provide the label information required by law. Defendant Allgyer was served with the complaint earlier today.
Raw milk can contain a wide variety of harmful bacteria, including Listeria, E.coli, Salmonella,Campylobacter, Yersinia, and Brucella.
“Drinking raw milk is dangerous and shouldn’t be consumed under any circumstances,” said Dara A. Corrigan, FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. “FDA has warned the defendant on multiple occasions that introducing raw milk into interstate commerce is in violation of Federal law.”
FDA investigators determined during an inspection of Rainbow Acres Farm that the farm was producing, packaging, selling, and distributing unpasteurized and unlabeled milk for human consumption in interstate commerce.
The FDA issued a Warning Letter to Allgyer on April 20, 2010, informing him of the violations and stating that regulatory action might be taken. The farm has continued to operate in violation of federal law.
If the court grants an injunction, Allgyer may be prohibited from distributing unpasteurized milk and milk products for human consumption in interstate commerce.
Posted: October 15, 2010 at 5:08 pm
By News Editor
More than 60 representatives from more than 20 national food and agricultural organizations today agreed to incorporate a U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) to focus on working together to enhance U.S. consumer trust in modern food production that ensures the abundance of affordable, safe food.
“Today represents a start toward a unified voice for U.S. agriculture,” says Rick Tolman, chief executive officer of the National Corn Growers Association and chair of the USFRA Steering Committee. “While the results of today’s organizational meeting represent the culmination of six months of planning, it is only the beginning of a process designed to create a coordinated effort by and on behalf of U.S. farmers and ranchers. Several participants have stepped forward to officially join the Alliance. Others need to return to their boards to determine whether they will join.”
Listen to an interview with Rick Tolman about the new alliance: Rick Tolman Interview
USFRA plans to incorporate this week. Organizations have been asked to respond about affiliation no later than Nov. 1. After that date, a board of directors will be established and will elect an executive committee.
Members of the USFRA Board, its executive committee and its affiliated organizations will be announced formally in mid-November.
Source: Dairy Herd Management; U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance
A sad announcement today from Madison, Wis. – Dr. David Dickson has died, after a courageous battle against cancer. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
One of the foremost authorities on dairy cattle judging passed away Friday, July 9. During his distinguished career, Dickson judged more shows (13 total) at World Dairy Expo than any other official. In addition, he placed dairy cattle in over 20 countries and served on the All American selection committees for all seven recognized Purebred Dairy Cattle Association breeds. He was the first American to judge the European Championship Holstein Show and the New Zealand Royal Agricultural Holstein Show. He has led judging conferences throughout the U.S. and in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Japan and Spain. During his career as the University of Wisconsin-Madison dairy cattle judging coach which officially began in 1968, Dickson led teams to seven national championships at the National Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest. Perhaps more impressive, his teams won 18 team reasons titles at the national contest.
David P. Dickson was born in Everson, Wash., on February 26, 1939, and graduated from Meridian High School as class valedictorian. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in dairy science from Washington State University. In 1960, Dickson became the second person (a fete that was later matched by one other person) in the U.S. to earn high individuals honors at both the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest and at the Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest. It was that second honor, high individual at the college contest, that earned Dickson National Dairy Shrine’s famed Kildee scholarship. He used that money to further his dairy education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he went on to earn both a Master’s and a PhD.
After graduation, Dickson joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison Dairy Science Department where he served as professor for over three decades. As his career unfolded, he was chosen by his peers to chair the department from 1984 to 1990. Dickson served on the World Dairy Expo board of directors and also was a Holstein Foundation trustee. He was the founding advisor to UW-Madison’s Badger Dairy club. Dickson was a long-time chapter advisor for UW-Madison’s Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity and a long-time advocate and supporter of Madison’s Association of Women in Agriculture (AWA) . . . both agricultural professional-social organizations for young men and women. AWA has awarded him Honorary Membership. Additionally, he served as advisor to the Midwest and National student affiliate divisions of the American Dairy Science Association.
His ability to teach students was recognized by the American Dairy Science Association in 1996 when he won the Purina Mills Teaching Award in the first year he was nominated. In 2005, Dickson was honored as an Alpha Gamma Rho “Brother of the Century” during the Fraternity’s 100th anniversary celebration and has won the Distinguished Service Award from multiple organizations. Always an educator, Dickson was the Kickoff Inspirational Speaker at the National 4-H Dairy Conference for ten consecutive years. During his tenure, he helped to produce over 20 videos on oral reasons that were shared with others across the country. Additionally, his dairy cattle judging brochure, “Dairy Cattle Judging Made Easy,” has been translated into Italian and Spanish. Later on, that publication was made into an effective interactive teaching tool available on CD. Many dairy producers also may remember Dickson’s Christmastime poems deeply rooted in dairy tradition.
International Dairy Foods Association president and CEO Connie Tipton expressed disappointment in recent proposals that would create a government-mandated system to limit the supply of milk produced by dairy farms.
A “supply-management” proposal was recently introduced in the House of Representatives and a similar proposal was included as part of a dairy policy reform plan released last week by the National Milk Producers Federation.
“I’m not going to mince words,” IDFA President and CEO Connie Tipton told more than 80 dairy company leaders. “Supply management will destroy our dairy industry’s opportunity for the future.”
Tipton said that government-mandated supply-management programs, intended to reduce price volatility for dairy farmers, will only add more complexity to the system and will decrease demand for dairy products and dairy ingredients by encouraging non-dairy substitutions in foods and restaurants across the country.
“Dairy processors are sensitive to the market situation for farmers, and we are well aware that dairy producers are coming out of a period of devastating margins,” said Tipton. “But we need a solution that offers support AND opportunity.”
Tipton said that increasing demand for dairy products in global markets provides a unique opportunity for the U.S. dairy industry to grow and prosper.
“Supply management will stop U.S. dairy exports at a time when emerging markets are crying out for more dairy products,” she said. “Supply management will kill the growth of the U.S. dairy industry and prevent us from adding jobs that will help with our nation’s economic recovery.”
Tipton added that supply management will raise the price for basic foods and will cost the U.S. government hundreds of millions more to fund food and nutrition programs that are the priority of the Obama administration.
“IDFA has successfully fought supply management in many previous farm policy debates, and it is an idea that we need to fight hard to defeat,” Tipton said.
She called upon dairy producers, dairy coops, cattlemen and other national agriculture organizations that oppose supply management to join with IDFA to defeat supply management for the U.S. dairy industry.
The 2010 All-American Dairy Show will welcome nine judges to place classes in 14 youth and open shows Sept. 18-23 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg. The judges are:
Curtis Day of Burnsville, Minn., will judge the Premier National Junior Ayrshire and Red & White shows on Monday, Sept. 20, and the All-American Brown Swiss show on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 21-22.
Gary Estes of Rogersville, Mo., will place the All-American Guernsey Show on Wednesday, Sept. 22.
Dr. Doug Evans of Georgetown, N.Y., is slated to judge the Premier National Junior Jersey Show on Monday, Sept. 20, and the All-American Milking Shorthorn show on Sept. 21-22.
Ron Heffner of Middletown, Md., will pull double duty judging the National Premier Junior Holstein Show on Monday, Sept. 20, and the All-American Red & White Show on Wednesday, Sept. 22.
Jacob Hushon of Ft. Atkinson, Wis., will judge the Premier National Junior Guernsey and Milking Shorthorn shows on Monday, Sept. 20.
Sean Johnson of Glenville, Pa., returns to the All-American for the third time to judge the All-American Ayrshire Show on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 21-22.
Adam Liddle of Argyle, N.Y., is set to judge the All-American Holstein show on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 22-23.
Ryan Lancaster of Ferndale, Wash., is tapped to judge the All American Jersey Show at Harrisburg on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 22-23.
Eric Topp of Botkins, Ohio, will place the Premier National Junior Brown Swiss show on Monday, Sept. 20.
Dairy processor Land O’ Lakes is closing its cheese plant in Tulare, Calif. and laying off 80 employees.
The competition for milk among the region’s larger dairy processors played a role in the company’s decision, milk industry officials said.
“Idling the Tulare cheese plant was a difficult decision that was driven by a variety of factors,” said Jerry Kaminski, Land O’Lakes executive vice president and CEO, Dairy Foods Industrial. “We recognize that the plant’s idling will impact employees and the Tulare community, and we are working to ease the transition as much as possible.”
Tulare and Kings counties are home to several major milk, cheese and butter processors, including California Dairies Inc., Leprino and Saputo Cheese USA.
William Van Dam, CEO of the Sacramento-based Alliance of Western Milk Producers, said Land O’ Lakes had a challenge in getting an adequate supply of milk for its cheese plant.
“Some of the cheese plants they compete against can handle five times more milk than they can,” Van Dam said. “And milk goes where there is room to be processed.”
Land O’ Lakes plans to wind down production at the cheese plant later this year but will continue to operate its butter factory on the same site.
No decision has been made about the future of the cheese plant, officials said
Posted: April 14, 2010 at 8:23 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
The first meeting of the new Dairy Industry Advisory Committee started Tuesday at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. and heard strong words from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
“At some point in time, this industry has got to get control of itself,” Vilsack said. “”We can’t continue to do this bandage approach where we buy a little bit or we increase the price a little bit or we come up with additional resources. In a time of difficulties relative to the deficit it’s just not that easy to raise the price support level, because we need an offset, which means some other aspect of agriculture could potentially suffer.”
Vilsack says he wants recommendations on what USDA should do by year’s end, whether it’s regulation or legislation or a combination of both, because the dairy market situation has become increasingly unstable. “The bandwidth, if you will, between good times and bad times, which used to be relatively stable, has over the course of the last several years become quite dramatic,” he said. “The dips are very significant, the increases are not as high and there’s not as much time for operators to recover and the result is it’s become harder and harder for operators to stay in business.”
The Dairy Industry Advisory Committee was chartered to review farm milk price volatility and dairy farmer profitability. The 17 member committee was appointed in January and represents all aspects of the industry. They will be meeting in Washington through Thursday.
The members of California’s Dairy Cares coalition,made up of dairy farmers and dairy processors, have adopted the National Dairy FARM Program: Farmers Assuring Responsible Management as a statewide program to promote and verify responsible animal care.
“Responsible care and treatment of animals is a core value for our dairy families, and we know it’s important to dairy consumers,” said William C. Van Dam, chairman of the statewide Dairy Cares coalition. “This new program is a major step forward for our state, in that it provides a credible, verifiable way for dairy farmers to demonstrate to consumers that these core values are carried out in our daily management practices.”
Developed by the nation’s leading animal scientists, veterinarians and dairy industry experts, the National Dairy FARM Program contains a comprehensive set of animal care best management practices. As the nation’s leader in milk production, California dairy farmers are among the first in the nation to adopt the effort. Because California’s dairy products are marketed nationally and internationally, California dairy farmers recognize the importance of participating in a nationwide program to ensure national uniformity for customers and consumers.
“Actions, not words, are the only way to maintain and build trust with our consumers,” said Jamie Bledsoe, a dairy farmer from Riverdale and co-chair of the Dairy Cares Animal Well-Being Committee. “We’ve always cared for our animals, and now we have a program in place to validate that we care. And in those rare instances when animal care doesn’t measure up, we have a program to identify issues and address them.”
Dairy Cares will promote Dairy FARM throughout California using a five-point strategy, which includes:
1 – Adoption of the National Dairy FARM animal care best practice standards;
2 – Orientation of dairy farmers to National Dairy FARM standards through workshops and educational materials from the University of California and California Dairy Quality Assurance Program;
3 – On-farm evaluation of each dairy farm to assess compliance and provide a benchmark to measure improvement;
4 – Producer support and assistance to continuously improve animal care practices; and
5 – Independent third-party verification to demonstrate program integrity and credibility.
Hoard’s Dairyman is celebrating the magazine’s 125th anniversary this year, and to honor this occasion, a new version of the famous “Foster Mothers of the Human Race” painting will be painted by dairy artist Bonnie Mohr. Hoard’s will be chronicling the painting in a special blog “Bonnie’s Brush with Hoard’s“. Check out the first entry below!
While 2010 marks the beginning of a new decade, it also marks a momentous occasion for Hoard’s Dairyman. On January 23, 1885, William Dempster Hoard launched the first edition of Hoard’s Dairyman. This year, our 125th anniversary, we’ve asked world-renowned dairy artist Bonnie Mohr of Glencoe, Minn., to help us create an updated Foster Mothers of the Human Race painting. With a century and a quarter under our belts, we know this fresh look on the famous Foster Mothers print will be a great launching point for future years of service to the dairy industry. The original Foster Mothers print was created in 1957 followed by updates in 1963, 1991, and 1993 — all of which were painted by former Hoard’s Dairyman Art Director James Baird.
You’ll find this all-new painting on the June 2010 cover of Hoard’s Dairyman. This celebratory issue will highlight landmarks of the dairy industry and Hoard’s Dairyman in the past 125 years. Luckily, you won’t have to wait until June to get a sneak peak of the painting. We’ll be catching up with Bonnie throughout the painting process. Recently, we sat down with Bonnie to visit with her about her excitement for this project.
Dairy Farmers of America, Inc.’s (DFA) Board of Directors and management are taking a series of proactive steps to emphasize its commitment to proper treatment of animals.
“Animal welfare is a critical issue for our members and is vitally important to producing high-quality milk,” said David Darr, vice president of sustainability and public affairs. “We have a responsibility to clearly articulate our expectations regarding animal well-being and, equally important, to help educate consumers about those standards.”
A key initiative is the second round of DFA’s Gold Standard Dairy quality assurance program. DFA introduced the program in 2007 to proactively address the concerns of consumers, retailers and processors who are interested in how food is produced. The on-farm review includes animal well-being, environmental stewardship, employee training, and milk safety and quality. More than 90 percent of DFA member farms have participated in the Gold Standard process.
When the second round of the Gold Standard Dairy process begins in 2010, the program will incorporate measurement criteria from the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) program, a nationwide, verifiable animal well-being program that demonstrates U.S. milk producers are committed to producing high-quality milk in a high-quality environment.
Further demonstrating its commitment to animal welfare, at its March meeting, the Board approved a resolution affirming that the public image of dairy, including animal housing and care, is of utmost importance to DFA and its dairy farmer members. The resolution states that DFA will continue to emphasize an expectation of proper and caring treatment of animals through individual dairy farm quality programs, the Gold Standard Dairy program, and participation with other dairy industry organizations to establish animal well-being standards for the U.S. dairy industry.
In addition, the Board welcomed special guest Charlie Arnot to its March meeting to discuss the growing consumer interest in animal welfare issues, and how consumer perceptions influence demand and consumption. Arnot is chief executive officer of the Center for Food Integrity and president of CMA, a consulting company that works with companies across the food chain on issues management, communications and public relations.
Pete Heffering passed away on March 3, at the age of 80. Heffering was well-known in the dairy industry for his visionary breeding program. 
The 
“At some point in time, this industry has got to get control of itself,” Vilsack said. “”We can’t continue to do this bandage approach where we buy a little bit or we increase the price a little bit or we come up with additional resources. In a time of difficulties relative to the deficit it’s just not that easy to raise the price support level, because we need an offset, which means some other aspect of agriculture could potentially suffer.”
