Posted: November 15, 2011 at 4:21 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
Milk has gone haute couture, thanks to a fashion designer who is also a microbiologist.
German designer Anke Domaske has perfected a fiber from milk and made it into part of her Mademoiselle Chi Chi clothing line. The silk from milk was first publicly introduced this past summer, but this week it really hit the big time, being picked up by all the major networks and newspapers since it won the innovation award of Germany’s Textile Research Association.
The fabric is called Qmilch, a word Domaske invented that is a combination of quality and the German word for milk, and several companies have now reportedly expressed interest in using the fabric in mass production. The completely organic product is produced from sour milk that is reduced to a protein powder, then boiled and pressed into strands that can be woven into a fabric.
Posted: November 11, 2011 at 3:21 pm
By News Editor
The Institute for Dairy Ingredient Processing, a component of the new Davis Dairy Plant at South Dakota State University (SDSU), will provide a means by which to expand domestic and global market opportunities for dairy-based products.
The Institute for Dairy Ingredient Processing will provide the facilities and experts to assist dairy ingredient manufacturers in research, development and testing of new dairy-based ingredients and processes.
“Historically, the lack of semi-commercial scale pilot equipment in the United States has limited the ability of manufacturers to develop and introduce new dairy ingredients for domestic and global use,” said Lloyd Metzger, director, Midwest Dairy Foods Research at SDSU. “In the past, a dairy-based ingredient manufacturer wanting to test a new product or new system at their plant needed to shut down an entire production line in order to do so. This practice resulted in lost manufacturing time and potential product failure due to lack of real commercial scale-up measurements needed to test production of a new ingredient. The Institute for Dairy Ingredient Processing now provides manufacturers with the means to evaluate the commercial feasibility of full-scale production.”
The $10 million expansion of the South Dakota State University Davis Dairy Plant was funded by dairy farmers through Midwest Dairy Association and the American Dairy Association of South Dakota, dairy processors, dairy suppliers, alumni and friends of the SDSU Foundation, the State of South Dakota and South Dakota State University.
The Institute for Dairy Ingredient Processing at South Dakota State University is part of the Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center. The Midwest Dairy Foods Research Center includes researchers and facilities at the University of Minnesota, Iowa State University and South Dakota State University, and offers expertise in cheese, whey, milk and dairy ingredient processing, and dairy product safety, flavor and nutrition. With the addition of the Institute for Dairy Ingredient Processing, commercial scale and feasibility studies can be added to trials.
Posted: October 18, 2011 at 7:11 pm
By News Editor
Looking for innovation in the dairy industry? How about “designer” dairy beverages? That’s what dairy farmer, Michael McCloskey, and Steve Jones, former chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola Co. and former president of Minute Maid, are counting on.
Jones has teamed up with McCloskey, a dairy farmer near Rennselaer, Ind., with the intent of reinventing the $31-billion U.S. milk industry by churning out designer dairy beverages such as Athletes HoneyMilk. “We are going to be the Starbucks of milk,” Mr. Jones, 56, says.
A friend introduced him to Mr. McCloskey, whose passion for reinventing dairy farming and the milk industry was enough to get Mr. Jones to move to Chicago, become chief executive of Fair Oaks Farms’ designer products division and build out a 12,000-square-foot corporate office in the West Loop.
“I understand the cow” but not retailing, says Mr. McCloskey, 59, a veterinarian-turned-farmer. He knows PR, though: The 30,000-acre Fair Oaks Farms he co-owns in Northwest Indiana draws thousands of visitors a year to its restaurant and $10-million visitors’ center, which extols the environmental mission of the farm and subsequent health benefits of its hormone-free products.
Based in part on those numbers, Mr. Jones is convinced they can turn a commodity into designer beverages for children, women, athletes and other groups, at $2 to $4 for 12-ounce and 16-ounce bottles. The shelf-stable Fair Oaks Farms milk products already comes in flavors such as chocolate, strawberry-banana and coffee; six varieties are planned for next year.
The milk separation process—already used to produce milk with varying fat content—is the key. By breaking down milk into its basic components of water, minerals, lactose, protein and butterfat, it can be reformulated to target specific markets.
Five years ago, Select Milk Producers Inc., the Artesia, N.M.-based parent of Fair Oaks Farms, began selling a milk blend, Mootopia, with higher calcium and protein and less fat and sugar to HEB Grocery Co. L.P., a San Antonio-based grocery chain with more than 150 locations in Texas. The men have pitched a similar designer milk beverage to Kroger Co. The Cincinnati-based supermarket chain declines to comment on future merchandise deals. HEB did not return calls for comment.
Sales of Athletes HoneyMilk, a high-protein drink that targets the sports market and will be carried in Chicago-area Wal-Mart stores beginning in January, have been “better than budgeted,” says Mr. McCloskey, who is CEO of Select Milk Producers. “We expect to sell 2 million units in the next 12 months.”
Posted: February 7, 2011 at 5:14 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
A dairy housing company based in Northern Ireland has designed a new pillow to make cows even more comfortable.
J Wilson Agriculture was helped by Invest Northern Ireland to design, manufacture and internationally market the product, called moovApillow, which they say would be a first of its kind to be marketed for the comfort of dairy cattle.
According to Andrew Wilson, J Wilson Agriculture Managing Director, the new pillow expands on the company’s current product offerings, including cow stalls and mattresses, designed for the comfort of cows and horses. “Research shows that a comfortable cow produces higher levels and better quality of milk. The latest product, a one piece, high absorbency and robust pillow, helps farmers meet the challenge for higher milk production,” he said. “Given the volatility in milk prices over recent years, anything that helps to increase production can lead to better yields and returns for dairy farmers.”
Carol Keery of Invest NI, is pictured here with Wilson and the new pillow. J Wilson Agriculture was formed in 1995 to manufacture products such as cow cubicles, mattresses and ventilation systems for the farming industry.
National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) took a stance this week, a decade after it first asked the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to crack down on the misappropriation of dairy terminology on imitation milk products. Not only did NMPF send another petition to the FDA, asserting that the practice has gotten worse in the past 10 years, it also reached out for support through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
In its petition submitted April 29th, NMPF contends that not only have the terms “soy milk” and “soymilk” continued to proliferate, but also other dairy-specific terms like “yogurt,” “cheese,” and “ice cream” are now being used by products made out of a wide variety of non-dairy ingredients.
“The FDA has allowed the meaning of ‘milk’ to be watered down to the point where many products that use the term have never seen the inside of a barn,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. “You don’t got milk if it comes from a hemp plant, you can’t say cheese if it’s made from rice, and faux yogurt can’t be made from soy and still be called yogurt,” he said.
This matter was originally brought to the attention of the FDA in February 2000, when NMPF sent a letter asking that the agency make clear to manufacturers of imitation dairy products that product names permitted by federal standards of identity, including dairy terms such as “milk,” are to be used only on foods actually made from milk from animals like cows, goats, and sheep. The FDA has failed to act on that petition, so NMPF “is again asking our regulators to defend the letter and the spirit of regulations intended to prevent false and misleading labeling on consumer products,” Kozak said. “The use of these terms shouldn’t just be determined by the common and convenient vernacular that marketers prefer; they should be used according to what the law allows.”
As NMPF had predicted ten years ago when it first brought this issue to the attention of FDA, soy “milks” continue to be marketed and sold right along with dairy milks, and now, a bevy of new artificial dairy products has reached store shelves in the past decade. In many cases, these products don’t contain the equivalent levels of nutrients that real milk does.
NMPF’s petition cites examples including imitation milks made from hemp, rice, almonds, and other plants, legumes and vegetables; yogurts made from soybeans and rice; and cheeses made from soy, rice, and nuts. In some cases, marketers use superficial word changes, such as “cheeze,” in an apparent attempt to skirt the standards of identity regulations.
Non-dairy products “can vary wildly in their composition and are inferior to the nutrient profile of those from dairy milk – although they are marketed as replacements for foods that consumers are familiar with and which have a healthful image,” Kozak said. “Although some phony dairy foods may have a passing resemblance to their authentic counterparts, they are very different in nutritional value, composition, and performance from standardized dairy products.”
Posted: October 27, 2009 at 7:19 pm
By Amanda Nolz
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.”
With today’s economic situation in the dairy industry, it is very wise for producers to do all they can to protect the investment they have made in their animals.
At World Dairy Expo, I talked with Lance Fox of Alpharma about maximizing disease protection in the first critical weeks of a calf’s life.
“AS700, or Aureo S 700®, is a management tool, a medication that goes in the feed,” Lance told me. “Transitioning calves, weaning calves, can be a very tough time in their lives, lot of stress going on. It’s a tool to use to help those calves get through that transition a little smoother, maintain their weight gains and ultimately their performance.”
Aureo S 700® is a combination of Aureomycin® (chlortetracycline) and sulfamethazine. Lance says this product has been on the market for 35 years, and Aureo itself is about 58 years old. “So the products have been around a long time and they work just as well today as they did when they were first released.”
What about return on investment? “If you look at the cost of feeding the product for a 28-day feeding period, it’s about $2.50 per head for the entire period,” Lance said. Keeping the calves healthy, preventing disease is the key and that helps the animals perform better and make more milk for the dairyman.
Listen to an interview with Lance below or watch this YouTube interview from World Dairy Expo:
Posted: September 28, 2009 at 5:37 pm
By Amanda Nolz
Here is a pretty cool new feature that was on display at the Holstein UK’s stand at the Dairy Event and Livestock Show. Called the “Virtual Cow,” this computer program allows producers to look at a three-dimensional image of the ideal cow in comparison to cows of poorer quality. This system should help producers select future breeding pieces for their operations. As reported in the Farmers Guardian, you can check out the entire article here. Some seriously cool stuff…
The computer-based, interactive three-dimensional tool shows the form, movement and condition of the milking cow. It will seem familiar to farmers who have seen Eblex’s Virtual Beef and Virtual Lamb, as it was made by the same company, but contains even more information, with nine scores for each of the 18 type traits. The Virtual Cow graphically illustrates differences in conformation between cows with various classification scores and responds to signals from the user by growing, shrinking or changing shape accordingly.
This means users can select a particular trait they want to view and see what it looks like on the ‘perfect cow’ and compare that to poorer examples. Taking teat placement as an example, zooming in on the udder will show ideal placement, while moving the computer mouse to the left moves the teats out, and to the right moves them in, showing the whole range of good and bad placement.
Posted: September 3, 2009 at 3:10 pm
By News Editor
Have any of our WDD readers tasted the new Coca-Cola fizzy milk product called Vio? Let me know what you thought of it!
Vio is a blend of skim milk, sparkling water and fruit. It is available in four flavors peach-mango, very berry, citrus burst and tropical colada.
Like a modernized version of Strawberry Quik for the slightly more sophisticated set, Coca-Cola’s latest entrant into the beverage aisle promises a “refreshing sensory experience” and has been described by one quote-worthy copywriter as tasting “like a birthday party for a polar bear.” The so-called vibrancy drink named Vio – a blend of skim milk, sparkling water, fruit and an entire 27 grams of sugar – makes a test market run in New York City this week, retailing for $2.50 per 8 ounce bottle. The beverage comes in four flavors: peach-mango, very berry, citrus burst and tropical colada and evidently requires no refrigeration, perhaps owing to the fact that the nutrition label offers no mention of actual dairy content.
A reviewer from BevNET offers the following assessment:
The peach and mango flavors pair nicely with the base of sweetened carbonated dairy, delivering something that’s slightly reminiscent of a lassi drink. However, what starts out seeming not so sweet turns almost overwhelming by the time you are half way through the bottle. Otherwise, the combination of milk, carbonated water, sweetener, and flavor is one that is enjoyable, although probably not on a regular basis.
Posted: August 18, 2009 at 11:36 am
By Amanda Nolz
Van Beek Natural Science is excited to introduce CalviRanch, a feed supplement that protects newborn calves from stress induced scours with its unique mode of action. The right balance of pectin and charcoal help remove toxins while coating the intestinal wall, thus proactively working against GI problems before they start. In addition, CalviRanch contains DFMs and enzymes, which promote digestive health.
An An advantage of CalviRanch is the easy identification that the product has been administered. When a calf receives the supplement, its manure will take on CalviRanch’s dark grey color giving the producer the validation their calves are receiving the protection they need.
CalviRanch is available in 7 lb and 15 lb pails, a 50 lb drum, and 1,000 lb totes. The product is sold through all major livestock & dairy distributors. Please link here for more information.
Van Beek Natural Science is an innovative, quality-focused manufacturing and service company committed to bringing the highest quality natural products to the market. Van Beek has been marketing feed supplements for livestock since 1984 with a history of experience in pectin and charcoal based products. Van Beek uses the best available ingredients from around the world when formulating products to be sure that the benefits desired from the ingredients reach their full potential in the final product.
The Associated Press recently reported on dairy farmers who have made efforts to reduce cow emissions by altering the diets of their dairy cows. By feeding flax seed, alfalfa and grass, instead of corn and soybeans, the farmers have been able to greatly reduce their carbon footprint. What do you think about climate change discussions? Do you think these are really effective ways to reduce emissions? Is this something you would like to implement?
Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows’ diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp — dairy cows’ contribution to global warming.
Coventry Valley Farm is one of 15 Vermont farms working with Stonyfield Farm Inc., whose yogurt is made with their organic milk, to reduce the cows’ intestinal methane by feeding them flaxseed, alfalfa, and grasses high in Omega 3 fatty acids. The gas cows belch is the dairy industry’s biggest greenhouse gas contributor, research shows, most of it emitted from the front and not the back end of the cow.
To read more about these dairy farmers’ efforts, link to the AP story.
The United Business Media PR Newswire posted some positive media coverage for June Dairy Month, boasting the nutritional benefits of milk, cheese and yogurt. PR Newswire is the global leader in innovative communications and marketing services, enabling organizations to connect and engage with their target audiences worldwide. This media outlet provided an in-depth, insightful look at the wonderful world of dairy including: health benefits for life, dedication to children’s health and commitment to a healthy environment.
June is National Dairy Month, a great opportunity for Americans to recognize that low-fat and fat-free dairy foods present a unique combination of both nutritional and economic value. Now is the time to remember the recommendation to get three servings of dairy daily – not only milk, but also cheese and yogurt, since these foods also are valuable and tasty sources of essential nutrients.
Families these days are looking to get the most nutrition they can with their food budget. Dairy is a naturally nutrient-rich food group that, for the most part, comes at a low cost — often just pennies per serving. One eight-ounce glass of milk for example provides nine essential nutrients: calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin and niacin (niacin equivalents).
Attitude Drinks Incorporated is launching two unique and innovative milk drinks. Recognizing the increasing consumer demands for healthy, convenient and functional beverages, these formulations deliver the benefits of milk, using technology and science never before introduced in the beverage industry.
Phase III™ ‘Recovery’ will be introduced to address the growing need for sophisticated, exercise recovery solutions. Designed to exploit the scientific evidence favoring low fat, chocolate milk as a highly efficient sports recovery drink, Phase III™ provides a research proven, targeted solution. Formulated with a focus on delivering the most effective protein to carbohydrate ratio in addition to measured levels of recovery enhancing vitamins and minerals, Phase III™ is the first protein drink utilizing “Mother Nature’s most perfect food” in delivering this function.
Just!™ ‘Metabolic Health’ targets consumers interested in achieving improved metabolic health. Recently announced scientific studies indicate that significant health benefits, including weight management and heart health, are derived from improved metabolic health. Attitude Drinks will introduce Nutraceutical Discoveries’ all natural formulation, Innutria™, exclusively, in this fat free, no sugar added, chocolate milk drink. Just!™ has been formulated using ingredients naturally found in milk to deliver features proven to provide the benefits of fat burn and reduction of oxidative and inflammatory heart stress.
Phase III™ and just!™ are packaged in new, state of the art, eco-friendly convenient re-sealable bottles containing shelf stable 14.5 oz. and 8 oz. functional milk drinks, respectively. These products can be stored, distributed and retailed at room temperature, making them available to traditional beverage distribution systems. The national roll out of just!™ and Phase III™ will begin in Spring of ’09 with a launch in the New York Metro area, where the products will be distributed by Exclusive Beverage Distribution. Dr. Michael Zemel, founder of Nutraceutical Discoveries, will be featured in a Public Relations rollout effort combined with a highly integrated marketing program focused on cause-based, grassroots and market centered sampling initiatives. These great tasting drinks deliver on the science and convenience demanded by American consumers today, while representing the very latest in milk processing technology and scientific study.
A semester into my first year of college, I decided that I needed a part-time job, so I applied for a lab assistant job at Dairy Microbiology. I was pretty excited about the job as it paid well, and I was fascinated by the dairy industry. Plus, I got to take home free milk, cheese and ice cream samples home as a benefit. Free ice cream? Hello, dream job!
As I was given a tour of the facilities on my first day on the job, I learned that I would spend my days testing for fat content in milk samples. I would also wash dishes and test tubes. I would grid tests and fill out paperwork. I thought to myself, “Okay, I’m not a chemist, but maybe I’ll learn something new. It can’t be that bad can it?” However, as a journalism student, I quickly realized that detailed chemistry experiments, endless dishes to wash and tedious lab tests and paperwork were definitely not my thing.
One day, I was working in the lab when it suddenly dawned on me that I might not belong in a chemistry lab. I was testing for fat content in a batch of chocolate milk samples. The chocolate milk was constantly causing me problems, and I always ended up doing the experiment twice. That day I vowed that I would get it right the first time.
Unfortunately, I soon started day dreaming about my career goals, my weekend plans and how much homework I had that night. The next thing you know, I had put a chemical into my experiment earlier than it had called for. Well, in my mind, that called for another experiment. What would happen to my chocolate milk if I finished the test this way? I placed the test tubes into the centrifuge. I pushed the button to start the spin, and BAM! Chocolate milk exploded everywhere! Sadly, I cleaned up the mess in shame, knowing I would have to repeat the test to earn accurate results.
I walked home from work that day and thought that maybe a chemistry lab position wasn’t exactly the perfect fit for my skill set. I knew my dairy experimenting days were numbered. Throughout my college experience, I have tried new jobs and learned new things, but I will never forget the day I realized…I’m no chemist, but I sure like the dairy industry!
One of the features of World Dairy Expo is the virtual farm tours. BASF Plant Science sponsored one by State University of New York – Cobleskill.
Jerry Weigel, Global Nutrition Manager, says these tours allow producers to look at some of the top dairies in the country and they also allow those same dairies to showcase their innovative ideas. He says that the SUNY utilized their Nutridense silage.
If you haven’t been to one of these tours and wonder how they work, basically the presenter utilizes a computer and projector to show slides and/or video of their operation to demonstrate various elements of their dairy like equipment, cows and milk and feed regimes.
You can listen to my interview with Jerry as part of our Milking Parlor Podcast: milking-parlor-35.mp3
To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions.
Calling all dairy plants in the U.S. and Canada – did you receive your entry forms for the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest? Be sure to enter your company’s products in this unique and competitive contest! Entries are due by August 8, 2008.
This year’s contest promises to be even bigger and better since it will be expanding to include a wider variety of dairy products: cheese, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, sour cream based-dips, whipping cream, sherbet, buttermilk, butter, cottage cheese, whey, fluid milk and an innovative category. As an added bonus, this year’s contest will have 2 GRAND CHAMPIONS—a Grand Champion of cheese and butter (sponsored by Cheese Market News) and a Grand Champion for Grade A products and ice cream (sponsored by Dairy Foods).
A company may submit as many entries as they wish. All entry forms must be mailed to the Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn. by August 8, 2008. Once a company has submitted their entry forms and fees, they must ship their contest entries during the week of August 18-21, 2008.
Judging will take place on the following dates:
August 26 – ice cream, sherbet, whey products and creative/innovative technologies
August 27—cheese and butter
August 28—Yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, fluid milk, buttermilk, sour cream-based dips and whipping cream
After judging is concluded, all winners will be notified. The winning entries will then be auctioned off on Tuesday, September 30 at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. A portion of the auction proceeds will be used to fund the Dr. Robert Bradley Scholarship, which will be awarded to a student pursuing a career in the dairy industry.
The laboratory — an application and sensory technical and development centre — will be used to work more closely with North American customers developing products using NZ technology and ingredients.
Fonterra’s US operations produce revenues of about $NZ2.67 ($NZ3.57) billion. The company runs a joint venture, DairiConcepts, with the largest dairy co-operative in the US, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), to process milk from DFA members into milk protein concentrates — increasingly used in chilled products such as dairy desserts — and milkpowders and specialty ingredients. Fonterra also works closely with Dairy America, a group of nine US-based co-operative dairy companies, to export US-origin milk powder into the global marketplace.
Fonterra previously had a base in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but collected a $US1.14 million ($NZ1.5 million) investment package from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in the process of re-locating to Chicago.
“Fonterra sees exciting opportunities in its US business and we want to grow it together with our key customers,” said Fonterra USA’s chief operating officer, Martin Bates. “We also want to use the US as a supply base to allow us to work with our international customers to ensure quality exports are sourced from the US to meet growing international demand. The US is increasingly becoming a supplier to the world market, so we look at this as an opportunity to invest,” he said.
More than 50 percent of the skim milk powder sold by Fonterra internationally last year was manufactured in the US. The US market for fluid milk is the third-largest globally — behind India and the EU — and, according to US Department of Agriculture estimates, it could reach 27.5 million tonnes this year. In the US, Fonterra intends to continue making dairy ingredients, Mr Ferrier said.
New research indicates that when it comes to feeding infants formula, ones made from cow’s milk may be a better choice than soy.
In a clinical report based on a review of available information just released, experts have delivered the definitive word on feeding infants soy protein-based formulas versus cow milk formulas: Why use soy at all?
“Why feed soy when there is no indication for it?” said Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, a professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, and one of the lead authors of the report by the Committee on Nutrition for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Cow milk is the preferred choice if you cannot breast-feed.”
“When a mother came into the office complaining about colic, fussiness, excessive spitting, constipation — you name it — and attributing it to the infant’s cow milk formula, the first thing I did was change the infant to a soy formula,” said Dr. Frank Greer, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin and the other lead author of the report.
“If the situation improved for whatever reason, the child was thought to be allergic or intolerant of cow milk by the mother, thus promoting a myth of cow milk allergy/intolerance,” Greer said.
The simple solution would be to eliminate formula altogether and breast-feed, the gold standard for infant nutrition. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommend breast-feeding exclusively for the first four to six months and then slowly introducing solid foods, continuing to breast-feed until the infant is about a year old.
“In general, formula use is associated with increased illnesses, both infectious and chronic, like diabetes and cancers, and yet there is no warning on the label,” said Dr. Miriam Labbok, director of the Center for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We must begin to view formula as a risky choice for infant feeding, and do more to support women to succeed in breast-feeding.”
Choosing cow milk formula, soy formula or breast-feeding ultimately comes down to personal preference, or, in a few cases, to medical necessity. But without any demonstrated benefit to soy formula for the average healthy infant, choosy pediatricians still choose cow milk.
The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA) is looking for a few good judges for their annual World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest. The contest, held in conjunction with the World Dairy Expo, is in its sixth year. Do you have what it takes to be a judge? Then be sure to get your resume to the WDPA by May 23, 2008!
This year’s contest will have 55 different categories, encompassing a wide range of dairy products that include, cheese, butter, milk, ice cream, yogurt, whey, cottage cheese, sour cream, whipping cream and more.
WDPA is issuing a “call for judges” for the championship dairy product contest. WDPA is seeking judges for these products:
Cheese and Butter – 10 judges needed
Yogurt – 2 judges
Ice Cream and Sherbet – 2 judges
Whey Products – 2 judges
Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream and Sour Cream Dips – 2 judges
Fluid Milk and Cultured Buttermilk – 2 judges
Interested parties should send their resumes to Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn, 8383 Greenway Blvd, Middleton, WI 53562.
The Australian processor Dairy Farmers has received an initial bid from National Foods, owned by Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings. The deal could be worth $920 million. Dairy Farmers is owned by more than 2,000 Australian dairy producers. The company manufacturers branded milk, cheese and yogurt.
A deal would mark a significant ramp-up in Kirin’s presence in Australia, just a few months after it bought National Foods, one of the country’s largest food groups, for A$2.8 billion ($2.7 billion).
Dairy Farmers, which is owned by some 2,000 Australian farmers and makes Dairy Farmers brand milk, Coon cheese and Ski yoghurt, put itself up for sale last month. It said on Friday it has seen wide interest in a potential deal, which could be worth A$800 million-A$1 billion.
Milk has gone haute couture, thanks to a fashion designer who is also a microbiologist. 
A dairy housing company based in Northern Ireland has designed a new pillow to make cows even more comfortable.
At World Dairy Expo, I talked with Lance Fox of 
Here is a pretty cool new feature that was on display at the Holstein UK’s stand at the Dairy Event and Livestock Show. Called the “Virtual Cow,” this computer program allows producers to look at a three-dimensional image of the ideal cow in comparison to cows of poorer quality. This system should help producers select future breeding pieces for their operations. As reported in the Farmers Guardian, you can check out the entire article 
Have any of our WDD readers tasted the new 
A semester into my first year of college, I decided that I needed a part-time job, so I applied for a lab assistant job at Dairy Microbiology. I was pretty excited about the job as it paid well, and I was fascinated by the dairy industry. Plus, I got to take home free milk, cheese and ice cream samples home as a benefit. Free ice cream? Hello, dream job! 
One of the features of World Dairy Expo is the 
