Posted: January 3, 2008 at 8:37 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
The World Ag Expo is right around the corner and to learn more about it I interviewed Shelley Kahl, 2008 Chairman. The Expo is “Where the World of Agriculture Means Business.” For many people who will be participating and attending that means the dairy business. I’ve never been to the show and hope to find a way to do so this year. It sounds like they’ve got a huge area devoted to the dairy business including a new pavilion this year.
You can listen to Shelley talk about this year’s show in the latest edition of our Milking Parlor Podcast. You can listen right now here:
The agriculture commissioners from four states were on hand and hands-on at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia last month for the second Commissioner’s Milking Contest - which was a whole lot of fun.
The very friendly competition included Tommy Irvin of Georgia, Charlie Bronson of Florida, Ron Sparks of Alabama, and Ken Givens of Tennessee. When it was all over, the winner as you can see by the photo was Tennessee’s Ken Givens, whose background of being raised on a dairy farm was obvious. It took two measuring tubes for Givens milking effort, while Sparks came in 2nd, Irvin 3rd, and Bronson 4th in an event to promote the dairy industry.
Givens is now the champion for two years running in the competition.
Just before they got started with the contest, the guys were milking it for all it was worth in an interview with Randall Weiseman of Southeast Agnet. I made that great little piece of audio into a Milking Parlor podcast, which you can listen to here:
A California dairy producer testified last week before the House Agriculture Committee during a hearing called to review the labor needs of American agriculture.
Randy Mouw was one of 12 people who testified at the Committee’s hearing on Oct. 4 in Washington DC. He spoke on behalf of Western United Dairymen, Dairy Farmers of America, and National Milk Producers Federation.
“Immigration reform is a must for U.S. agriculture because I can tell you from my own experience that not one person who has walked on my dairy looking for work in the past five years is a person who was born in this country,” Mouw told the committee.
He outlined three key principles that must be included in a legislative solution for dairy producers.
1) an affordable and efficient guest worker program that ensures the continued availability of immigrant labor for all of agriculture, including dairies;
2) a provision that allows those currently employed or with recent employment history in the U.S. to earn the right to work here legally, regardless of their current legal status; and
3) a provision that specifies the responsibility for ultimate verification of the legal status of a worker lies with the government, not with employers.
You only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.
I did an interview at expo with John Deere Hay and Forage Specialist Jim Buchs on how dairy producers can get added value for forage at harvest with Harvest Lab.
“We put a unit on our forage harvester that can measure the moisture as its going through the machine,” Buchs said. “With that information, we can calculate the true tonnage that we are harvesting.”
That information can be used to adjust the harvesting rate to the receiving rate at the bunker silo so you can adjust packing tractors or other required applications.
Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Jim here:
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:40 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
When I saw a booth that posed the question, “How is a cow like an ethanol production plant?” I had to stop for a visit.
Manning the booth is Nick Baker, U. S. Dairy Forage Research Center. Nick says that basically the cow’s rumen uses microbes to break down forage and feed into the energy it needs much like an ethanol plant which then converts the sugars produced into alcohol. ‘Nuff said.
I asked him his take on the whole food vs. fuel debate and he believes as I do that there’s plenty of biomass available to not only meet food production needs but energy as well. He’s working on a project to utilize switchgrass in the production of ethanol and says the technology is available now to do so.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:33 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
The National Dairy Shrine is having a great year according to board member Tommy Martin. Tommy is an old friend of mine (he’s not old) from my home state of Florida. He works for Merial. I found him in the trade show this morning and asked him to give me an update on how the National Dairy Shrine is doing.
Tommy says the banquet they had here at Expo was very well attended. In fact, he thinks attendance at the show must be up since it sure seems busy. He says that at the banquet they honored their 2007 Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder of the Year, Bob Miller and Distinguished Guest, Dr. H. Duane Norman.
Here’s how the National Dairy Shrine benefits the industry: “National Dairy Shrine annually provides more than $35,000 in awards and scholarships for college students, dairy producers and industry leaders. Funds for these scholarships come from membership fees, interest on a $1 million endowment fund, and voluntary contributions. National Dairy Shrine also provides financial support for World Dairy Expo and National 4-H Dairy Conference.”
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:20 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
When you go to Hawaii you get a nice lei of flowers when you get off the plane. When you go to Wisconsin it’s bratwurst and cheese. It’s the Original Wisconsin Lei.
The Lei’d Back inventor is Steve Rheaume. He says he’s sold over 3,000 of these so far and they’re becoming very popular for football games and wherever you want to show your Wisconsin pride.
Steve’s an agricultural tax consulting expert who says he took a sabbatical to Hawaii for a couple years to unwind and get relaxed. When he got back the idea for the Wisconsin Lei just came to him as something he could give to friends and family who would come all the way to north Wisconsin to visit. Now he’s got a great side business going.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 2:12 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Kay Zwald is a Wisconsin dairy producer doing some promotional work here at Expo. She’s been on the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board for about a year.
This morning she’s here promoting Wisconsin dairy and cheese to consumers and talking with producers. Kay says that producers are most often asking what’s being done with their funds to promote the industry.
She says that everyone seems to be happy. That’s a theme of almost every conversation I’ve had here this week.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 11:00 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy producers are looking at precision agriculture equipment to help them become more efficient according to Mid-State Equipment’s Chuck Endres. Chuck is exhibiting here at Expo and says that the farmers he’s been talking with are in a very optimistic mood.
When it comes to precision equipment he says the biggest benefit to dairy producers is dealing with moisture when making haylage. He says the equipment they’re selling includes moisture sensing and yield monitoring on their John Deere Choppers. This not only allows the producer to quickly and easily measure moisture content but saves the time of having to run loads to a scale. Producers can learn more about what John Deere is doing with precision agriculture on their Precision Pays website (ZimmComm New Media helps manage this site).
I asked him how this will return the investment and he provides says it could mean the difference between having spoilage and turning cows off feed and that’s a cost no producer wants to deal with.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 10:44 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
The International Forum for Women in Dairying will be holding its global dairy conference prior to the 2008 World Dairy Expo according to Kathy LaScala, chairperson.
Kathy was on hand for our media talk session so I asked her what this is all about. She says you can find out more on their website. The dates are September 28 & 29, 2008 at the Madison Concourse Hotel.
Kathy says the conference will feature many speakers and plenty of opportunities for women to network with each other since they face the same challenges regardless of what country they’re from.
Posted: October 6, 2007 at 10:33 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
Paula Maebon is on the Dairy Checkoff board. She was on hand here at Expo to talk about what the Checkoff is doing for dairy producers.
For one thing she says they’re working hard to make sure the public has a good image of dairy producers. For that reason they created the DairyFarmingToday.org website. It provides consumers with lots of information about dairy farming.
She says that dairy producers should go to DairyCheckoff.com to get information about the work and activities of the Checkoff.
Posted: October 5, 2007 at 3:38 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
We’ve got to say that we’re really happy to see Schering-Plough giving away an iPod (Booth 3817). That’ll be one more dairy producer who can subscribe to our Milking Parlor podcast.
The beauty of the podcast and iPod is that you can subscribe to our interviews from here at Expo and ones we do in the future and receive them on your computer, sync to your iPod or other MP3 player and listen when and where you want!
Posted: October 5, 2007 at 10:33 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
The World Dairy Expo Dairy Industry Person of the Year is Steve Larson (pictured on the left talking Orion Samuelson). Steve is the managing editor of Hoard’s Dairyman Magazine. He’s been in that position since 1998 and started with the publication in 1969.
Steve says that two of his predecessors have received the award and he feels very honored to join their ranks. He says that Hoard’s has long been a supporter of World Dairy Expo and he likes to say that this is a time “when the world comes to see us.” Steve thinks that although the dairy producers are becoming more business like it’s still a great way of life. He’s looking forward to the future and says that you can now search past articles of Hoard’s online.
Posted: October 5, 2007 at 10:15 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board has kept us media types supplied with lots of cheese while we’ve been here at Expo. They also brought in Chef John Esser again this year to prepare some great snacks during our news talk session.
I talked to John while he was working. I think the best thing he had for sampling was the beef brisket pizza - with cheese of course. John describes some of the things he had on display.
Posted: October 5, 2007 at 10:00 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
The President of the Board of Directors of World Dairy Expo is Roger Ripley (on the left being interviewed). Roger is also the acting General Manager at the show since there’s a search going on for a new GM on the staff.
Roger says that the show has been exciting so far with attendance up early. I asked him how things were going in the search for a replacement to Tom McKittrick as GM. He says they’ve gone through round one of interviews with applicants and they hope to announce a new GM by mid to late October.
Roger says producers are optimistic since prices have been good. International visitor attendance is up too.
Posted: October 5, 2007 at 9:42 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
One of the exhibitors here is Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition Group. They’ve got a new website up so dairy producers have an online destination to learn more about them and their products.
I spoke with Scott Morey (pictured on the right) who is their Senior Business Manager. He says they’re focused on dairy nutrition from a product standpoint and are here to talk about a variety of products.
Scott says that he’s hearing from producers that times are good. He wants producers to know that Arm & Hammer is focused on reproduction since they see that there’s room for improvement in this area.
Posted: October 5, 2007 at 9:25 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
We may be at a dairy show but there’s been plenty of opportunities to eat some good beef. In fact, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board is here and I spoke with their CEO, Tom Ramey.
Tom points out that dairy cows make up 22% of the beef supply and that’s significant. He says that half of our beef is being marketed as whole muscle cuts.
Tom also says that research shows that the Checkoff has added about $70 - $100/head on dairy cows in the last few years. He says that producers can go to BeefBoard.org to find out more and that they’ve started a weekly email to communicate what’s being done with Checkoff dollars. To subscribe to it just email your request to be put on the list to Diane Henderson.
Posted: October 4, 2007 at 4:11 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Record cheese production was announced today at World Dairy Expo by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.
Governor Jim Doyle today announced Wisconsin cheese production set a new record in 2006, producing nearly 2.5 billion pounds of cheese, accounting for 26 percent of the national cheese market. Wisconsin’s growth is fueled by the increase in national demand for high-quality, specialty cheeses, and Wisconsin’s powerful dairy sector. Specialty cheese production in Wisconsin grew by 26 million pounds, accounting for nearly 45 percent of the national specialty cheese market.
On hand to talk about it here this morning was Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Rod Nilsestuen. I interviewed him to learn more about what this means to the state. He also talks about all the ways the Doyle administration is working to help farmers and in particular those involved in the dairy industry.
Posted: October 4, 2007 at 4:01 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
The Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin is lead by Executive Director Shelly Mayer. It sound like things are going well for the organization. Their mission is to “share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.”
I spoke with Shelly in their exhibit near one of the entrances to the main exhibit hall here at World Dairy Expo. She says that the organization was formed in 1992 and that producers have done a “robust” job in growing the organization. They have producers from many other states that are attending their educational sessions now.
Here at Expo they use the opportunity to meet with producer members and recruit new ones, including working with young people interested in the business.
Posted: October 4, 2007 at 10:25 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
The Dairy Woman of the Year is Deborah Lee Reinhart, a producer from New Holstein, Wisconsin. She’s pictured third from the left in the front row of this group of members of the Livestock Publications Council which met for breakfast this morning.
Deb received her award last night at the World Dairy Expo Dinner With the Stars banquet. This morning she spoke to us at the LPC breakfast. In an interview I did with her she describes what the award means to her and talks about her involvement in the industry which includes work on the animal identification issue which she feels very strongly about.
The World Ag Expo is right around the corner and to learn more about it I interviewed Shelley Kahl, 2008 Chairman. The Expo is “Where the World of Agriculture Means Business.” For many people who will be participating and attending that means the dairy business. I’ve never been to the show and hope to find a way to do so this year. It sounds like they’ve got a huge area devoted to the dairy business including a new pavilion this year.
The agriculture commissioners from four states were on hand and hands-on at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia last month for the second Commissioner’s Milking Contest - which was a whole lot of fun. 
Givens is now the champion for two years running in the competition. 
You only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.
When I saw a booth that posed the question, “How is a cow like an ethanol production plant?” I had to stop for a visit.
The 
Here’s how the National Dairy Shrine benefits the industry: “National Dairy Shrine annually provides more than $35,000 in awards and scholarships for college students, dairy producers and industry leaders. Funds for these scholarships come from membership fees, interest on a $1 million endowment fund, and voluntary contributions. National Dairy Shrine also provides financial support for World Dairy Expo and National 4-H Dairy Conference.”
When you go to Hawaii you get a nice lei of flowers when you get off the plane. When you go to Wisconsin it’s bratwurst and cheese. It’s the 
Kay Zwald is a Wisconsin dairy producer doing some promotional work here at Expo. She’s been on the 
Dairy producers are looking at precision agriculture equipment to help them become more efficient according to 
The International Forum for Women in Dairying will be holding its global dairy conference prior to the 2008 World Dairy Expo according to Kathy LaScala, chairperson.
Kathy says the conference will feature many speakers and plenty of opportunities for women to network with each other since they face the same challenges regardless of what country they’re from.
Paula Maebon is on the Dairy Checkoff board. She was on hand here at Expo to talk about what the Checkoff is doing for dairy producers. 
We’ve got to say that we’re really happy to see 
The World Dairy Expo Dairy Industry Person of the Year is Steve Larson (pictured on the left talking Orion Samuelson). Steve is the managing editor of 
The 
The President of the Board of Directors of World Dairy Expo is Roger Ripley (on the left being interviewed). Roger is also the acting General Manager at the show since there’s a search going on for a new GM on the staff.
One of the exhibitors here is 
We may be at a dairy show but there’s been plenty of opportunities to eat some good beef. In fact, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board is here and I spoke with their CEO, Tom Ramey. 
Record cheese production was announced today at World Dairy Expo by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.
The 
The