World Dairy Diary

Idaho Dairy Goes Ruggedly Wireless in the Corral

The idea of gaining two extra hours in dairy farm management each day without working extra hours seems like a dream, right? What about cutting the time employees spend searching for animals… in half? Well, Scott Haag at Box Canyon Dairy in Wendell, Idaho says a set of MobileDemand rugged tablet PC’s makes those dairy farm dreams an everyday reality.

MobileDemand is a rugged tablet PC manufacturer based out of Idaho and they’ve just put the power of the PC in the hands of the field staff at Box Canyon.

MobileDemand says its partnership with ProfitSource enables dairy farms to bring both wireless computing and specialized DairyQuest software into the cattle pens, streamlining operations, saving time, and reducing error.

I spoke with MobileDemand CEO Matt Miller about how he found the agriculture industry to be optimal match for the rugged PC company. You can listen to my interview with Matt here.

MobileDemand also offers a video summary of its case study with Box Canyon Dairy. The video further illustrates how the tablet PC and DairyQuest Software have helped one dairy farm increase efficiency in both the breeding and health monitoring of its 8,000 cows. You can watch the video here:

Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin

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.

Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Shelly here: Interview with Shelly Mayer (MP3)

To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions. You can also watch the interview:

Learn More About Hoard’s Dairyman

The Hoard’s Dairyman is 124 years old and has suppported the World Dairy Expo since the beginning of the show. They’ve got more than one booth here in fact and are busy covering the expo events for the publication, meeting with readers and sponsoring events and activities.

Hoard’s Dairyman is the only paid subscription publication in the dairy industry, with over 80,000 subscribers. Over 80 percent of them are dairy farmers. Like World Dairy Expo, Hoard’s is also international in scope with Hoard’s Dairyman en Español, a monthly journal tailored to Latin America’s growing dairy industry with a circulation of 6,000.

Cindy interviewed their Marketing Director, Gary Vorpahl, while she was here on opening day.

You can watch her interview with Gary here:

World Dairy Expo Sales Manager John Rozum

The sales manager for World Dairy Expo is John Rozum. John played a key role in getting World Dairy Diary started several years ago when we got this dairy news website kicked off here at the show.

This year Cindy interviewed John to learn what the latest is about the show. He talks about the virtual farm tour that was started several years ago. He says that they’re hoping for a very big year for attendance this year. John works directly with the sponsors and he says they’re key to helping making the show happen. If you couldn’t make it to Expo this year then John says plan ahead for next year.

Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with John here: Interview with John Rozum (MP3)

To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions. You can also watch the interview:

Westfalia Surge Exhibit

WestfaliaSurge has not only a very large but a very cool exhibit here at World Dairy Expo. In fact, when I spoke with Rob Kolb, VP of Marketing, North Americas Region he says they won the best booth of the year award.

Rob says that they’re showing their full range of products like their parlor stalls and something new which is automatic take off and milk metering.

Besides displaying he says they’re a big sponsor of Expo which includes sponsoring each breed champion in the shows. Because of WestfaliaSurge’s sponsorship they’ll be receiving $1,000!

Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Rob here: Interview with Rob Kolb (MP3)

To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions. You can also watch the interview:

Ring Side With Charleston|Orwig

There are only a few select suites ringside at the World Dairy Expo coliseum and one of them is occupied by Charleston|Orwig during the show for meetings and entertaining clients.

Since Charleston|Orwig is one of our sponsors for coverage of World Dairy Expo this year, this “Milking Parlor” podcast is with Mike Opperman, account supervisor with C-O. It was through the agency’s inquiries that we decided to start the Milking Parlor as a regular feature on World Dairy Diary, and for Charleston|Orwig, it is a way to help them demonstrate to their clients the potential for new media.

Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Mike here: Interview with Mike Opperman (MP3)

You can also watch the video here:

Visit NutriDense for a Cheese Sandwich and a Shake

Jerry Weigel is the global nutrition manager for BASF Plant Science. I spoke to him about their NutriDense product which is what they’re promoting at their booth here at World Dairy Expo.

Besides talking with producers about NutriDense which is a nutritionally-enhanced corn that contains a stacked set of output traits that enhance animal feed performance he says they’ve got some incentives for those that stop by their booth.

One of those includes a free world famous grilled cheese sandwich and a milk shake. You can watch the video or listen to the interview:

Listen to interview with Jerry here: Interview with Jerry Weigel (MP3)

World Dairy Diary coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by:
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Some Old Dairy Council TV Spots

It’s amazing what you can find on the internet today. If you like old tv commercials you might enjoy a couple of old animated Dairy Council spots that are posted on AdJab.

As Adam Finley says in his post, “Does anyone even talk about the four major food groups anymore? It seems like at least three of the basic foods mentioned, milk, eggs and dairy, are either good for you or bad for you, depending on who you ask and what time of the day you ask it.” Yep Adam, it’s a new world we live in isn’t it?

Automatic Milking In Norway

Today I got to visit a dairy operation which is pretty big business in Norway. We toured the Smestad farm. Pictured here are our hosts, Ole Kristian and Randi Skallerud.

The interesting part of the dairy is that they’re using an automatic milking system from DeLaval. So before we event went into the barn we learned more about robotic milking.

I interviewed Ole after we got into the barn. He milks 47 cows at this facility and says that the long cold winter is one of the challenges he faces. He also says that his farm has internet access and that Randi and his kids use it while he’s slowly learning how himself. They actually have wireless access which I found with my computer before leaving on the bus.

You can listen to my interview with Ole here: Ole Skallerud (6 min MP3)

I also have a little video clip of a cow in the robot getting milked: Robotic Milking Action (1 min WMV)

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by:

CWT Export Assistance Bids

Here’s the latest announcements from Cooperatives Working Together:

By the way. If you’d like to learn more about the CWT Export Assistance Program they have a video you can watch (9 min wmv).

Cow Cam On Mootube

This is different. Cows with cameras. Or as it’s called, Mootube.

You can see cow cams and they even have a blog: From The Pasture

As they say, “Mootube was created to give the world an idea of what things look like from a cow’s point of view.”

Strange stuff.

Have You Wanted An iPod

If you’ve wanted to own an Apple video iPod then here’s your chance. It’s the New Holland “Down on the Farm” Classic iPod Keepsake Contest. One lucky winner will be drawn to win a new 30GB video iPod. The contest starts now and will run through March 15 with the winner being announced here and on all ZimmComm blogs on March 20, National Agriculture Day.

In case you’re not familiar with the Commodity Classic, it’s the combined annual meeting and trade show of the National Corn Growers Association and American Soybean Association. Both organizations with an impact on the dairy industry. I’m sure there will be some news of interest for you.

I’ll be blogging the 2006 Commodity Classic and all the pictures I take and video and audio I record will be pre-loaded onto the iPod. One of those things will be country music star Michael Peterson’s performance that’s being sponsored by New Holland. Once we know who the winner is Michael will record a personal message which we’ll also load onto the iPod. And, there’s more. We’ll also load Michael’s newest CD, “Down on the Farm,” which you can currently only purchase from your local New Holland dealer. It won’t be out in stores until later this spring.

So, here’s how you enter. We’ve got an online form that you’ll need to fill out and just click on the submit button when done. There’s only a few questions. It’s fast and then you’re entered. You’ll get a confirmation email so that you know you’ve been entered. Or, if you’re at Classic, you can stop by the New Holland booth and enter there.

MooBella Ice Cream Now!

My favorite dessert is ice cream. I want to see these next to every soda machine in the country! MooBella machines. Freshly made ice cream when and where I want it. Even mixed with the toppings I want like cookies’n'cream and walnuts.

Simply stated, MooBella is where taste meets technology. The MooBella team has created a multi-patented, fully automated ice cream process that will change ice cream forever! Fresh ice cream, on the spot, made to order. Smooth texture, fresh flavors, great mix-ins. MooBella blends taste with technology to create an amazing ice cream experience for ice cream lovers with the very highest standards.

They have 12 flavors and 5 mix-ins. Want to know more about it? Here’s a little video on the product: MooBella Testimonials (5:14 wmv file, 20.4 MB)

Bayer Booth Pool Shark

There’s all kinds of activities in the booths at this year’s Cattle Industry Convention Trade Show. The Bayer booth had a very amusing pool shark. He had quite a crowd so I guess he was entertaining.

I’m going to let you be thejudge.

Here’s a little less than 2 minutes of video from his performance: Trade Show Video (.wmv file)

Cattle Industry Convention Trade Show Underway

I know that the Cattle Industry Convention is a beef event but dairy producers pay the Checkoff too. The trade show got kicked off today.

I’m experimenting with my camera that also takes some fairly decent video. So I’ve got a short video clip for you in case you’ve never been to this event.

Here’s a little less than 2 minutes of video from this evening’s trade show: Trade Show Video (.wmv file)

American Dairy On Pittsburg TV

American Dairy, Inc., announced recently that it will be on tv in the Pittsburg, PA market on cable. Basically their release says that “PCNC Cable News Channel in Pittsburg, PA will spotlight the Company in a continuation of the previously announced “Investment Opportunities in China” series, produced by Platinum Television. American Dairy was one of a few Chinese companies invited to be featured on the show by Platinum Television Group’s advisory board, made up of MIT and Harvard business school graduates, as well as magazine editors of Fortune, Forbes and INC. Households in Pittsburgh will be able to watch the news segment on American Dairy, which is approximately seven minutes long and presents facts about the Chinese government’s promotion of milk products in China, as well as insight into the Company’s processing plants and premier powdered milk and soy products. Viewers will be able to watch clips of the Company’s processing plants, headquarters, core products and research & development team throughout the Company’s operations in China.”

There’s a link to their website to watch the video but all I saw were commercials in Chinese like this one.

Butter Kicks Off PA Farm Show

A little butter makes things better. In this case The Farm Show got kicked off in Pennsylvania with a sculpture crafted from 800 pounds of butter that was donated by the Land O’Lakes plant in Carlisle, PA.

The theme for this buttery work celebrates the Farm Show’s 90th Anniversary and recognizes the progress made in Pennsylvania’s dairy industry. The sculpture depicts an old-time milk delivery wagon pulled by a horse, ready to unload a modern milk vending machine. The Pennsylvania Farm Show and the Commonwealth’s dairy industry have worked hand-in-hand throughout the past 90 years. By working with the state’s dairy promotion organizations, four milk vending machines have been permanently placed in the Farm Show Complex, providing another way for visitors to enjoy dairy while enjoying the various shows held throughout the year.

You can listen to Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff describe the sculpture here. You can also see a short video clip here.

Holiday Video Greeting From DFA

Just to get you in the Christmas mood DFA has a little video greeting. You can pick which connection speed is best for you.

You can find the link here.