The National Milk Producers Federation has promoted Shawna Morris to Director of Government Relations and Trade, effective June 7th. Previously, Morris served as NMPF’s Manager of Government Relations and Trade. Morris’s duties as Director include drafting comments for and testifying at government hearings on trade-related topics, helping develop NMPF’s trade policy, representing NMPF in meetings with government and association representatives, … Read More
Multi-State Dairy Agreement
This is advance notice and I hope to have a picture from this event next week. At the upcoming Northeastern Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA) Summer Conference, which will be held Monday, June 12, several state ag directors will sign an agreement to work cooperatively in an effort to enhance the dairy industries in their states.
FDA Thinks Restaurants Should Sell More Milk
Sounds like a fine idea to me. I sat at an Ohio State Ag Alumni awards banquet last year with an alum from the dairy biz. I was thrilled, being a multi-gallon per week milk drinker, when he ordered a pitcher of the milk for the whole table. His comment was that he was always amazed when he took his dairy clients to dinner that they rarely ordered milk, so he ordered it for them. Sounds like a good policy to me, like fueling your farm equipment with soy biodiesel or driving a flex-fuel car.
House Agriculture Subcomittee Hosts Forum on Dairy Biz
Last week, the Subcommittee on Deparment Operations, Oversight, Dairy, Nutrition, and Forestry met at Winona, Minnesota to discuss the Upper Midwest Dairy industry.
NMPF And Others Send White House A Message
The National Milk Producers Federation has joined a number of farm groups in sending a message to the White House on WTO talks. Will these talks ever get anywhere? Who knows. But at least we know they’re “talking.”
Selenium May Boost Bugs' Immunity
That same mineral you may be using in your ration may be keeping the bugs in the field from getting sick. The latest research out from USDA’s Ag Research Service suggests that moderate dietary levels of selenium may actually strengthen insect immunity. Typically, high levels of selenium are toxic to pests, but studies with cabbage looper moths and tobacco budworms found that the group raised on artificially high, though not toxic, levels of selenium had a stronger immune response system, therefore lowering the effectiveness of microbial biological control agents used against them.
Great Superfund Manure Editorial
Steven Milloy, publisher of JunkScience.com and a regular contributor to FoxNews.com, wrote a fabulous editorial slamming the environmentalists who are demanding Congress refuse to clarify the Superfund legislation to “exempt” manure.
The Raw Milk Debate Continues
Ohio has become Ground Zero for the Raw Milk debate. It is, to put it mildly, a passionate debate, with folks on either side clinging valiantly to their beliefs. We’ve been tracking a bill in the Ohio legislature that would change our state’s position on Raw Milk from one of prohibiting sales of Raw Milk to one where the trade of Raw Milk is perfectly legal in a given set of regulatory circumstances.
A New Way to Eliminate BVD?
USDA’s Ag Research Service is working to combat major diseases in the dairy industry. One of the most challenging has been Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD). The disease has typically been battled by vaccinations, but as we learn from Julia Ridpath, a microbioligist with ARS, this strategy isn’t as effective as it could be due to persistently infected animals. Past-President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Joe Cornely has the details here: 
Julia Ridpath on BVD (2:59 mp3)
Congress Freezes Funding on Animal ID
Amid debate over illegal immigration and spending priorities, Congress has put the brakes on further Animal Identification funding to USDA, at least until they have more information on which to resume funding.