Water Buffalo in Egypt and Feeding DDGS

Chuck ZimmermanDecember 31, 2009Audio, Feed, International, Video

The Chairman of the Egyptian Buffalo Producer’s Association is Dr. Saad Alhayani (pictured left). He also owns and operates a very new open water buffalo feedlot and dairy. The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team I recently traveled with visited. These cute, sweet, little creatures are very different than your average bovine.

Dr. Alhayani says he imports frozen semen to assist in breeding better quality animals which is something relatively new to the country. He’s raising thousands of buffalo and feeding them corn and ddgs as well as other ingredients. We saw lots of bags of ddgs at his feedlot. That looked very positive for American corn growers! He says sometimes they blend as much as 25% ddgs in the feed.

His goal is to produce a few thousand pregnant heifers for local producers and maybe even to export. He appreciates the assistance he’s received from the USGC.

You can listen to my interview with Dr. Alhayani’s below and watch a video clip of him showing us his operation as well:

USGC Corn Mission In Egypt Photo Album

Dairy Checkoff has Strong 2009

News EditorDecember 30, 2009Dairy Checkoff

Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI), who manages the national dairy checkoff, is proud to report that in 2009, partnerships and innovation helped to drive sales for America’s dairy producers. Read on to learn more.

Tom Gallagher, chief executive officer for DMI cited these key accomplishments that helped dairy producers and the U.S. dairy industry build sales in 2009 and beyond.

· Partnering to create a “Legend.” Dairy producers began a partnership with Domino’s Pizza® to help revitalize the pizza category and build cheese sales. In February, Domino’s introduced its American Legends™ pizzas, which are six specialty pizzas that use up to 40 percent more cheese than the chain’s traditional pizzas. Domino’s invested four to five times the amount dairy producers invested, and due to the success of the specialty pizzas other chains are increasing cheese on their pizza offerings as well.

· Reformulating school pizza. National and local dairy checkoff organizations are working with industry partners to create a school pizza that will meet increasingly restrictive school nutrition guidelines, while also meeting kids’ taste preferences. School pizza is the most popular entrée in schools, and therefore is an important priority for growing long-term sales.

· Growing dairy sales at McDonald’s®. As part of a multi-year partnership between dairy producers and McDonald’s, the chain launched its McCafe® specialty coffee offerings – which use up to 80 percent milk – in its 14,000 restaurants across the country. McDonald’s also launched its Third Pounder Angus Burgers, three new burger options with two slices of cheese per sandwich, resulting in an additional 6 million pounds of cheese sold.

Source: Dairy Management Inc.

Read More

New And Old Systems In Egypt

Chuck ZimmermanDecember 30, 2009Audio, International

While I was participating in the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission in Egypt we received another presention on the Cattle Information Center at Cairo University by Dr. Samy Abou-Bakr.

He describes that there are two different water buffalo dairy and feedlot systems. One is old and one is new. In the older model, the herd size is small, handled with lots of labor and very little if any records are kept. In the new, the herds are larger commercial operations of over 50 head of animals. Records are being kept and animals are being bred for desirable characteristics.

What this all means for American grain growers is that as the beef and dairy sector grows in Egypt it continues to become a growth market for our products.

You can listen to Dr. Abou-Bakr’s remarks below:

You can also find a set of photos I took on my trip while in Egypt here: USGC Corn Mission In Egypt Photo Album

New Yogurt Parfait at Chick-fil-A

News EditorDecember 29, 2009Yogurt

Chick-fil-A will introduce a yogurt parfait, right in time for all of those New Year’s resolutions to eat healthy!

The new Yogurt Parfait includes slices of fresh strawberries, covered in creamy, vanilla yogurt topped with either Chick-fil-A’s own Harvest Nut Granola blend or Chocolate Cookie Crumbs. Topped with granola, the Yogurt Parfait has 240 calories and 5 grams of fat, and the cookie crumb option brings the parfait down to 200 calories with 4.5 grams of fat. Both choices also are trans-fat free. Initially promoted as a breakfast option, the parfait will be offered throughout the day and starts at $2.25.

The low-key item isn’t expected to supplant Chick-fil-A’s mainstay chicken. But it’s a sign the company is evolving along with its customer base, said William “Woody” Faulk, vice president of brand strategy and design.

Diners want a broader range of nutritional choices, he said. The yogurt parfait may fill a need among customers who have been to the doctor and have been encouraged to adjust their diets. In that environment, “all-fried, all the time is not sustainable” for a restaurant chain, said Faulk.

So, the eventual draw of low-fat yogurt among Chick-fil-A’s customers remains to be seen. In any case, the company envisions additional healthy offerings. But new roll-outs will probably follow the company’s philosophy of menu permanence, meaning new items will be few and far between.

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Jeremiah McWilliams & PR Newswire

Dairy Herd Improvement In Egypt

Chuck ZimmermanDecember 29, 2009Audio, International, University

I had the honor and pleasure to participate in a U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission trip recently. We visited Morocco, Egypt and Jordan to see how efforts to create new markets for corn are going. The dairy industry in these countries played a key role in our meetings and tour stops. I’m going to post some of the stories of what I found for you over the next several days starting with this one.

The first stop for the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team in Egypt was Cairo University and specifically the ag school. Our first presenter was Dr. Rabie Ragab Sadek who gave us an overview of the Cattle Information Systems Center of Egypt. The project was created to develop a cattle information system that would provide statistically representative, adequate data for cattle breeding research and for the future development of a national breeding program. The goal to create genetic improvement of both milk and meat producing cattle and buffalo.

He introduces our other presenters who would speak about specifics about the accomplishments of the University’s dairy herd improvement unit.

You can listen to Dr. Sadek’s remarks below:

Merry Christmas!

News EditorDecember 24, 2009General

From all of us here at World Dairy Diary – we wish you a joyful, peaceful and merry Christmas! We hope that each of you is able to spend time with family and friends and reflect on the things that are important to you.

Dairyline Markets In Review

Chuck ZimmermanDecember 24, 2009Dairyline, Markets

Dairy Markets Week in Review

Block cheese closed the shortened holiday week at $1.5675 per pound, down 13 1/2-cents on the week, but 29 3/4-cents above that week a year ago. Barrel closed Thursday at $1.44, unchanged on the week, 13 1/4-cents above a year ago, and 12 3/4-cents below the blocks. Twenty seven cars of block traded hands on the week and six of barrel.

Butter closed Thursday at $1.3275, up a quarter-cent on the week, and 18 3/4-cents above a year ago. Twelve cars were sold on the week.

Provided courtesy of Dairyline.

Lots of Milk Tops Santa's List

News EditorDecember 24, 2009General

Tonight’s the night when delicious and nutritious MILK has a starring role – as Santa’s favorite drink with his cookies! Even President Barack Obama and his family plan to leave out milk and cookies and even some reindeer snacks. What kind of milk and cookies are you leaving for the man in red?

In an interview with Spanish-language television station Univision, Obama said the White House was expecting Santa to come through the Yellow Room chimney in the middle of the presidential residence.

“Because we want to make sure when it comes to the White House that he feels like he is getting good service.”

Top Dairy Twitter Users

Chuck ZimmermanDecember 24, 2009Media

You know social media has become part of the ag communications world when you start seeing top ten lists like this one from Fastline (Part 1 and Part 2). I’m honored to have been selected for it and congratulate all the folks listed. Two of the top ten on the list are dairymen!

Social media has really taken the world of agriculture by storm in 2009. The ag community on Twitter has blossomed substantially and there were some standouts that Fastline has named our Top 10 Ag Twitter Users of 2009.

There are so many people in agriculture that have gotten involved with Twitter and social media in 2009, it would have been impossible for us to list them all. However, each of you plays an important role in telling agriculture’s story and we appreciate all that everyone does. Keep up the great work and keep working hard for ag.

The list includes:

@mpaynknoper
@jplovescotton
@gilmerdairy
@raylindairy
@tykerman1
@troyhadrick
@agriblogger Yours Truly!
@farmerhaley
@jefffowle
@akleinschmidt

Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Torte Recipe is Winner!

News EditorDecember 22, 2009Ice Cream

Congratulations to Jessie Grearson of Falmouth, Maine for winning a one-year supply of Turkey Hill ice cream for the Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Torte recipe she entered for Turkey Hill Dairy’s Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest! The torte looks yummy! Be sure to visit the Turkey Hill Ice Cream Journal for this recipe, and more!

The contest asked Turkey Hill fans to submit their favorite ice cream recipes in one of two categories: recipes using Turkey Hill Ginger Snap Limited Edition Premium Ice Cream or any other Turkey Hill ice cream flavor.

More than 240 recipes were received with the four best featured on the Dairy’s blog, the Ice Cream Journal. Among the finalists were: Patti Williams of Flushing, Mich., with her Decadent Dutch Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie recipe; Paula Levine of Metuchen, N.J., with her Ginger Snap Apple Pecan Pie Parfait recipe; and Stefanie Schmidt of Las Vegas with her Ginger Snap and Pumpkin Cookie Sandwich recipe. Each of the finalists will receive a one-month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream.

Source: Turkey Hill Dairy

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT ICE CREAM TORTE

INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups flour
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup shortening
1 cup sour cream
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups Turkey Hill original vanilla ice cream (or more if needed)
½ cup crushed peppermint stick candy, divided
½ cup mini marshmallows
Bittersweet chocolate sauce for drizzling slices, and whipped cream to decorate (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350. Spray four 8-inch cake pans with non-stick spray. Whisk together first 5 dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add shortening, sour cream, vanilla and eggs and beat with hand mixer for 2-3 minutes. Divide batter among cake pans, smoothing tops. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Cool in pan, then remove to a cooling rack. Freeze.

When ready to assemble, mix crushed candy (reserving a tbsp for top) into softened ice cream with mini marshmallows. Spread ice cream mixture between layers and just across top (don’t attempt sides). Sprinkle top with reserved crushed candy and freeze. When ready to serve, let sit at room temperature for a few minutes and slice with a thin knife dipped into hot water. This gives the layered look of a torte without the difficulty of slicing cakes horizontally. Freezing the cake layers makes them easy to work with. Serve slices drizzled with bittersweet chocolate sauce and stars of whipped cream!

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