Now you can get your yogurt with a fizz – the General Mills’ Yoplait line has introduced a carbonated yogurt called Fizzix.
“The fizzy taste appeals to older children,” said Bob Waldron, president of the Yoplait division. Plus, it’s aimed to generate bigger profits for General Mills–or as Waldron told stock analysts, Fizzix will “sell at a higher price point than our 6-ounce cups.”
Dairyline Markets In Review
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Cash block cheese closed the last week of June at $1.94 per pound, down 16 cents on the week, but 76 3/4-cents above a year ago. Barrel closed Friday at $1.91, down 13 3/4-cents on the week, but 74 1/2-cents above a year ago. Sixteen cars of block traded hands on the week and only one of barrel. The NASS U.S. block average hit $1.94, up 7.8 cents. Barrel averaged $1.9930, up 12 cents.
Butter closed at $1.4850, down a half cent on the week, but 33 1/2-cents above a year ago. Four cars were sold on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.4810, down 1.6 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.9915, up 7.7 cents. Dry whey averaged 76.44 cents, up 0.3 cent.
Provided courtesy of Dairyline.
Pa. Dairies to go rbST free
Dairy farmers in Pennsylvania was ship to Swiss Premium Dairy or Rutter’s Dairy will soon be required to provide milk without supplemental rbST.
Farmers say that Rutter’s and Swiss Premium have cited pressure from retailers as their reason for going rbST-free. Farmers also say they don’t expect to receive a premium for rbST-free milk. Officials at the two dairies were not eager to talk about the situation this week.
“Rutter’s is taking steps to ensure that we’re providing to consumers the products they want in order to keep ourselves in business,” said Todd Rutter, president of Rutter’s Dairy Division. He declined to give more details on the dairy’s plans.
Michael Eiceman, general manager at Swiss Premium, Lebanon, did not return phone calls from Lancaster Farming before press deadlines this week.
Those defending use of the hormone include Dr. Terry Etherton, head of Penn State’s Dairy Science Department and Dennis Wolff, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture.
“I find this trend alarming,” Wolff said this week of dairies requiring rbST-free milk. “Advertising (milk as rbST-free) confuses consumers and puts milk’s image at risk.”
Wolff said the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is looking into the state’s milk marketing law and food code to see if any statutes could apply to the situation.
“They’re asking them to give up a management tool,” Wolff said. “I haven’t heard anyone talk about giving farmers a premium.” He recommended that farmers contact FDA, the federal agency that gives oversight to food labeling.
Stencil Receives Award
Congratulations go out to LaVern Stencil for receiving the 2007 Wisconsin Dairy Products Association President’s Award. Stencil will be honored at a special awards dinner on Sunday, July 15 at the 2007 Dairy Symposium at The Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, WI.
Stencil has spent his entire 45 year career at Marathon Cheese Corporation. He began working at Marathon Cheese in 1961 in production. Over the years, he held the following positions at the company: Production Supervisor, Procurement, Purchasing, R&D, Vice President Scheduling, Vice President Sales, Vice President Sales and Marketing and Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales. Since 1997, Stencil has been President of the company.
Stencil has been an integral part of the success and growth of Marathon Cheese during the past 45 years. Currently, the company has two packaging operations in Wisconsin (Marathon and Medford), one in Booneville, Mississippi and one in Mountain Home, Idaho, making Marathon Cheese the largest custom cheese packager in the United States.
Stencil is a member of the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association’s board of directors, and also serves on the boards of the National Cheese Institute, the Dairy State Academy and Marathon County United Way.
This year’s winner was selected by the WDPA Board of Directors after they received a slate of nominees from the WDPA Presidents Advisory Committee. The nominees were chosen based on their contributions to the Wisconsin dairy industry and to the Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn. Past WDPA President Award winners were Mike Dean (1998), Bob Aschebrock (1999), Fran Cobian (2000), Bob Bradley (2001) Don Storhoff (2002), John Galloway (2003), George Cornell (2004), Jim Kasten (2005) and Bob Wagner (2006).
Export Opportunities in the Middle East
It may come as a surprise, but many nations in the Middle East offer growing markets for U.S. produced dairy products, especially cheese. In this report from the U.S. Dairy Export Council, you can hear from Nina Dakht who manages market development programs for the USCDEC in the middle east region. Brian Baxter has more on this U.S. dairy export market, in this report.
You can listen to the report here: 
USDEC Report (1 min MP3)
Grain Particles: The Relationship of Size to Speed
Among dairy nutritionists, grain particle size is of increasing interest, particularly for high-moisture corn. Intuition suggests the smaller the particles, the faster the starch digestion. Dr. Bill Mahanna, Pioneer Global Nutritional Sciences Manager, confirms this. In addition, he calls attention to the importance of particle hardness and distribution in processing for improved feed value. Bill also offers insight on what actually happens to starch in the rumen. This Pioneer Forage Forum segment is part of a series highlighting research on STRD.
Bill Mahanna on grain particle size (5 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
Previous Forage Forum podcasts are also archived at the Pioneer GrowingPoint website. To access them, go to www.pioneer.com/growingpoint and click “Livestock Nutrition” and “Forage Blog.” Those not registered for Pioneer GrowingPoint website can call 800-233-7333 Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT for assistance.
Supplement Calcium Not as Effective
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have found that women who get most of their daily calcium from food have healthier bones than women whose calcium comes mainly from supplemental tablets.
Adequate calcium is important to prevent osteoporosis, which affects an estimated 8 million American women and 2 million American men. Another 34 million Americans have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis. Calcium consumption can help maintain bone density by preventing the body from stealing the calcium it needs from the bones.
The researchers found that the women could be divided into three groups: one group, called the “supplement group,” got at least 70 percent of their daily calcium from tablets or pills; another, the “diet group,” got at least 70 percent of their calcium from dairy products and other foods; and a third, the “diet plus supplement group,” consisted of those whose calcium-source percentages fell somewhere in between these ranges.
The “diet group” took in the least calcium, an average of 830 milligrams per day. Yet this group had higher bone density in their spines and hipbones than women in the “supplement group,” who consumed about 1,030 milligrams per day. Women in the “diet plus supplement group” tended to have the highest bone mineral density as well as the highest calcium intake at 1,620 milligrams per day.
Calcium supplements differ in how well their calcium can be absorbed, and this also could play a role in the study’s findings, according to its authors. For example, calcium carbonate tablets need to be taken with a meal so that stomach acid can facilitate absorption, but calcium citrate tablets don’t have this limitation. If the study participants taking calcium carbonate weren’t conscientious about the timing of their supplements, they might not have received the highest benefit from them.
“Only about 35 percent of the calcium in most supplements ends up being absorbed by the body,” Armamento-Villareal says. “Calcium from the diet is generally better absorbed, and this could be another reason that women who got a high percentage of calcium in their food had higher bone densities.”
Doha Round at Crisis Point
The breakdown of negotiations on a final deal has brought the WTO Doha Round to a new crisis point said Mr. Osvaldo Cappellini, Chairman of the Global Dairy Alliance (GDA). The Global Dairy Alliance includes the dairy industries of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and Uruguay. The Alliance represents more than 1.5 million dairy farmers, 60 billion litres of milk production annually and a majority of world dairy trade.
Mr Cappellini said the failure of the G-4 meeting in Potsdam was a setback for world trade reform and the hopes and ambitions of dairy producers around the world.
“World dairy markets are buoyant at present but remain prone to large and rapid shifts. A successful Doha Round outcome is crucial to providing future stability, confidence and growth to dairy farmers.”
Mr Cappellini warned that the Doha Round remains the best avenue to deliver the real improvements in agricultural trade that farmers are seeking.
The Global Dairy Alliance has been concerned for some time at a lack of ambition in negotiations on key agricultural market access issues. Tariff levels for dairy products are generally so high that major reductions are necessary to generate significant progress in dairy trade.
“While recent talks appeared to have made some progress, the latest news means that the Doha Round is now at real risk. Therefore we urge all WTO members to work together to try to quickly establish a new pathway to agreement so that the negotiations can deliver the substantial improvement in agricultural market access that all countries committed to at the launch of the Round.
Nestle Declares Zero Trans Fats
This press release from Nestle Toll House came with the title “Raise Your Milk Glasses!”, and what better way to enjoy these tasty cookies than with a cold glass of milk.
As of June 2007, 89 percent of the Nestle Toll House Refrigerated Cookie Dough line will declare zero grams of trans fats per serving on the label. Also this June, Nestle Toll House is pleased to introduce three new varieties to its refrigerated cookie dough line: Mini Brownie Bites, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and a 40-ounce Family Size Tub of its famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
NMPF Awards Scholarships
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) recently awarded $12,000 in scholarships to four Ph.D and graduate level student conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers.
This year the Murray Hintz Memorial Scholarship, which is given to the top candidate, was awarded to Marcus Hollmann. Hollmann is pursuing his Ph.D. in animal science at Michigan State University. His research addresses the mitigation of methane emissions for both pre- and post- excretion in the cow. This timely research will provide feed management strategies to reduce and quantify the reduction of methane emissions from dairy animals.
The three other scholarship recipients are as follows:
* Gregory Golombeski, a student from the University of Minnesota who is pursuing his Ph.D. in animal science. Golombeski’s research is focused on enhancing the trace mineral status of replacement heifers through transition cow management.
* Jessica Wheelock, a Ph.D. student from the University of Arizona, who is researching the effects of heat stress on liver glucose production in lactating Holstein cows.
* Nicole Olynk, who is pursuing her master’s degree in agriculture economics at Michigan State. Olynk’s research aims to help producers make reproductive management decisions by developing a user-friendly computer program.