Jersey Queen Contest

Chuck ZimmermanCompetition, Jersey Association

US-Jersey The 52nd National Jersey Queen will be selected Saturday, November 4 at the All American Jersey Shows in Louisville, Ky.

The 2006 National Jersey Queen will succeed the reigning Queen, Sara LaFever, of Sparta, Tenn.

Candidates for National Jersey Queen are evaluated on the quality of their application, interview, general dairy and Jersey breed knowledge, and public speaking, both prepared and extemporaneous. Each of the contest elements is described on the USJersey website. Applications must be received in the AJCA office on or before October 15. Judging begins on Friday, November 3.

CWT Export Assistance Bids

Chuck ZimmermanDairy Group, Export

Cooperatives Working TogetherHere’s the latest announcements from Cooperatives Working Together:

  • Cooperatives Working Together announced today (Monday 9/11)that it accepted three export assistance bid for the sale of cheese last week. All three bids are from Dairy Farmers of America of Kansas City, MO. All are for Cheddar cheese destined for South Korea. The first is 114 MT (250,800 pounds), the second 37 MT (81,400 lbs.), and the third is 18.5 MT (40,700 lbs.). CWT will pay an export bonus to the bidders, once completion of the cheese shipments is verified.

    • Swiss Valley Purchase

    Chuck ZimmermanDairy Business, Industry News

    Swiss Valley FarmsAnnounced Friday, Swiss Valley Farms Inc., a mid-west dairy cooperative, has purchased the Shullsburg Creamery campus in Shullsburg for $4 million.

    The transaction included the cheese manufacturer’s 18.4-acre campus, which has three buildings and a wastewater treatment building. The four structures total 80,058 square feet.

    Swiss Valley Farms has yet to decide which of its product lines would be produced at the site, said Ron Schroder, vice president of marketing for Swiss Valley. The number of employees that the site is likely to have is also undetermined.

    Swiss Valley Farms is a four-state cooperative owned and controlled by 1,000 dairy producers, with headquarters in Davenport, Iowa. It has cheese manufacturing facilities in Mindoro and Platteville in Wisconsin. It also has cheese, milk bottling and cultured products plants and other facilities in Iowa and Minnesota. Swiss Valley Farms has 700 employees and annual sales of $525 million.

    Single-Serve Milk Fast Food Gold Mine

    Chuck ZimmermanDairy Checkoff, Milk

    It’s been several years since McDonald’s introduced single-serve milk jugs in its franchises. The approval of parents and children is obvious from the increased sales: before the plastic milk jugs, McDonald’s sold 625,000 cardboard containers weekly, now the restaurant sells more than 4.25 million jugs a week! There’s a good story about this on MediaPost from Friday.

    Other fast-food restaurants are joining in the “panning for gold” – Wendy’s, Burger King and now Sonic Drive-In and Subway.

    Next time you hit the drive-thru, be sure to join in rush – nothing beats a refreshing, cold glass of chocolate milk!

    “The word we’re getting is that milk is a gold mine,” says Chris Moore, vice president-food services for Dairy Management Inc., the industry board that is working with quick-service restaurants to promote milk. A year-long DMI study of more than 100,000 school-age children found that kids prefer milk when it is served cold, in plastic bottles and in a variety of flavors. The new bottles are resealable and, equally important, they fit in car-seat cup-holders. Chocolate milk has been especially popular in quick service chains, outselling white milk at a ratio of 3 to 1.

    Dairyline Markets In Review

    Chuck ZimmermanDairyline, Markets

    DairylineDairy Markets Week in Review

    The Labor Day week’s weakness carried over to this week’s cash market though some strength did develop as it anticipated the August Milk Production report on Monday. Block cheese closed Friday at $1.2725, down 2 3/4-cents on the week, and 32 1/4-cents below a year ago. Barrel also closed at $1.2725, up three-quarters of a cent on the week, but 28 1/2-cents below a year ago. Twelve cars of block traded hands on the week and three of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price gained a nickel, hitting $1.2678. Barrel averaged $1.3026, up 6.4 cents.

    Butter closed Friday at $1.31, up a penny on the week, but 41 1/2-cents below a year ago. 33 cars were sold. NASS butter averaged $1.3061, down 0.1 cent.

    Provided courtesy of Dairyline.

    Dairymatic at World Dairy Expo

    Chuck ZimmermanDairy Business

    Dairymatic Here’s another reason to attend World Dairy Expo – a new time-saving and efficiency product called Dairymatic.

    Dairymatic controls the milking and wash systems on dairy farms through special software. With over 250 alarms, the software can detect problems with the milking or wash systems and alert up to six different employees through email, fax or page.

    In an article from the Central Penn Business Journal, Dwayne Zimmerman, president and chief executive officer of Power Automation Systems Inc. says, “From milk-temperature readings to automatically engaging the milk holding tank’s cleaning system, the technology keeps vital stats keystrokes away. Employee- production rates can be measured, milk flows to holding tanks more quickly, and alerts are automatically generated when a problem occurs in the milking area. Depending on farm size and the needs of the dairy operation, the price of the unit can range from $6,000 to $20,000.”

    Couldn’t find a website or any other information about Power Automation Systems or Dairymatic on-line, except that they will be exhibiting at WDX and that they received a grant from Ben Franklin Technology Partners to develop the system in October of 2005.

    The photo is from the Central Penn story. The cutline reads: Habrahan Santiz disinfects cow teats after the cows were milked by the new Dairymatic machine at Kreider Farms in Lancaster County. The treatment protects cows from infection. A West Hanover Township business produces Dairymatic, which can read milk temperatures and clean milk-holding tanks automatically. Photo/Lizzie Heard

    July Heat Wave Rocks California Dairy Industry

    Chuck ZimmermanGeneral

    Western United Dairymen Western United Dairymen officials say that dairy producers in California are still assessing the damage the triple-digit heat wave that lingered in the state during the month of July. More than 20,000 dairy cows were lost in the severe weather. Federal agencies plan to make low-interest emergency loans available to farmers.

    The estimated value for total livestock losses is $52 million. Milk-production losses are estimated at $228.6 million. “Because the dairy industry is so dominant in so many of these communities … it has a very significant ripple effect. Dairy suppliers, trucking companies, feed suppliers, a whole bunch of industries that are tied directly to the dairy industry will also feel that effect until we’re able to get ourselves back on track,” says Michael Marsh, chief executive officer of Western United Dairymen in Modesto.

    Kraft to Improve New York Plant

    Chuck ZimmermanDairy Business, Products

    Kraft Foods will invest more than $10 million to improve its cream cheese manufacturing plant in Lowville, N.Y. In return, Kraft will receive a state grant of up to 950-thousand dollars to assist in the purchase of machinery, equipment and related facility improvements. The announcement was made last week by New York Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue.

    The company plans to reconfigure a packaging line at the facility, install advanced waste treatment technologies, and upgrade electrical service to allow for increased peak electrical demand.

    The Lowville plant is Kraft Foods’ largest cream cheese manufacturing plant, processing more than 300 million pounds of milk annually — supplied entirely by a cooperative of more than 200 local dairy farms. It has 279 full-time and 53 part-time employees.

    New Chief at Prairie Farms

    Chuck ZimmermanDairy Business, General

    Prarie Farms Edward L. Mullins is the new Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. Mr. Mullins’ appointment follows Roger D. Capps, who served as CEO of the dairy cooperative from October 2000 until his death on July 15, 2006. Ed joined Prairie Farms Dairy in 1980, working in retail dairy sales. Since September 2003, Ed had served as Senior Vice President, reporting to Mr. Capps.

    Headquartered in Carlinville, Illinois, Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. is a dairy farmer owned cooperative company. Founded in 1938, Prairie Farms manufactures and distributes a complete line of fresh dairy and ice cream products from thirty-two operating plants throughout Mid-America. Prairie Farms Dairy is the managing partner with joint venture companies, Hiland Dairy in Springfield, MO; and Roberts Dairy in Omaha, NE. Combined operations serve 18 states with 2005 net sales of approximately 2.2 billion dollars.

    Lactose-Intolerant Still Need Dairy in Diets

    Chuck ZimmermanHealth, Milk

    The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that those who are lactose-intolerant should still consume some dairy products, such as yogurt or cheese, to ensure adequate calcium intake, especially in children.

    Staying away from dairy, which is the richest source of calcium in a traditional Western diet, could be having long-term effects on U.S. children’s health. Most older children and teenagers fail to meet their daily calcium requirements, according to a previous AAP study. Calcium intake in childhood and adolescence helps to build bone mass and is thought to protect against osteoporosis. Inadequate calcium is linked with a higher risk of developing high blood pressure and other problems.

    Most lactose-intolerant people can consume some amount of dairy without suffering stomach upset and may be needlessly avoiding the whole food group, according to the new report, released this week. “It’s OK to take some dairy if you’re intolerant,” says Melvin B. Heyman, a member of the AAP committee on nutrition. “Most people do tolerate some degree of lactose-containing products.” Many parents wrongly treat lactose intolerance in their children as a food allergy, which it isn’t, says Dr. Heyman. The intolerance doesn’t get worse over time if the child drinks milk, and most children can drink one or two glasses of milk a day without having any symptoms, he says.