Milking Horses In Norway

Chuck ZimmermanAudio, International, Milk

Mette JohnsonOne of the first people I interviewed here in Norway at the IFAJ Congress is involved in milking horses. This is not something I’m familiar with. Maybe you are.

But to learn more abou it I interviewed Mette Johnson, Equi Libre AS, who was here to serve us some samples. It’s in the glass in front of her. It’s green because it’s also got vodka, fruit juice and curacao.

Learn a little more about mares milk in my interview with Mette. Listen To MP3 Mette Johnson Interview (5 min MP3)

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

Visiting Norway With IFAJ

Chuck ZimmermanInternational

Hamar Scandic HotelHello from the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Hamar, Norway. Here’s the lovely Scandic Hotel in Hamar. I just arrived late yesterday. Over the next several days I’ll be learning more about Norwegian agriculture and especially their dairy business.

I’ll have pictures and interviews mixed in with regular stories as I find them. You can see more complete Congress coverage on sister website, AgWired.

As you’ve probably guessed, the cows outside the hotel here are part of the Cow Parade which visited Norway.

AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2006 is sponsored by: Pioneer-HiBred

CWT Export Assistance Bids

Chuck ZimmermanDairy Group, Export, Video

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

  • Cooperatives Working Together announced Monday that it has accepted an export assistance bids for the sale of cheese going to South Korea. The bid is from Land O’Lakes of Arden Hills, MN: for the export of 40 metric tons (88,000 pounds) of mozzarella cheese to South Korea. CWT will pay an export bonus to the bidders, once completion of the cheese shipments is verified
  • Cooperatives Working Together announced Wednesday that it has accepted an export assistance bid for the sale of cheese going to South Korea. The bid is from Dairy Farmers of America, Kansas City, MO: for the export of 40 metric tons (88,000 pounds) of cheddar cheese to South Korea. CWT will pay an export bonus to the bidders, once completion of the cheese shipments is verified.

    • 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).

    Dairyline Markets In Review

    Chuck ZimmermanDairyline, International

    DairylineDairy Markets Week in Review

    The dairy markets saw some ups and downs the second week of August but block cheese closed the week at $1.20 per pound, up a half-cent on the week, but 20 1/4-cents below a year ago. Barrel closed Friday at $1.1925, up 3 1/4-cents on the week, but 16 3/4-cents below a year ago. Eight cars of block were traded and nine of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price slipped to $1.1434, down a penny. Barrel also averaged $1.1434, down 1.5 cents.

    Cash butter closed Friday at $1.29, up a half-cent on the week, but 40 1/4-cents below a year ago. 42 cars were sold. NASS butter averaged $1.1539, up a penny.

    Cash Grade “A” and extra grade nonfat dry milk were bid up 3 cents this week, hitting 90 cents per pound. The CME’s Daily Dairy Report credits tightening milk supplies in the West where the majority of the powder is dried. No government price support purchases of powder are expected for the foreseeable future, according to DDR. Some sales have even been canceled.

    Provided courtesy of Dairyline.

    Learning About Norwegian Dairying

    Chuck ZimmermanInternational

    IFAJ Congress 2006Tomorrow I’ll be leaving for Hamar, Norway to attend this year’s International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Congress. This is my second one and I’m looking forward to posting from there.

    The program contains several different tour tracks. I’m going on one next Monday that’s titled, “Mountain farming and dairying.” I’ll be conducting interviews for you to listen to and posting pictures too.

    My coverage of the IFAJ Congress is made possible this year by: Pioneer-HiBred

    American Cheese Society Awards

    Chuck ZimmermanCheese, Competition, Dairy Group

    American Cheese SocietyI just recently attended the Agricultural Media Summit in Portland, OR and just missed the American Cheese Society annual conference. I’ve been meaning to look up what happened there and finally did. For one thing they have a competition here’s the top result:

    Not since Lewis & Clark has a pioneering partnership yielded such accolades. Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, a cooperative venture of Vermont cheesemakers Cabot Creamery and Jasper Hill Farm, was named “Best of Show” at the 23rd Annual Conference and Competition of the American Cheese Society (ACS), held this year in Portland, Oregon. Cabot Clothbound Cheddar was awarded first place for “Aged Cheddars, All Milks (Aged Between 12 & 24 Months).” Then, in a second judging exclusively of blue ribbon winners from the 22 categories, Cabot Clothbound bested a very competitive field to earn Grand Champion

    Here’s where you can find the complete results brochure. (pdf)

    Camel Milk Ice Cream

    Chuck ZimmermanIce Cream, International, Milk

    This story on Strategiy.com says that the AAl Ain Dairy is the first to introduce camel milk ice cream into the United Arab Emirates. Is it commercially available anywhere else?

    According to the story: With the introduction of camel milk ice cream, people will get to enjoy not only the healthy benefits of camel milk but the creamy goodness of ice cream as well. Children who have allergy against products made from cow’s milk can now enjoy their taste of ice cream. Camel milk ice cream is safe as well for people who are suffering from lactose intolerance.

    3-A-Day School Grants

    Chuck ZimmermanDairy Checkoff, Dairy Group, Education

    3-A-Day /><a href=3-A-Day of Dairy has made 35 grants to schools to help promote dairy. Here’s a sampling of some of the schools receiving grants and what they plan to do with the money.

  • Children attending Central City Catholic Schools (Pennsylvania) are on their way to a healthier diet with the 3-A-Day of Dairy Grant to help empower them to be advocates for healthy eating, including three servings of dairy foods a day. The Central City Catholic Schools plan to use their $5,000 grant to teach children about the importance of dairy and healthy foods through practice and use of recipes based on the USDA’s MyPyramid and other nutrition topics.
  • Students attending schools in eight counties in southwestern North Dakota are on their way to a healthier diet with the 3-A- Day of Dairy Grant to help empower them to be advocates for healthy eating, including three servings of dairy foods a day. The RESP Coordinated School Health Program plans to use their grant award to teach children about the importance of dairy and healthy foods by sponsoring a “Go Dairy” Week at Trinity High School, Berg Elementary and Lincoln Elementary in Dickinson, N.D. and Lincoln Elementary in Beach, N.D.

    • Read More

    Bioactive Proteins In Milk

    Chuck ZimmermanBiotech, Government, International, Research

    Victoria, AustraliaHere’s some more news from the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference, ‘Unlocking the potential of agricultural biotechnology,’ that’s going on in Melbourne, Australia. We know milk does a body good and apparently some researchers have discovered some new ways.

    The health benefits of milk continue to grow with Victorian scientists discovering bioactive proteins that could treat gut inflammation and help skin repair. Visiting the Victorian stand at the International Biotechnology International Conference (ABIC) being held in Melbourne, Innovation Minister, John Brumby, said the discovery of two bioactives in cow’s milk could lead to treatments for conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and damaged tissues.

    “Milk is a remarkable product, which we are just beginning to understand better, especially now that we can identify many of its beneficial components due to the recent mapping of the cow genome,” Mr Brumby said. “Having identified these two healing proteins, methods are currently being developed to generate significant quantities of them in a pure and active form, increasing the potential for a product that can be made available to benefit the community with human trials being planned. “This latest discovery has emerged from a collaborative program between Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) research in proteomics and cell biology and advanced milk processing technology at the Murray Goulburn Co-operative.”