Bio-terror And The Dairy Industry

Chuck ZimmermanAudio, Dairy Group

Dairy Farmers of AmericaWe’re hearing a lot about bio-security in agriculture today. If you wonder how the issue is being handled in the dairy business then you should listen to what Pennsylvania dairy producer Lew Gardner has to say. He testified at a field hearing of the Senate Ag Subcommittee on Research, Nutrition, and General Legislation earlier this month. The subject was “Agriculture’s preparedness in the face of bio-terror threats.” Gardner, who chairs the Northeast Council of Dairy Farmers of America, says his testimony covered a lot of ground. He also points out the dairy industry is ahead of most of the rest of U.S. agriculture in hardening itself against possible bio-terror attacks. You can hear Gardner here.

You can also find more on this story, including more audio with Lew Gardner on the DFA website here.

5 Star Quality Gives You A Jump

Chuck ZimmermanAudio, Dairy Group, Production

Dairy Quality Assurance CenterQuality assurance is the key to getting a “jump” on consumer concerns related to dairy and livestock production such as nutrient management and animal care.

Ryan Anglin, whi is a member of Dairy Farmers of America and a dairy producer from Bentonville, Arkansas has found one answer in the Five-Star Quality Assurance Program. For the second consecutive year, Anglin, who milks 300 cows and raises all of his forage and replacement stock, has earned a “5 Star” rating in a certification program that evaluates animal care and nutrient management practices. Anglin says the certification process is well worth the cost. Listen to Ryan Anglin here.

For more information and audio from Ryan, visit the DFA website here.

Dairy Fresh Ice Cream Coming Soon

Chuck ZimmermanIce Cream

Dairy Fresh FarmsPretty soon we’ll have a new ice cream competitor here in North America. Canada’s Dairy Fresh Farms is planning to “launch its highly awaited “healthy” decadent ice cream for the Summer of 2006, and compete in the $22 billion USD North American ice cream market.”

Here’s some more details:

. . . preliminary taste tests were completed in early December, and it will begin targeted taste tests in three major markets: Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, over the next four months. Dairy Fresh Farms plans to have the ice cream on the shelves of retailers by this Summer.

The company is using the same strategy of lowering cholesterol in the new ice cream product as it does with it’s milk:

This process starts by taking regular whole milk and then skimming off the saturated fat. It then adds 1% naturally sourced monounsaturated fat from GM0 Free canola oil, along with four other all natural ingredients, to produce a milk beverage that is nutritionally equivalent to 2% regular milk that has both a desirable taste and texture while offering additional health benefits.

PA Center For Dairy Excellence

Chuck ZimmermanGovernment

Center For Dairy ExcellenceIn Pennsylvania they want their dairy to be excellent. That’s why they have the Center For Dairy Excellence. It’s a very excellent website, full of good resources too.

The website is a project of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture which has a great public relations staff. Very helpful people. They’re the ones who pointed me to this dairy resource site. The Center’s major responsibilities include:

Coordination and support of…

the PA Dairy Task Force, its committees and projects
dairy related services, programs, and other resources within the PA Department of Agriculture
other external resources across the industry to better meet the needs of dairy producers and the dairy industry

Development and implementation of…

a “Profit Team” management assistance program for dairy producers
communication resources to deliver valuable information to producers and the industry efficiently.

Provide outreach…

across all levels of the industry to increase the understanding of the value of the industry
to educate the industry on the plans, programs and strategies being created to make positive industry changes.

Lawyers Hired In E. coli Outbreak

Chuck ZimmermanDairy Business, Industry News, Milk

In a story in The Columbian, it’s reported that “A Seattle law firm specializing in food liability lawsuits will represent two families victimized by the recent E. coli outbreak with an eye toward suing the farm that provided the raw milk that sickened their children.”

The story say that testing has confirmed that the 18 people who had been sickened in the outbreak all consumed raw milk from Dee Creek Farm near Woodland. Two children remain hospitalized but their conditions are improving.

Nestle Biggest Ice Cream Company

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Ice Cream, International

NestleI love ice cream. In fact, it’s my favorite desert. I’ve also been to Vevay, Switzerland, the home of Nestle which just became the largest ice cream company in the world.

Nestlé S.A. yesterday achieved full ownership of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Holdings, an important milestone in the ambitious global ice cream strategy it has pursued for over ten years. This follows the 2003 merger of Nestlé’s US ice cream business with Dreyer’s which resulted in Nestlé owning 67% of the combined company at the time. Nestlé, through the Dreyer’s business, has continued to gain market share in the US throughout the year, reaching 23.2% in 2005 according to ACNielsen data. Taking into account the proposed acquisition of Delta Ice Cream in Greece announced last month, Nestlé has now achieved clear global leadership in ice cream, with a 17.5% world market share.

Free High-Tech Dairy Waste Seminar

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Farm Show

Agrimass Enviro EnergyAt the upcoming World Ag Expo you can attend a free seminar on the “integration of new technologies to create a system that dramatically reduces environmental concerns and generates profitable byproducts.” The seminar is being offered by Agrimass Enviro Energy.

The seminar will be at 1:10 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in the Hilvers Building at the International Agri-Center. Agrimass Enviro-Energy president Leonard Chapman; Michael McGolden, president and CEO of Coaltec Energy USA; and Conly Hansen, of Andigen will be speaking.

This presentation will help dairymen understand how the integration of today’s technologies can help them comply with increasingly stringent air and water quality regulations and turn animal waste into profitable byproducts including energy and a marketable organic humus.

Admission to the show is $7 per day; a three-day pass is available for $18. For tickets and further information, call 559-688-1751 or 800/999-9186.

New Milk Market Research

Chuck ZimmermanDairy Group, Industry News, Milk

Do you love or hate milk? That’s apparently one of the questions asked in a new survey that was reported on today on MSNBC. The story says that the study was conducted by BuzzBack Market Research in conjunction with Dairy Management Inc. and Dairy Foods Magazine. Basically they did the study over a 10-day period in early October and 990 adults ages 18-70 years old responded (51% female, 49% male). One of the things they found was that when choosing a particular kind or brand of milk, more than 40% of respondents deem variety and availability very important factors. Additionally:

The survey shows two thirds of respondents drink milk at least three times a week, with 42 percent consuming the product at least once a day. Interestingly, milk seems to be a passion-driven product: You either love it, or hate it.

You can also read more about it here. (PDF File)

Mozzarella To Morocco

Chuck ZimmermanCheese, Dairy Group, International

Cooperatives Working TogetherYou’ve got to love an organization that has “working together” in it’s name. There’s so much “not working together” going on in the world today. However, in the working together department Dow AgroScience and Monsanto made a big announcement today too. But back to Cooperatives Working Together. Here’s their announcement today:

Cooperatives Working Together announced Tuesday that it has accepted a bid from Foremost Farms USA of Baraboo, WI, to export 20 metric tons (approximately 44,000 pounds) of mozzarella cheese to Morocco. CWT will pay the export bonus to the bidder, once completion of the cheese shipment is verified. This is the first export assistance bid accepted by CWT in 2006, and the seventh in the past two months. It is also the first dairy product to be exported by CWT to Morocco, and the first to be exported through Foremost Farms, a member of CWT.

Tour The Australian Dairy Good Industry

Chuck ZimmermanInternational

Australia's Dairy GoodHave you ever wondered about the dairy industry in Australia? Wondered where to even look for information? You might try the web directory for the Australian dairy industry – www.dairy.com.au

As they say on the home page, “Our aim is to provide a high quality industry directory, which serves as your gateway to Australia’s dairy web sites, dairy companies and dairy organisations.”

I wonder if they’d sponsor a U. S. dairy blogger to visit down under and blog his way around the dairy industry. The website is supported by Dairy Australia.