The Nebraska Dairy Convention carries a theme of “The Future…Is Now,” and will be held March 13-14 at Divots Conference Center in Norfolk, Neb. The convention is free to all Nebraska dairy producers, families and guests. Registration and a complete agenda are found online. Lineup of speakers for the Nebraska Dairy Convention: Dairy economist Marin Bozic, an assistant professor at … Read More
Outllook is Challenging for Dairy
At USDA’s 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum last week, one of the agency’s dairy analysts had a sobering outlook for the dairy industry. “2011 was a great year for most dairy operators, but unfortunately I have to talk about 2012,” said USDA economist Milton Madison. First, producers are building their herds, which will expand production for the second year in a … Read More
Consider this Editorial
Good editorial for all of us to consider: “A knee-jerk reaction to the Chipotle commercial; Think before you hit ‘send’” by Kayla Jentz at Dairy Business. A reminder that we have to think differently if we are going to connect with our customers. Source: Dairy Business A certain commercial (Chipotle, cough) aired during the Grammy’s, and if you didn’t see … Read More
Thoughts From an Ag Economist and Dairy Producer
Dr. Dave Kohl is a well-known agricultural economist from Virginia Tech who gives talks around the country and the world about agriculture and global macroeconomics. Besides being an agricultural economist, Dr. Kohl is also a value-added dairy producer with two operations, including Homestead Creamery located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. “We put in a processing plant about 11 years ago … Read More
USDA Expects Dairy Herd to Decline
The January 1 USDA Cattle Inventory Report showed one percent more milk cows than a year ago, but that may not last. “We do expect to see a decline in cow numbers,” said USDA livestock economist Shayle Shagam. While the numbers on January 1 for milk cows totaled at 9.2 million, milk replacement heifers stood at 4.5 million, down 1 … Read More
Cattle Industry Pleased with Child Farm Labor Rule Decision
Just prior to the opening general session of the Cattle Industry Convention this week, the U.S. Labor Department announced that a proposal which would have barred children from many on-farm tasks will be revised to allow broader exemptions for parents who own or run agricultural operations. “I’ve got a news flash for all of you,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association … Read More
Greek Yogurt is Part of the Bet
Each year, the heads of state of the two football teams place a bet on the outcome of the Super Bowl. This year, New York’s Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has placed Greek yogurt as his bet. When the Giants beat the Patriots, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will be sending to a New York food bank several Centerville pies, some … Read More
Best of 2011 on World Dairy Diary
Overall, 2011 was a pretty upbeat year for the dairy industry. Traffic on World Dairy Diary was up another 4%, surpassing 102,500 unique visitors and we now have almost 2000 followers on Twitter (@animalagnews). We shared about 600 stories here on WDD, including over 65 audio interviews or podcasts. According to page views, the most popular stories of 2011 on … Read More
Dairy Checkoff 2011 Review
The dairy checkoff’s strategic partnerships and strategy of working with and through the industry continued to drive sales in 2011, as evidenced by targeted partnerships with industry leaders and the work of the checkoff-led Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy®. The dairy checkoff continued to leverage dairy producer investments in the checkoff with others to grow category sales. In fact, $800 … Read More
Video Tribute to Maddox
A moving tribute to Doug Maddox, created by the Holstein Association USA. Maddox was the former president of the Association, and a life-long registered Holstein breeder.