July is Ice Cream Month!

News EditorIce Cream

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month? What a great celebration! One scoop, two scoops, sundae or milkshake – enjoy ice cream in a variety of different ways all month long!

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. He recognized ice cream as a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by a full 90% of the nation’s population. In the proclamation, President Reagan called for all people of the United States to observe these events with “appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

The U.S. ice cream industry generates more than $21 billion in annual sales and provides jobs for thousands of citizens. About 9% of all the milk produced by U.S. dairy farmers is used to produce ice cream, contributing significantly to the economic well-being of the nation’s dairy industry.

Like River Valley Dairy to Donate a $1

News EditorJersey Association

Do you like pedigreed Jersey cows? Then, show your support by “Liking” River Valley Dairy on Facebook! For every person that does so, a $1 will be donated to the All American Jersey Show and Sale

The Style & Performance Pledge will help raise funds to support the uniquely Jersey, All American weekend. Now, though the final class of the 2010 All American Jersey Show on November 8, River Valley Dairy will donate $1 for each person that becomes a fan of its Facebook page by clicking “like” on the site.

On the River Valley Dairy page, visitors will join fellow Jersey enthusiasts already following the happenings at River Valley Dairy. The page includes: Hundreds of cow pictures; Show-ring snapshots and coverage; Pictures and videos of the farm; Weekly updates from the dairy and Interaction with other followers of the page.

*Rules and Usage: Visit River Valley Dairy’s Facebook page, and they will donate $1 to the All American Jersey Show and Sale for every person that clicks “like” to become a fan of River Valley Dairy between May 22, 2010 (the day the page was launched) and the conclusion of the All American Jersey Show and Sale on November 8, 2010. Maximum total donation of $2,000. No purchase necessary.

Source: River Valley Dairy

Using Yeast To Improve Rumen Function

Chuck ZimmermanAlltech, Audio, Dairy Solutions Symposium, International, Nutrition

Alltech Dairy Solutions SymposiumDr. Juan Tricarico brought the history of yeast research to the audience at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. He is Research Manager for Ruminant Nutrition for Alltech. He says there is a lot of information about yeast and its mode of action. He hopes that participants in the symposium will leave with a better understanding of how yeast affects rumen function and improves the ruminal environment as a whole so that it can be used more effectively. This will give the dairy farmer a bigger bang for their buck when they invest in yeast products.

Dr. Juan Tricarico Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Reducing The Risk Of Acidosis

Chuck ZimmermanAlltech, Audio, Dairy Solutions Symposium, Feed, International, Nutrition

Alltech Dairy Solutions Symposium“Modifying the rumen to reduce the risk of acidosis” was the title of Prof. Sergio Calsamiglia’s presentation at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. He works in the veterinary school at Universitat AutÒnoma de Barcelona.

He says research shows that acidosis is not just a pH problem but related to the type of feed you’re using. There is evidence that although using bicarbonate helps, it doesn’t solve the problem. Conversely, there are feed additives that don’t impact pH but help the problem. He says he thinks the term acidosis may mislead people since there are products like yeast that can help the problem even though it is not a buffer. The bottom line is that good nutrition and animal care is the most important thing to work on.

Prof. Sergio Calsamiglia Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Incidence and Impact of SARA

Chuck ZimmermanAlltech, Audio, Dairy Solutions Symposium, Health, International, Research

Alltech Dairy Solutions SymposiumProf. Joachim Kleen, Alta Genetics Germany, told us all about SARA in dairy herds at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. SARA is sub-acute ruminal acidosis and becoming a real problem. Understanding it better and what is being done to reduce or control it was the subject of his presentation.

As most dairy farmers might think, proper nutrition and animal care is the best way to decrease the impact of this rumen fermentation disorder. I spoke with Joe before his presentation to get his take away message for participants of this Symposium.

He says that it’s a subject we know a lot about but “we do not know a lot how ruminal acidosis is working, what it’s effects are.” He says he’ll be happy if symposium participants take away from his presentation that there are conflicting aspects to this problem.

Prof. Joachim Kleen Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Rumen Health Subject of Dairy Solutions Symposium

Chuck ZimmermanAlltech, Audio, Dairy Solutions Symposium, International

Alltech Dairy Solutions SymposiumThe Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, was opened by Prof. Wouter Hendriks, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. There are 250 attendees at this year’s event being held at Utrecht University.

The overall topic for the Symposium is rumen health in dairy cows. I spoke with Wouter just before we got started. He says that the good rumen health will result in lowered methane emissions and greater animal welfare and this conference will focus on innovations and research being done to accomplish this.

Prof. Wouter Hendriks Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Holstein USA Convention Wraps

News EditorHolstein Association

The annual Holstein Association USA convention and annual meeting wrapped up on Tuesday, June 29 in Minnesota. New board members and Junior Distinguished Members were chosen. To find more highlights, visit the Association’s website.

Board Elections:
Re-elected to his second three-year term on the Holstein Association USA board of directors was Leroy Eggink, representing Region 6. Elected to their first three-year term on the board are Peter B. Waterman, Maine, for Region 1; Gayle M. Carson, Tennessee, in Region 4; and Corey Geiger, Wisconsin, for the At-Large position. Retiring from the board of directors this year are Gordon M. Cook, Jr., At-Large Director; John C. Kalmey, Ky., from Region 4; and William H. Peck, N.Y., of Region 1.

The six Distinguished Junior Member (DJM) finalists were named:
Jacob Brey, Wisconsin
Katie Hanehan, New York
Leah Henkes, Iowa
Megan Herberg, Minnesota
Benjamin Kinnard, Wisconsin
Maureen Lee, Wisconsin

California defeated Minnesota in the Junior Dairy Bowl finals. In the Senior Dairy Bowl competition, Pennsylvania bested the team from Washington to claim the title.

Source: Holstein Association USA

New Directors on NAIDC

News EditorCompany Announcement

The North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) board of directors elected three new members on June 21, 2010.

They are:
Chris Dei, regional sales manager with Diamond V, from Fresno, Calif. He has extensive dairy sales experience in California, having worked with 21st Century Genetics, Holstein Association USA, US Genes and Monsanto Dairy Business. Dei was fundraising chair for the 2010 NAIDC contest held in Visalia, Calif.

Amy te Plate-Church, National Alliance Manager for Genex Cooperative Inc., Shawano, Wis. Her professional experience combines youth educational programming with marketing and public relations to develop programs with allied industry partners and ultimately maximize profit for dairy producers.

Jon Robison, Professor in the Department of Dairy Science and Agricultural Education at California State University – Fresno. Dr. Robison is the enterprise manager for the CSFU Dairy Unit, served as advisor to the Dairy Club since 1996, and been coach of the school’s Dairy Challenge team since 2006.

They succeed retiring directors Cherie Bayer, American Jersey Cattle Association; Bruce Clark of Northstar Cooperative; and Gary M. Hay, Louisiana State University.

Barry Putnam, Genex, Ithaca, N.Y., will continue as Board Chair for a second year, with Luciene Ribiero, APC Inc., Visalia, Calif., serving as Vice Chair. Finance Chair is Rob Sheffer, Cargill Animal Nutrition, Albany, N.Y., with Coleen Jones, Penn State University, Craigsville, Va., assuming the position of Program Chair.

Continuing NAIDC board members are Devin Albrecht, Prairie State/Select Sires, Hampshire, Ill.; Owen Bewley, Prince Agri Products, Susquehanna, Pa.; Jean Conklin, Yankee Farm Credit and dairy producer, Haverhill, N.H.; Marcia Endres, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn.; Kas Ingawa, Dairy Records Management Systems, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.; Tami Tollenaar, Tollenaar Dairy, Elk Grove, Calif.; Michael Van Amburgh, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; and David R. Winston, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va

Source: The North American Dairy Challenge

Preview of Dairy Solutions Symposium

Chuck ZimmermanAlltech, Audio, Education, International

Alltech Dairy Solutions SymposiumThe presenters for the Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010, sponsored by Alltech, got together for dinner this evening. I’ll be interviewing most of them over the next couple days.

To get a preview of what this conference is all about I spoke first with Sylvie Andrieu, European Ruminant Technical Manager, Alltech. She says that the initial idea for this conference came from the idea that most give you a “little bit of everything” instead of more in-depth information. So they’ve selected one central topic for all the presentations to focus on. In this conference the focus will be on rumen health. There are 250 registered participants and the hope is that they will go home with practical solutions.

Post Update: I didn’t have a photo of Sylvie when I first posted this but now I do after she presided over the first afternoon session.

You can listen to my interview with Sylvie here: Sylvie Andrieu Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Dairy On Display In Utrecht

Chuck ZimmermanAlltech, Cheese, International

Hello from Utrecht, Netherlands where I’ll be attending the 2010 Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech. Just got in this morning and after a short nap went for a walk. Right away I came to an outdoor market and was very pleased to see dairy products on display.

For lunch I had a really good brie and vegetables sandwich. I figure I’ll be eating pretty well the next couple days so it was strategic thinking to start out on the light side. Hopefully I’ll get to sample more of the cheeses made here in this region. I’ve just started a photo album for this event and have some photos from my walk in it: Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

This evening I’ll be attending a dinner for speakers and others involved with the Symposium and we’ll get started officially tomorrow morning.