WDE Seeks General Manager

News EditorWorld Dairy Expo

The World Dairy Expo Board of Directors has begun their search for a new general manager to succeed Tom McKittrick.

Applications are now being accepted for the position. To request a position description or submit your resume, contact:

Roger Ripley
President, World Dairy Expo, Inc.
c/o Accelerated Genetics
E10890 Penny Lane
Baraboo, Wisconsin, 53913
608-356-8357, Ext. 280
ripley@wdexpo.com.

World Dairy Expo is an annual event, attracting more than 65,000 attendees from 80 countries. It is home to the world’s largest dairy-focused trade show with 675 companies exhibiting from more than 20 countries. Over 2,300 head of the finest dairy cattle in the world compete for honors in seven breed shows held during the five-day event.

World Dairy Expo is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization. Its for-profit subsidiary, WDE Management, Inc. provides management services to the Dane County Fair, the Wisconsin Rural Opportunities Foundation, the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge and the Purebred Dairy Cattle Association.

N.Y. Milk Hauling Study

News EditorIndustry News, Milk

A New York Assemblyman, Darrel Aubertine has introduced legislation to study the impact of milk hauling costs on dairy farmers. At question is ownership – once the milk leaves the farm, who owns it, and therefore who should pay the hauling cost?

“Ultimately it’s going to boil down to where does ownership begin and end. Today there is no clear define line as to where ownership begins and end’s,” said Aubertine.

Most dairy farmers argue that when the milk is mixed into a tank with other farm’s milk, it becomes the responsibility of the hauler because at that point the buyer owns the milk.

Should dairy farmers or the buyer be responsible for the costs of hauling milk? Many farmers argue that as soon as the milk is drawn out of their tank, it’s then the haulers, so they should pay the fee. A new study is underway to determine where ownership begins and ends.

As for the study, it’s being conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Markets. They’ll collect information from the past 20 years. Then based on that, Assemblyman Aubertine say’s they’ll put together a piece of legislation.

Klock says farmers didn’t always have to pay to have their milk hauled. He says in the early 1960’s, the cost was handed over to the individual farms. Before then, the buyer or hauling company was responsible, according to Klock.

Washington Huskies Got Chocolate Milk

News EditorHealth, Industry News, Media, Milk

The Washington Huskies, the University of Washington’s football team, have incorporated chocolate milk into their daily practices. The team’s staff is requiring Huskie players to drink a carton of fat-free chocolate milk to replish the nutritients in their bodies after the grueling practices. Here’s hoping they have a winning season – thanks to chocolate milk!

The Huskies are experimenting with a new form of nutritional replacement following practices. Along with giving the usual water and sports drinks to rehydrate and replenish during grueling preseason practices, Washington’s football staff is requiring its players to drink a small carton of fat-free chocolate milk.

“This is just another way to facilitate post-exercise carbohydrate replenishment. This is another facet that we can use in our supplement program,” Washington director of sport performance Trent Greener said. “The research substantiates it and it’s something too that the kids are going to be compliant with.”

The decision to implement the program came after a study last fall from scientists at Indiana University that was published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism and was supported in part by the Dairy and Nutrition Council. The small study found no significant difference between using a fluid-replacement drink or chocolate milk for athletes following exercise, with dairy folks touting the nutritional benefits of drinking milk — chocolate or otherwise.

It was a limited study, but caught the eye of Greener and UW sports nutritionist Emily Edison. Along with athletic trainer Rob Scheidegger, the trio developed a plan to take the use of chocolate milk one step further, building upon a program already in place.

“We’ve always used Gatorade,” Scheidegger said. “But we’re always trying to find ways to get natural foods into people. So if we can find a natural product at the end of practice that aids with recovery, keeps them hydrated and gives them the energy that they need we’re going to go with something like that.”

So, following practices this month, while players are taking ice baths to cool their legs, they are required to drink a bottle of Gatorade and a carton of milk back-to-back before leaving the field. Greener said Washington isn’t alone in experimenting with chocolate milk, but wasn’t sure how extensive the use. The Huskies plan to work a similar regime into their regular season nutritional plans as well.

“It tastes good to me and, hey, if it’s nutritious and helps my body, I’m all for it,” wide receiver Cody Ellis said.

When asked recently what was the best part of being a Husky, center Juan Garcia had a unique answer: “I said ‘tradition and chocolate milk.”‘

Yogurt Sales Boom

News EditorIndustry News, Nutrition, Yogurt

As Americans clamor for more convenient and healthy food options, yogurt is turning out to be one of their top choices.

Among packaged foods and snacks, only quick breakfast options, yogurt and a few types of snacks–mainly healthier options–increased their household penetration rates by one percentage point or more during the past few years, according to a new “On-the-Go Eating” study from the Packaged Facts division of MarketResearch.com.

On the yogurt front, Yoplait’s household penetration grew 1.4 points, to 19.8%. (Stonyfield Farm’s gain was just short of one percentage point, rising from 1.7% to 2.4%.)

Among snacks, most of the significant gainers were brands positioned as healthy choices. These included Nature Valley Bars (up nearly three percentage points, to 10.3%), the Power Bar (from zero to 2%) and Nabisco Fruit Snacks (zero to 1.6%). The rest of the big on-the-go packaged food brands were stagnant, or saw slight losses, in terms of household penetration.

Sales trends more or less mirror the penetration trends. PF’s analysis of IRI data for mass-market outlets (supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers, excluding Wal-Mart) shows yogurt as the No.1 dollar gainer between 2005 and 2006: up $185 million (7.2%), to $2.8 billion. Dannon’s new Activa brand did much to boost the category (ringing up $126 million last year), as did all of Yoplait’s yogurt and yogurt drink selections (the brand’s Light Thick And Creamy and Light varieties saw sales increases of $34 million and $32 million, respectively, for example.)

Milk Builds More Muscles

News EditorIndustry News, Research

New research has shown that drinking milk after a workout can help the exerciser gain more muscle and lose more fat than sports drinks.

The reason, researchers believe, is that, in addition to liquid for hydration and carbohydrates for energy, milk is also rich in protein, while sports drinks contain little or no protein.

“The protein in milk is high quality,” Stuart Phillips, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton and lead author of the study, said in an interview. “We also think the way milk proteins are digested by the body confers some benefits.”

The new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, involved 56 men aged 18 to 30 who signed up for a rigorous five-day-a-week weightlifting program over a 12-week period. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups, based on their recovery drink.

One group drank 500 millilitres (about two cups) of skim milk that contained 17.5 grams of protein, 25.7 grams of carbohydrates and 0.4 grams of fat. A second group received a soy drink with identical ratios of nutrients, while a third group got a sports drink.

All three beverages contained 735 calories and were flavoured identically with vanilla and served in opaque containers so participants did not know what exactly they were drinking. Over the study period, all the young men gained muscle mass and most lost fat, but the milk drinkers came out ahead across the board.

For example, the milk-drinking group lost, on average, two pounds of fat each, compared with one pound each for those in the sports-drink group. The soy-beverage drinkers neither lost nor gained fat. The milk drinkers also came out on top in muscle gain, adding, on average, 2.5 pounds more muscle than the soy-beverage drinkers and 3.3 pounds more than the sports-drink group.

“The practical results are obvious: If you want to gain muscle and lose weight as a result of working out, drink milk,” Dr. Phillips said.

While the study did not involve aerobic exercise, he noted that other research has also pointed to the benefits of milk – and chocolate milk in particular – for rehydration and recovery. At marathons, for example, chocolate milk – which is packed with more carbs than regular milk – has become the recovery drink of choice for many finishers.

The research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the U.S. National Dairy Council. Dr. Phillips stressed that the dairy council grant came with no strings attached and the lobby group had no input on the study design or outcome.

Tekippe Named Iowa Dairy Princess

News EditorDairy Checkoff

iowadpCongratulations to Jessica Tekippe, 20, of Manchester, Iowa on being named the 2007 Iowa Dairy Princess. Jessica won her title on August 8th at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

She represented the Ayrshire breed in the contest, and is the daughter of Dan and Mary Tekippe. Megan Kregel, 18, daughter of Gary and Darlene Kregel of Guttenberg, was named Alternate. She represented Clayton County. Both the Princess and the Alternate will be involved in promoting the dairy industry across Iowa in the coming year.

The Holstein breed representative, Kristy Demmer, 17, received the award for the best dairy presentation. Her parents are Rick and Kathy Demmer of Peosta. Miss Congeniality was Brittany Lantzky, 18, daughter of Brian and Heidi Lantzky of Hawkeye. She was the Jersey breed representative.

New Princess Kay to be Named Next Week

News EditorDairy Checkoff

The excitement is building in Minnesota – the new Princess Kay of the Milky Way will be named next Wednesday evening, August 22. This year’s winner will be the 54th Princess Kay of the Milky Way, taking over the duties of teh reigning Princess Kay Audrey Mohr of New Ulm.

More than 60 county dairy princesses participated in judging in May, which took place along with a dairy promotion training event for all county princesses. Each year, more than 100 young women from across Minnesota are crowned county dairy princesses, and 12 are selected as finalists to become Princess Kay. Each of the 12 finalists will have her likeness carved in butter during the fair.

Dairy princesses are selected on the basis of their communication skills, personality, general knowledge of the dairy industry and its products, and their commitment to dairy promotion. The program gives many young women the opportunity to represent the lifestyle in which they were raised. Dairy princesses serve as spokespeople to consumers, conduct media interviews, make classroom visits to educate students about the dairy industry, give speeches to various organizations and make public appearances at promotions or events.

The 12 finalists for the title of 2007-2008 Princess Kay of the Milky Way are:

Amanda Alberg, 21, East Ottertail County, daughter of Allen and Deborah Alberg of Henning;
Amy Esselman, 19, Carver County, daughter of Jeff and Cindy Lenzen of Hamburg;
Londa Johnson, 19, Houston County, daughter of Richard and Linda Johnson of LaCrescent;
Caitlin Kasper, 18, Steele County, daughter of Peter and Karen Kasper of Owatonna;
Megan Mathews, 20, McLeod County, daughter of Kevin and Tammy Mathews of Glencoe;
Ann Miron, 19, Washington County, daughter of Fran and Mary Ann Miron of Hugo;
Molly Neil, 19, Dakota County, daughter of Garry Neil and Kathy Neil of Randolph;
Kelly Riemenschneider, 19, McLeod County, daughter of Terry and Marian Riemenschneider of Glencoe;
Megan Roller, 19, East Ottertail County, daughter of Gene and Brenda Roller of Hewitt;
Heidi Scapanski, 19, Benton County, daughter of John and Cheryl Scapanski of Sauk Rapids;
Erica Seitzer, 19, Nicollet County, daughter of Jerry and Carol Seitzer of St. Peter; and
Jill Warren, 19, Meeker County, daughter of John and Carol Warren of Watkins.

Pfizer Animal Health Dairy Research

Chuck ZimmermanAgribusiness, Audio

Pfizer DairyLast week I got to attend a media event at Pfizer Animal Health. They brought in a group of agricultural journalists for a behind the scenes look at their veterinary medicine research and development facility/farm in Michigan. One of the people I met was Bill Loveland. Bill manages their research dairy.

Pfizer has a state of the art dairy facility that allows them to handle up to 128 animals at a time. Bill says the facility opened in 2004 and since then they’ve pretty much been in continuous study mode doing about 35 studies on topics like mastitis, reformulations and residues. He says most of the studies last from 2 to 4 months and that he’s got a regular staff of 4 people although they bring in more if needed. He’s really proud of their work in transitional cow studies.

I interviewed Bill at the end of our tour of the facility and you can listen to that interview here: [audio:http://zimmcomm.biz/pfizer/pfizer-vmrd-07-loveland.mp3]

Dairyline Markets in Review

Chuck ZimmermanDairyline, Markets

DairylineDairy Markets Week in Review
Cash block cheese started the week slipping a penny, reversed gears on Tuesday jumping 4 1/4-cents, then gave up a penny and a half Thursday, but ended Friday at $1.94 per pound, up 3 3/4-cents on the week, and 74 cents above that week a year ago. Barrel closed at $1.90, also up 3 3/4-cents on the week, and 70 3/4-cents above a year ago. Nine cars of block traded hands and eight of barrel. The NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price fell to $1.8854, down 5.8 cents. Barrel averaged $1.8954, down 3.9 cents.

Butter closed Friday at $1.48, down 2 1/4-cents on the week, but 19 cents above a year ago. Six cars were sold. NASS butter averaged $1.4925, down 1.5 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk jumped 2.2 cents, to $2.0309. Dry whey averaged 65.42 cents, down 3.6 cents.
Provided courtesy of Dairyline.

Leelanau Cheese Takes Home the Prize

News EditorCheese, Competition

Congrats to Leelanau Cheese Company for taking the Best in Show award at the 2007 American Cheese Society competition last week in Burlington, Vt. with their Aged Raclette. The entry beat out 1,200 cheeses to claim the prize.

It was the largest field in U.S. history, representing a 27% increase in entries over last year. Leelanau Cheese Co. owners Anne and John Hoyt make the semi-hard Swiss-style cheese at Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay, using pasteurized milk from a single dairy farm to make the eight- to nine-pound wheels.

Raclette, which has a mild, nutty flavor, typically is served melted with cornichons, boiled potatoes and chunks of bread for dipping. The cheese is available at their shop at Black Star Farms. Their only metro Detroit retailer is Whole Foods Market.