Monsanto has launched a new website to help dairy producers calculate their profit potential from using Posilac. The new site also features tips on cow comfort, nutrition and reproduction. Check it out!
Nominate Good Steward Dairy Farmers
I can’t imagine any farmer not wanting $10,000. Now being deserving of it, that’s another matter. All the farmers I know are good stewards of the land so maybe they should all be nominated. A dairy farmer won last time. It could happen again.
Nominations are now being accepted for American Farmland Trust’s 2007 Steward of the Land Award. The $10,000 prize is presented each year to a farmer or rancher that best exemplifies American Farmland Trust’s mission of stopping the loss of productive farmland and promoting farming practices that lead to a healthy environment.
Nomination forms can be completed online, or can easily be printed out for completion by tradition methods at the same address. You may also call 202-378-1255 for an application, or with questions. Nomination materials will be accepted until 5 p.m. EST on Friday, December 1, 2006.
Tom Hutson, a dairy farmer from DeLancey, NY was named the 10th Steward of the Land earlier this year. He operates River Haven Farm in New York’s Catskill Mountains, part of the Catskill-Delaware watershed, where reservoirs supply drinking water for millions of New York City residents. By working with the locally-based Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC), and often himself serving as the pilot-site for project, Hutson and neighboring farmers have kept the watershed pristine enough to satisfy federal drinking water standards, sparing New York City the cost of a billion dollar water filtration plant. He and fellow farmers have participated by conserving their land and implementing conservation practices with technical and financial assistance from WAC.
Select Sires Director Recognized
Lee Roy Keck was presented the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) 2006 Member Director. Keck serves on the Select Sires Power Board of Directors, a position to which he was elected in 1980.
He was president of the new Select Sire Power from 1999 until 2004; during this time he led Sire Power’s merger negotiations with Virginia-North Carolina Select Sires. Keck’s vision and leadership allowed him to gain the trust and confidence of both memberships. In addition to Keck’s service to Select Sire Power, he also served six years on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Holstein Association where was as President for two years. He served on the North Carolina DHI Board of Directors for six years and continues to serve on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Dairy Foundation, where he has completed two terms as President. He has also served as President of the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation. In addition, Keck was instrumental in starting the North Carolina Dairymen’s Association in the early 1990’s, and served on their board for six years. Keck did all this while working fulltime for 30 years for Western Electric Corp. as a production and contract specialist and running his dairy. While at Western Electric Corp., he solicited and received government contracts of more than $430 million. Keck has a widespread reputation for keeping a clean and spotless dairy operation and farmstead.
Cheeseheads De-Crowned?
Twelve years ago, California swept past Wisconsin to become the country’s number one milk producing state. Now, it looks like it may do the same in cheese production as early as next year. But, according to an editorial, there may be more to the story.
As California dairying has grown, so have problems related to huge dairy farms in areas short of water and besieged by urban sprawl. Those problems are producing government regulation and public pressures that are starting to weigh on farmers. “The shift of California’s dairy landscape continued in 2005, with dairies relocating or shutting down at an increasing rate,” reported California Dairy Statistics and Trends, a state publication.
To appreciate how ominous the signals are for California’s dairy industry, consider the state with the biggest increase in milk production last year — Wyoming. Why is Wyoming’s dairy industry growing so fast? Part of the answer is that farmers are moving there from California.
Dairy Farms Open Books for College Students
The next round of the North American Intercollegiate Challenge regional contests is set to begin next week. Here’s a story about the upcoming Northeast challenge and the three dairies that will host the challenge.
“I think helping kids become interested in agriculture is a positive thing,” said Adams, who is looking forward to the students’ feedback. “If it helps to improve business, we look at that as positive,” she said.
John Knopf, of Fa-Ba Farm, is also eager to hear what the students’ think. Knopf said he started farming about 25 years ago, and although he studied agriculture, he never participated in anything like the Dairy Challenge. “It’s kind of like having 43 consultants evaluating the farm,” Knopf said. “I don’t mind the scrutiny.”
The Newest Warriors
According to an AP story on Forbes.com.
The University of Tennessee is creating a new center to train communities and farmers in protecting the nation’s food supply from terrorists. Funded with a $2 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security, the Center for Agriculture and Food Security and Preparedness will address safeguards that can be applied across the agricultural spectrum — from crops to dairies to meat processors, UT officials announced Monday.
Trial runs of the classes are planned this year in sessions in Tennessee, New Mexico and California. The program will roll out nationally next year. Some 34 sessions will be offered around the country, free to participants. UT included representatives from New Mexico, California, Virginia, Iowa and Louisiana on its training development team to broaden its scope.
Lagoon Dredging
I just got an email from a company called Greenflash Technologies. They have a new product they’d like dairy producers to be aware of. It’s called Green Lagoon Technology. Here’s some information from a flyer they sent.
GFT “Green Lagoon Technology” (“Green Lagoon”) dredges animal waste lagoons at a fraction of the cost of mechanical dredging without the excessive costs and lagoon damage associated with mechanical dredging. Mechanical dredging is old fashioned, expensive, labor intensive, time wasting, with noxious odors prevalent throughout the lagoon evaporation and dredging cycles. Green Lagoon Technology is “Next Generation” technology. It does not rely solely upon a single scientific discipline to achieve its outstanding results. Instead, it combines the latest bio-technology utilizing many strains of microbes, some only recently discovered, with advanced agricultural science utilizing proprietary media culture and micro nutrients. Together they provide a truly unique product bio-complex. Green Lagoon additives work 24 hours a day, EVERY DAY, to keep lagoons liquefied, deodorized and free from heavy sludge layers – truly “Next Generation” technology. Green Lagoon consists of two proprietarily formulated products, one liquid (FarmPlus-845), and one dry (FarmSaver- 311).
Consider yourself informed.
Sunbelt Milking Contest
The milking contest at Sunbelt Ag Expo has been held and you can find out how it went on AgNetOnline.com.
It looks like Florida’s Ag Commissioner couldn’t make it so Tennessee’s stepped in and won it.
When it was all said and done, Alabama’s Ron Sparks (pictured on the left) output didn’t quite match up to what Tommy Irvin of Georgia had. But then again, Sparks suffered a loss when one of the cows “kicked the bucket”, thus losing a considerable amount. Charles Bronson of Florida was also scheduled to take part in the event, but was unable to make it due to weather. So Tennessee’s Commissoner of Agriculture filled in and ended up winning the contest by a large margin.
There’s even a couple of audio interviews there that you can listen to.
Raw Milk Ban Possible
Local legislatures in the state of Washington could bring a bill banning the sale of raw milk in 2007. But legislators are worried that such a bill could send raw milk consumers, who tend to be very passionate and committed, to underground and unregulated sources, a potential health risk.
Gloria Edwards, office manager at the Washington State Dairy Association and a former Kitsap County raw milk and pasteurized dairy farmer, said stiffer regulation is the answer, not a ban. A ban also would criminalize all raw milk producers, and that could create a difficult and expensive law enforcement problem, Moeller said.
More Mooving Images From WDE
In case you haven’t had enough pictures from World Dairy Expo there are more available online.
Check out the new photos posted on MoovingImages.com.