2006 World Dairy Expo Awards Nominations Sought

Chuck ZimmermanWorld Dairy Expo

World Dairy ExpoIt seems like World Dairy Expo just ended and now it’s time to look forward to 2006! Here’s the first step in getting ready for a new show.

Outstanding leaders from across the international dairy industry are being sought for World Dairy Expo’s annual recognition awards. “We’re encouraging people to nominate someone who has demonstrated exceptional leadership,” says general manager, Tom McKittrick. “Recognizing these individuals during World Dairy Expo showcases the leadership present in the dairy industry and adds to the excitement of Expo.”

Nominations will be accepted through February 1, 2006 in the four following categories:

l Industry Person of the Year
l Dairyman of the Year
l Dairy Woman of the Year
l International Person of the Year

Individuals will be honored at the Dinner With the Stars during World Dairy Expo, October 3 – 7, 2006, in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Nominations are due February 1, 2006. Official applications are available through the World Dairy Expo office by calling 608-224-6455 or via email at wde@wdexpo.com.

MILC Back On Track

Chuck ZimmermanGovernment, Industry News, Milk

Milk Income Loss ContractIt looks like MILC will be extended for another two years after expiring recently. At least legislation authorizing it has passed in the House and now in the Senate. However, it has to go back to the House since the Senate version is different. Then of course it has to get signed. Passage this week would be a nice Christmas present for a lot of dairy farmers around the country.

We’ll try to get more information on the terms of the legislation that’s in the final version which it is hoped will happen still this week. One thing that seems to be decided is that there will be a reduction in the subsidy levels of the program.

IDFA Sees Progress At WTO Ministerial

Chuck ZimmermanDairy Group, Government, International

IDFAI was wondering how people in the dairy business would feel about the recent WTO agreement that was signed in Hong Kong this past weekend. Then lo and behold I see an announcement from the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA).

“We are pleased to see that the European Union (EU) and all the WTO membership have finally agreed that agricultural export subsidies should be eliminated, a longstanding goal for U.S. dairy,” said Clay Hough, IDFA senior vice president and general counsel. Despite the limited movement on issues in Hong Kong, Hough said that “an ambitious result still remains viable.”

“Our industry will re-double its efforts,” he said. “The upcoming year will be the year these negotiations succeed or fail for the U.S. dairy sector, so it is imperative that we remain deeply engaged as an industry with our government to help determine the best course to advance our objectives. This is the best opportunity we have had in decades to position our industry for unparalleled global market success.”

To emphasize the interest of the U.S. dairy industry in the negotiations, representatives from several IDFA member companies and IDFA staff attended the Hong Kong ministerial. During the conference, the IDFA delegation met with government officials from the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and with congressional staff from the trade and agriculture committees.

The IDFA delegation also talked with U.S. negotiators about the importance of foreign market access for U.S. dairy companies. “We will continue this dialogue in earnest as the U.S. is in the process of finalizing its market access priorities in agriculture,” said Hough.

In another area of interest to IDFA member companies, the conference reached agreement on providing duty-free, quota-free access for all products coming from least developing countries (LDC). Some of the least-developed countries that will benefit are sugar producers. IDFA would like to see additional liberalization of global sugar markets, including the U.S. market, though it remains to be seen if this initiative will further that liberalization.

Do you feel the same way about the recent agreement in Hong Kong? It seems like kind of a mixed bag for American agriculture and left a lot of work still to be done.

Got Milk Hi-Tech Giveaway

Chuck ZimmermanPromotion

Holiday Hi-Tech GiveawayIt’s not too late to enter this contest from the “Got Milk” people. It’s their Got Milk, Hi-Tech Giveaway. Each week this month they’re giving away a different product. This week it’s a Sony PSP.

The promotion really caught my eye since an Apple iPod is one of the items they’re giving away. One of the features we’re planning to start here on WorldDairyDiary is a weekly podcast in 2006. We’re planning on an interview format with a different representative of the dairy industry each week. Keep your eye on WorldDairyDiary for more information about it.

In the meantime I hope you win an iPod or get one for Christmas!

American Cancer Society Study On Dairy & Breast Cancer

Chuck ZimmermanIndustry News

There’s some good news about the role that dairy plays in the prevention of breast cancer. This comes from the American Cancer Society.

A new American Cancer Society study finds low fat dairy products may reduce the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, supporting the hypothesis that dietary calcium and/or some other components in dairy products may reduce the risk of the disease. The study found women who consumed two or more servings of dairy products per day had up to 20 percent lower risk of postmenopausal breast cancer compared to women with the lowest consumption of dairy products. The association was slightly stronger among women with estrogen-receptor positive tumors, the most common type.

The study is published in this month’s issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention.

Article: “Dairy, Calcium and Vitamin D intake and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort,” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention 14 (12): 2898-2904.

You can also find the story on WebMD.

Smith To Become New DFA CEO

Chuck ZimmermanIndustry News

Rick SmithDFA will have a new CEO starting January 1. He’s Rick Smith and he will succeed retiring chief executive Gary Hanman.

Smith, who currently serves as DFA’s president and chief operating officer, will assume the role of CEO on January 1, 2006. “We are delighted to have a proven dairy leader like Rick Smith to take DFA into the future,” said Tom Camerlo, chairman of DFA’s board of directors and a dairy farmer from Florence, Colo. “He understands the dairy industry, the DFA organization and, most importantly, the priorities of the dairy farmer members whom he serves.”

Smith entered the dairy industry in 1982 when he joined Dairylea Cooperative, Inc. (Dairylea) as vice president and general counsel. In 1988, he became CEO of Dairylea, the Northeast’s leading agricultural service and milk marketing organization with 5.5 billion pounds of milk marketed annually for 2,500 dairy farmer-members.

You can hear what DFA Board Chairman Tom Camerlo has to say about Rick here.

Watch & Listen To WTO Talks Via Webcasts

Chuck ZimmermanInternational

WTO Hong Kong MinisterialIn case you’re really interested in what’s going on at the WTO talks in Hong Kong they are recording and webcasting many of the public sessions like news conferences and statements. They’re offering them live and archived in video and audio format.

Just go to the WTO Webcasting Page and you’ll find listings of the available audio/video files that they stream from their web server so they play very quickly.

I didn’t see any specifics on dairy in there yet but keep an eye on them and I’m sure we’ll hear about it.

DFA Chairman Speaks From WTO In Hong Kong

Chuck ZimmermanIndustry News

Dairy Farmers of AmericaI knew we’d get some information from Hong Kong and the WTO Ministerial talks that would be about dairy. We get this from Dairy Farmers of America.

The much publicized meeting of all World Trade Organization ministers gets underway December 13th in Hong Kong. And the interests of U.S. dairymen will be well represented there by Tom Camerlo – Chairman of Dairy Farmers of America and a Dairyman from Florence, Colorado.

In fact you can listen to Tom right here. He’s speaking from a press conference in Hong Kong held by the AgTrade Coalition.

Cattle Identification Database Offered

Chuck ZimmermanHolstein Association

Cattle Identification DatabaseNational animal ID is all the news these days and new systems and strategies are announced all the time. Now Holstein Association USA is offering the Cattle Identification Database which they say is the “the first database to identify and track cross-bred animals, is now available for dairy producers to record, monitor and identify cross-bred animals.”

Animals are entered into the CID database using reported breed composition and ear tags. For $5.00 per animal, CID customers will receive management data including all identification, parentage and performance information, such as available 305-day lactation records, classification scores and indexes. All animals enrolled in CID must be identified using Holstein Tag ID. Transfers of ownership will be recorded at no charge. Offspring of CID animals that would qualify as 87%RHA (Registered Holstein Ancestry) are eligible for registration at Holstein Association USA.

For more information or to request CID applications, call 800-952-5200.