Auction At Expo

Chuck ZimmermanCheese

Winconsin Dairy Products AssociationThe Wisconsin Dairy Products Association just announced it’s World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Products Contest Auction which will be held on October 4.

The World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest will hold an auction of all first place winners on Tuesday, October 4, 2005, 5:00 pm, Alliant Energy Center, 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, Madison, WI. There will be 23 first place contest entries up for bid, as follows:
Cheddar, Land O’Lakes, Kiel, WI
Aged Cheddar, Land O’Lakes, Kiel, WI
Colby Jack, Alto Dairy, Waupun, WI
LMPS Mozzarella, Alto Dairy, Waupun, WI
String Cheese, Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, Waterloo, WI
Provolone, Dairy Farmers of America, Turlock, CA
Black River Blue Cheese, North Hendren Co-op Dairy, Willard, WI
Morel & Leek Jack, Meister Cheese, Muscoda, WI
Horseradish Flavor Cold Pack, Pine River Pre Pack, Newton, WI
PP Colored American Cheese, AMPI, Portage, WI
Cream Cheese, Swiss Valley Farms, Luana, IA
Braun Suisse Brick, Chalet Cheese/Deppeler Factory, Monroe, WI
Stravecchio Parmesan, The Antigo Cheese Co., Antigo, WI
Lemonweir Gold, Natural Valley Cheese, Hustler, WI
Cabot Salted Butter, Cabot Creamery Co-op, Montpelier, VT
Unsalted Butter, O-AT-KA Milk Products, Batavia, NY
Strawberry FOB Lowfat Yogurt, Dean Foods, Richland Center, WI
Blueberry Lowfat Yogurt, Swiss Valley Farms, Cedar Rapids, IA
Large Curd Cottage Cheese, Louis Trauth Dairy, Newport, KY
Vanilla Ice Cream, Gifford’s Ice Cream, Skowhegan, ME
Chocolate Ice Cream, Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream, Shelby Two, MI

Cheese & Butter
GRAND CHAMPION
Fair Oaks Dairy Products,
Fair Oaks, IN
Emmentaler

Grade A & Ice Cream
GRAND CHAMPION
Louis Trauth Dairy
Newport, KY
Sour Cream

The October 4 event will begin at 5:00 pm with a reception featuring a cheese fondue and special foods and pastries created by the MATC Culinary School utilizing the 2nd & 3rd place (cheese and butter classes) winners of the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest. Free beer and a cash bar will also be offered. At 6:30pm the auction will commence with Mr. Doug Wilson, Cooperative Resources International, serving as the featured auctioneer. All successful bidders will receive the product they bid on, plus a commemorative keepsake for their participation. A portion of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Professional Dairy Producers of WI (PDPW) to support their efforts to assist current and beginning producers achieve success in dairy farming. The proceeds will also be used to help defray contest expenses.

Microgy Tour Being Offered

Chuck ZimmermanGeneral

MicrogyAccording to a story on Wisconsin Ag Connection, Microgy, an Environmental Power company, is offering a free tour to Expo visitors this year. They’ll take people on a bus to the Wild Rose Dairy Methane Digester in LeFarge. The tour will be on October 6. You need to RSVP before September 30. For more information, call 715-232-6243 ext. 16.

Welcome Qualisoy To World Dairy Diary

Chuck ZimmermanQualisoy

QualisoyWe’d like to welcome our newest supporter to the offical weblog of the World Dairy Expo. Qualisoy is helping make this online diary of information about the Expo possible. Qualisoy is “a collaborative effort among the soybean industry to develop healthier soybeans and soy oil, reduce environmental impacts of livestock production through improved soybean meal, and improve the global competitiveness of the U.S. soybean industry.”

We look forward to learning more about Qualisoy in the days ahead and seeing them at Expo!

SW Plains Dairy Directory Available

Chuck ZimmermanExhibitor

Dairy DirectoryAre you looking for information on dairies in the southwest? Then you need one of these. You can go to Dairy Directory Publishers website or visit them at World Dairy Expo, booth 27TT in the Coliseum. They’ll be selling them there for the special Expo price of $25. Here’s how they describe it:

A first-of-its-kind directory covering the Southwest Plains with a focus on the dairy industry now is available. This glossy, 74-page directory features maps with dairy locations, pages with county-specific information, and a listing of companies and associations that provide services to the dairy industry in this area.

“Whether people are looking for a place to relocate or expand their dairies, or they’re already doing business in the Southwest Plains, they’ll find this directory an invaluable resource,” says Janet Claborn, director of economic development, Muleshoe, Texas. “The directory truly reflects the welcoming and supportive spirit that the growing dairy industry has found here in eastern New Mexico, and the Texas Panhandle and south Plains.”

Alto Cheese Award Winning

Chuck ZimmermanCheese

Alto Dairy CooperativeWe posted the results of the recent 2005 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest and one of the winners has proudly proclaimed their winnings. I just received their release from my Google News Alert.

Alto’s Colby – Jack and Mozzarella cheeses placed first in their categories. Colby – Jack made at the Black Creek cheese plant earned 99.95 points out of a possible 100, while the Mozzarella entry from Waupun merited 99.10 out of 100 possible points. A block of cheddar cheese from Alto Dairy also placed second in its class.

Within the past three years Alto Dairy’s Mozzarella has won ten major cheese awards in national and state cheese competitions. “The ongoing commitment to produce high quality milk by Alto dairy member-producers combined with a promise to deliver on excellence by Alto employees is credited to the number of cheese awards Alto earns,” said Rich Scheuerman, Alto’s CEO. “Everyone involved should feel very proud of these outstanding accomplishments.”

Alto Dairy is a member-owned cooperative of dairy producers manufacturing more than 550,000 pounds of American and Italian-style cheese per day at the company’s Waupun and Black Creek, WI facilities from a daily intake of more than five million pounds of milk. For more information, visit www.altodairy.com.

Tour The Farm At Expo

Chuck ZimmermanWorld Dairy Expo

Maybe you didn’t know that by visiting World Dairy Expo you can actually tour a number of different farms while you’re at the show! They’re “Virtual Farm Tours.”

Some of the most efficient dairy operations from coast to coast will be featured in World Dairy Expo’s 2005 Virtual Farm Tour program. Attendees can take advantage of touring operations from Iowa, Wisconsin, New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Texas, Kansas and Vermont without ever leaving the Expo grounds.

The tours will be presented Tuesday through Saturday in the Exhibition Hall meeting rooms. Producers will present a half-hour video or pictorial overview of their operations, featuring everything from management practices and on-farm processing to employee relations and manure management. Time for questions and answers will follow. There is no cost for these tours. Tour sponsors include: AgStar Financial Services, NutriDense/BASF Plant Science, Badgerland Farm Credit Services, Udder Tech, Inc., Cover-All Building Systems, Page & Pedersen International, Ltd., Performance Products, Inc., Mycogen Seeds, Purina Mills, LLC and Vita Plus Corporation.

Visit the World Dairy Expo website here to see the full tour schedule: Virtual Farm Tours

Monster Milker On Monster Garage

Chuck ZimmermanExhibitor, Milk

Bou Matic Monster MilkerPut a cow in one end and get chocolate and regular milk out the other. Who’d have thought it possible? With a little help from Bou-Matic it is and it’ll be on display at World Dairy Expo.

In a bit of reality TV and a lot of professional planning, design, engineering and finish welding and polish help from California Bou-Matic Dealer Turlock Dairy & Refrigeration, the entire five-day process of rebuilding a 1959 Chevrolet milk truck into a mobile milking parlor and the successful conclusion of milking a cow was chronicled on tape.This is all being done for the Discovery Channel show Monster Garage.

The Monster Milker will be featured in the show that airs at 8pm Central time on October 3rd, the day before Expo. I interviewed Bou-Matic’s Mark Clarke, product manager, who was on the design team for the truck. You can listen to my interview with Mark here: Download MP3 File (MP3 File 5MB)

Mark describes how the project came about, the team and how they worked to create the design the show wanted and how his company is using it in its promotional efforts.

Guess The Holstein Member of the Day And Win

Chuck ZimmermanExhibitor, Holstein Association

Holstein Association USAAs we get closer to World Dairy Expo the excitement is building. Take this contest being run by Holstein Association USA. You can meet each of the Holstein Association’s members of the day in their booth at Expo between 11am and 2pm.

Think you can guess who each Holstein Association Member of the Day is? Use the clues below (also available on the Holstein Association website) and enter your guess for a chance to win a free Holstein Association jacket! Contest starts on September 16 and ends on September 26. Entries can be submitted on the Holstein Association website: www.holsteinusa.com or via phone at 800.952.5200 x 4174. Contest winner will be announced on September 27, 2005

QuestionTuesday, October 4: This young couple from Wisconsin both graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their homebred animal was named Junior Champion at the 1999 World Dairy Expo. “Registered Holsteins give our farm more opportunity in almost every arena – milk production, longevity, merchandising and marketing,” said Tuesday’s mystery member. Their farm is only a stone’s throw away from becoming internationally recognized for excellent Registered Holsteins.

Wednesday, October 5: This couple from Minnesota were the 2003 Distinguished Young Holstein Breeders. They have successful grown their Registered Holstein herd in less than 15 years. “Through our experience with Registered Holsteins, we have been able to establish a great herd of cows. Quality milk and more income comes from breeding quality udders, feet, and legs,” said Wednesday’s mystery member.

Thursday, October 6: This breeder from California has bred 75 cows with over 200,000 pounds of lifetime milk, 16 plus proven sires and has been named the California State Black & White Show Premier Breeder for eight consecutive years. He also will be named the 2005 World Dairy Expo Dairyman of the Year. “Registered Holsteins give me a never ending challenge to breed that extra special animal, and the opportunity to meet like minded people from all over the world – all while generating additional income on top of my milk check.” said Thursday’s mystery member.

Friday, October 7: This family farm from New York milks over 900 cows and is operated by five partners from three generations. They recently had one of their cows reach a TPI of 1773 and with a BAA of 103.5 rank second in their herd size. “At $8 to own a Registered Holstein, we can instill a sense of pride in ourselves and our employees making each day more exciting and challenging,” said Friday’s mystery member. This family operation doesn’t rely on coin tosses when making mating decisions, they only use Registered Holsteins.

Saturday, October 8: This couple from Wisconsin is the breeder of one of the most well-known and beloved cows of the past decade. They are third-generation Registered Holstein breeders. “With Registered Holsteins, it’s reassuring to know we don’t have to rely solely on milk prices for our livelihood,” said Saturday’s mystery member. Having a strong Registered Holstein background has helped this couple to infuse a little elegance into the Holstein breed.

Learn About Dairy In Kenya

Chuck ZimmermanGeneral

Having done a fair amount of international travel I always find it interesting to see what people are doing in other countries. Take this story in the Tomah Journal, “Kenyan dairy farmer learns about genetics and embryo tranfer.” It’s a great read about this dairy farmer who’s visiting the United States to learn more. He hopes to visit World Dairy Expo while he’s here! I hope he gets the chance.

In the article you can get a little bit of insight into what it’s like to farm in Kenya and what some of their challenges are.