State officials say a Japan-based firm will construct a new $73 million manufacturing facility in northeast Georgia, creating 200 new jobs. Gov. Nathan Deal said Kubota Corp. intends to build the plant in the Jackson County town of Jefferson.

In August 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s, Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS) released a draft of the “European Health Certification Program” to dairy industry trade associations (NMPF, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the International Dairy Foods Association and the American Dairy Products Institute) for review and comment. After gathering member feedback, NMPF submitted comments and questions to AMS, expressing general support for the program and requesting additional clarification on specific points.

Note: The following are opinion commentaries. No: No way can I support the Dairy Security Act of 2011. It is short-sided, basically, for the processor – pay the lowest price, not pay components and give processors an automatic energy adjuster. Where is ours? Mr. Kozak has repeatedly said that it is unrealistic and politically unpopular to expect to get the cost of production for your milk, and that’s how FFTF is put forward. That does not work in the real world. I prefer to support S-1640. It is respectful of the dairy producer. It allows cost of production to be covered plus the ability to cover the dirty five – depreciation, interest, repairs, taxes and insurance – and, just maybe, a profit!

With the increasing volatility of dairy markets in recent years, and the increasingly difficult dairy industry, many proposals to restructure dairy policy have been introduced recently. Many of the proposals, most notably NMPF’s Foundation for the Future program, seek to maintain a profitable margin for all dairy producers throughout the country. While it is generally accepted that some reform is needed to update the dated dairy policy/pricing system, many aspects of the NMPF proposal have no place in the free market.

If you’re looking to hone your management skills while getting a glimpse of what’s on the horizon in dairy, join the more than 500 dairy producers and industry leaders who travel each year to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to attend the Pennsylvania Dairy Summit. The 2012 Summit will be held Feb. 8-9 at the Lancaster Host Resort and will feature discussions on the global dairy marketplace, management strategies and new technologies. Producer showcases and breakouts addressing on-farm dairy issues are also part of the two-day event.

The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Discover Conferences were established in 1997 to provide a unique environment and format for addressing important contemporary issues in food animal production. Attended by international scientists, the industry, academia, consultants, veterinarians and government representatives, there have been 21 Discover Conferences to date. I had the opportunity to attend the 22nd Discover Conference, which was on “Milk Components: Opportunities for Maximizing Farm Gate Returns and Meeting Manufacturing Needs.”

Have you experienced a situation where having many communication tools at your disposal has actually made it more difficult to effectively and efficiently communicate? We can’t deny that things like email, voicemail, texting, Facebook and smart phones have increased our ways to connect with one another. But are we truly communicating with each other to get things accomplished and avoid mistakes? With all the tools we have to “talk” with one another, we still gain great value in bringing team members face-to-face for effective and efficient farm team meetings.

Reproductive performance on dairy farms has improved in recent years. And that’s important, because poor reproductive programs carry a serious financial cost. According to data from the University of Missouri, an increase in days open can be valued from $0.50 to $4.50 per day – a pregnant cow is worth $250 to $600 more than an open cow, and each percentage point increase in pregnancy rate (PR) is equal to roughly $35 per cow.