In a total mixed ration (TMR) feeding system, forage and concentrate feed components are combined into a single feed mixture. The objective of this feeding method is to deliver to each cow, a well-balanced ration that is formulated to maintain health and maximize milk production. However, despite our best efforts in formulating and delivering the ration to cows there are indications that the composition of what an individual cow consumes is not the same as what was initially delivered.

This issue’s theme is finances and business planning. Given all that has happened in the dairy industry this year, it’s a topic few want to face.

Given that a majority of dairy producers are losing a substantial amount of money right now on every pound of milk they produce, the majority of the news stories you read are overwhelmingly negative. In fact, we tracked stories that are written in the dairy news media and found 80 to 90 percent of this year’s stories focused on negative aspects of the dairy sector economy.

“This is not going to happen in a vacuum. We’re not going to just decide to keep sending and sending refugees to Boardman,” Claudia Conner said. Conner, a director at the International Rescue Committee, made this comment at a community meeting in Boardman, Oregon.

John de Jonge of Abbotsford, British Columbia, went to a trade show in China two years ago. He set up a booth for Artex Barn Solutions, displaying several Canadian flags. He says he didn’t really expect to sell anything. But when the Chinese saw the Canadian flags, they swarmed the booth.

Rick and Dan Reuter know a good cow when they see one. In a year when cows for sale have been plentiful, the Reuters agree that finding a good one – let alone 260 of them – was just as challenging as it’s always been.

Now entered in the history books, World Dairy Expo 2009 can truly be called “Legendary.”

At every dairy conclave this year, the matter of milk protein concentrates (called MPCs) has become a major talking point. MPCs are any type of concentrated milk that contains 40 to 90 percent milk protein. In simple terms, they are manufactured by extracting and drying the protein from raw milk and have been used in the manufacture of numerous products, both dairy and non-dairy.

Cargill Texturizing Solutions recently announced the development of Lygomme ACH Optimum, a non-dairy ingredient to be used in the production of analogue cheese, also known as imitation cheese. This news created a stir with U.S. dairy producers and caused some to doubt Cargill’s support of the nation’s dairy industry. Progressive Dairyman Web Editor Emily Caldwell discussed the new ingredient and its impact on U.S. dairy producers with Darrin Peterson of Cargill Texturizing Solutions and Mike Jerred of Cargill Animal Nutrition.

Who manages the risk manager? …typically no one. In most operations, the owner manages both the milk marketing and input purchasing decisions.