On Sept. 12, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will be holding a hearing to consider the petition filed last month by California producer organizations. That petition, which used 2012 data, would have raised the Class 4b price by about $0.67 per hundredweight, or an increase of about $0.28 per hundredweight to the Overbase price.

Private-label products sporting the Real California Milk (RCM) seal are of concern to some New York dairy farmers. They worry that the California Milk Advisory Board's (CMAB) aggressive marketing campaign, combined with the lower price of California milk, could hurt their own chances of selling milk.

A new cow virus that causes neurologic symptoms reminiscent of mad cow disease has been identified and its genome sequenced by a team of researchers including scientists at the University of California — Davis.

Prairie Farms Dairy, a farmer-owned cooperative headquartered in Carlinville, Illinois, now offers a line of Greek yogurt with seven flavors. According to a press release from the co-op, the new line was added in response to consumer demand for Greek yogurt, which now accounts for more than a third of the market.

In the wake of Tyson Foods decision not to allow cattle finished on the beta-agoist supplement zilpaterol, other meatpacking companies are taking a different approach.

Nicole Meagher Inside Sales Representative Fox Lake, Wisconsin ANIMART Inc.

Farmers can better determine how much hay to purchase with new mobile apps, according to the University of Minnesota Extension, which developed the apps. The new tools aim to specifically help horse owners.

Reduced U.S. cattle numbers and state beef council efforts to maximize effectiveness were among the topics Aug. 8 as the Federation of State Beef Councils (FSBC) conducted sessions at the 2013 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver.

When Daryl Strohbehn retired as an Iowa State Extension beef specialist, there was one project he wasn’t ready to give up the reins to. Since 2003, he has tracked the profit values for sires of calves enrolled in the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity (TCSCF).

More feedback on the decision by Tyson last week to withhold buying cattle that have finished on zilpaterol, better known as Zilmax. National Public Radio in this recent report, quotes an official who says the whole policy comes from Tyson wanting to cater to export markets. Zilpaterol and ractopamine (sold as Optaflexx) are the only beta agonists on the market. Fed as supplements into feedyard rations, beta agonists are fed toward the latter stages of a cattle's finishing period - typically the last 21 days.