The booming popularity of Greek yogurt has increased the demand for milk in some parts of the country, as new yogurt plants spring up. (Click here to read about the opening of one of these plants.) Soon, the USDA will be contributing to growing consumption of the product, by including Greek yogurt in school meal programs.

Dr. Filippo Miglior, senior research scientist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and coordinator of Research and Development at the Canadian Dairy Network (CDN), is the 2013 recipient of the J.L. Lush Award in Animal Breeding.

The 21st annual World Beef Expo is scheduled for Sept. 27-29 at Wisconsin State Fair Park and will offer a variety of educational seminars, youth sweepstakes, sales and a trade show. There also will be a few changes to this year's Expo.

Mitch Kappelman Regional Services Specialist Manitowoc, Wisconsin Accelerated Genetics

Water troubles continue to plague farmers in California as the state tries to find a solution to its drought problems. Several regions are considering options to lessen the woes, including looking at new legislation and water transfer deals.

Meyer Natural Foods, a supplier of natural and organic beef, has launched the Meyer Natural Foods Humanely Handled program, designed to strengthen company standards for raising cattle and establish a program farmers and ranchers can use to produce high-quality beef in the most humane manner.

The gap is widening between key indicators of demand for premium and commodity beef, according to an updated research paper from Kansas State University (K-State) titled “Defining and Quantifying Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Brand Consumer Demand, 2013 Revision.”

The American Meat Institute (AMI) and seven other meat and livestock organizations filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to block implementation of a mandatory country-of-origin labeling (“COOL”) rule finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in May 2013.

A survey of records of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) cases at the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory showed that drug resistance in Mannheimia hemolytica, one of the primary organisms associated with BRD, increased from 2009 to 2011. 

Erin Berger Associate Vice President Outreach, Training and Sales Support Bonduel, Wisconsin AgSource Cooperative Services