Dairy company WhiteWave Foods plans to invest $69.8 million in expanding its dairy facility in Rockingham County, Virginia. The expansion involves addition of a new warehouse facility and machinery, in order to expand production and meet increased demand for the products.

Pervasive cheatgrass has long posed a threat to ranchers and their communities in the intermountain West. Edging out native perennials and taking over entire rangelands, the annual weed compromises forage value for livestock, destabilizes soil, increases risk of wildfire and diminishes wildlife habitat.

Barenbrug USA has appointed James Schneider as the new CEO and President. Starting May 1, Schneider will lead Barenbrug USA to further expand its market share in the U.S. and export markets. Current CEO John Thyssen said, “James Schneider brings a great deal of experience and knowledge to Barenbrug USA.

For the second time in two years, state public health and agriculture department officials participating in the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) turned down a proposal to reduce the maximum allowable level of somatic cell counts in milk.

The Midwest Forage Association’s (MFA) board of directors met recently and distributed a record $21,358 to forage-related research projects through the Midwest Forage Research Program (MFRP), honoring its commitment to devote more funding to research when available.

The beef checkoff, through its Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI), saw to it that runners were fueled with beef for the 117th Boston Marathon. More than 27,000 of the world's most elite athletes who would be running the Boston Marathon learned that lean beef was a great recovery food for after their race.

The longtime owners of the Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange are passing the torch. The Black Hills Pioneer reports that Dean and Eileen Strong held their last sale April 11 after 36 years in the business.

In the U.S., we haven’t worried about food security since the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. In fact, our farmers have become so productive we have a thriving food export sector that has returned a positive effect on our economy for over 40 years. Unfortunately, many other countries cannot make that same claim.