Bovine veterinarians who want to help the beef and dairy industries must be more than just caregivers, said Tom Noffsinger, an independent veterinarian and stockmanship consultant, to members of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners in Montreal, Canada.

On Oct. 19, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service released the monthly Cattle on Feed report. The report provided insight into some important trends. Overall, during the month of September, the marketings of cattle by feedlots and placements of new cattle into yards were below expectations. And those expectations called for large year-on-year drops.

More than 120 professionals with a vested interest in milk quality attended the National Mastitis Council regional meeting in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in August. In addition to networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities, attendees had the opportunity to participate in specialized, interactive short courses. Attendees could choose to attend four of 10 different short courses, including one taught in Spanish. “This was the first year that we offered just short courses at our regional meeting,” says David Reid, NMC first vice president and owner of Rocky Ridge Dairy Consulting.

Caitlin Keck has been named communications coordinator for the DuPont Pioneer global forages team. Keck will provide marketing and communications support for the Pioneer corn silage, alfalfa and inoculants product lines. “We are excited to have Caitlin on board to ensure streamlined communication between our North American forages team and our international business units,” says Kyle Whitaker, senior marketing manager, DuPont Pioneer global forage group.

Fabpro Oriented Polymers, LLC has completed the acquisition of net wrap manufacturer Karatzis-USA and renamed it Fabpro NetWrap.

“The acquisition of Karatzis-USA’s net wrap facility is a perfect fit for the Fabpro family of products,” said Fabpro President and CEO Rob Karam. “The knowledge and experience that the Karatzis employees bring coupled with the technological resources that Fabpro has at its disposal creates a powerful combination.”

Fabpro NetWrap will continue to be produced at its state-of-the-art facility in Kingman, Kansas.

Animal Profiling International (API) has announced the launch of EasyPreg, a milk-based pregnancy testing service intended to make reproductive programs as efficient as possible. The test is designed to provide quick and accurate results, detecting pregnancy in cattle as early as 35 days post-insemination without invasive palpation or ultrasound.