Alex Geiser Hilbert, Wisconsin Dairy Specialist Vita Plus

Tony Grzemski Fulton, Illinois Regulatory Affairs Coordinator Agri-King

Margaret Winsryg Twin Falls, Idaho Dairy Nutritionist/Professional Liaison Calibrate Technology

Idaho Milk Products, which processes tens of millions of pounds of milk annually, used several hundred thousand pounds of nitric acid as a cleaning agent in 2009. When treated, nitric acid produces nitrate compounds, which the company released to the local wastewater treatment plant. Idaho Milk Products is required under the Toxics Release Inventory to report toxic chemical releases. According to EPA, the company failed to report the treatment and disposal of nitric acid and nitrate compounds in 2009.

Oregon's farmers, ranchers and fishing industry grossed a record $5.2 billion in 2011 – thanks to higher commodity prices, according to a report by the Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Service. Click here to view the report. Sales were up 19.1 percent from a revised $4.4 billion in 2010, the largest percentage increase since a 20.6 percent jump in 1979, said Bart Eleveld, the OSU Extension Service economist who compiled the report.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published in the Federal Register a comprehensive rule for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) on March 16, 2012. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) voiced support for the rule in comments submitted late Tues., March 15, which was the deadline for comments to be submitted. However, on March 21, 2012, the Federal Register posted a notice that the comment period has been reopened and extended until Thurs., June 14, 2012.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has announced the selection of Rochelle Ripp of Lodi as Wisconsin’s 65th Alice in Dairyland. The announcement was made at the Finale Program in Grant County following three days of interviews, speeches, agri-business tours and an impromptu question and answer session.