Those attending the recent Western United Dairymen annual convention in Temecula, California heard optimistic predictions about the tremendous potential that dairy exports hold for the dairy industry, while at the same time cheering the news that progress has been made on eliminating federal support for ethanol.

Two tornado warnings threatened but couldn't stop a successful Kentucky Dairy Partners Meeting (KDP) and Young Dairy Producer Conference (YDPI). The events, held February 28-29, were a collaborative effort of the Kentucky Dairy Development Council, SUDIA/ADA of Kentucky, University of Kentucky Dairy Extension and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.

Jamesway Farm Equipment introduced a radical new design of Lagoon Pump. The patented Pumpeller hybrid turbine takes much less time and fuel to agitate the toughest lagoons without the need for a gearbox.

Advanced Instruments, Inc., recently introduced the Delta Instruments CombiScope FTIR 600 – the fastest and most accurate dairy analyzer on the market today for analysis of cow, goat, sheep, and buffalo milk. The system consists of two high-throughput analyzers – the LactoScope FTIR 600 for measuring chemical composition and the SomaScope LFC 600 for counting somatic cells in raw milk, both at speeds of 600 samples per hour.

Select Sires Canada is pleased to announce that 4XLA antiseptic teat dip has received a notice of compliance for use of the product as both a pre-milking and post-milking teat dip. 4XLA antiseptic teat dip, a product of Ecolab Co., is the only non-iodine formula approved as a pre-milking teat dip in Canada. Other approved pre-milking teat dips are iodine-based, which can raise concerns about potential iodine residues in milk.

Veteran rancher Keith Johnson has lived through droughts, blizzards and long stretches of poor prices.That makes him appreciate this winter even more. Beef prices have soared to record highs, reaching levels he describes as "unimaginable, the highest we've seen in our lifetime."He and his family recently sold 179 steers for an average price, after expenses at the auction barn, of $1,082 each. A year earlier, their steers sold for an average of about $800 each."This year's price was just absolutely unbelievable. It's sweet," says Johnson, who runs a cow-calf operation with his sons, Chris and Jeremy, and his brother, Wayne, near the town of Sharon.