Merck and sanofi-aventis announced the mutual termination of their agreement to form a new animal health joint venture by combining Merial, the animal health business of sanofi-aventis, with Intervet/Schering-Plough, Merck's animal health unit. As a result, each party will keep its current, separate animal health assets and businesses.

Progressive Dairyman selected a few companies that specialize in manure digesters to comment on industry trends and how they are working to meet the needs of today’s dairy producers. Here are their responses: Avatar Energy, LLC Erin Wood Avatar Energy, LLC, is a renewable energy company that designs, installs and operates anaerobic digester systems for small- to medium-sized dairy farms in the U.S. and Canada. It has offices in Vermont, California and Nevada. Avatar Energy uniquely addresses three hot-button issues in the industry: 1. modularity (its pre-engineered, scalable and modular design allows for maximum configuration flexibility, providing an easily deployable and replicable technology at minimal capital expense – while producing heat, power, bedding and fertilizer to the farm) 2. scalability (hulls can adapt to variable herd sizes) 3. above ground (fiberglass hulls resist corrosion from inside, so risk of groundwater contamination is eliminated)

DAIReXNET and the National Association of County Agricultural Agents is hosting a webinar titled “Impact on Air Quality and Climate Change – Where the Dairy Industry Stands.” The webinar is free to the public and is geared toward bringing pertinent information to extension educators, allied industry professionals, veterinarians and dairy producers across the U.S.

Merck and sanofi-aventis announced the mutual termination of their agreement to form a new animal health joint venture by combining Merial, the animal health business of sanofi-aventis, with Intervet/Schering-Plough, Merck's animal health unit. As a result, each party will keep its current, separate animal health assets and businesses.

The Professional Dairy Producers Foundation has launched a new campaign to allow dairy producers to easily contribute to support its programming. The Two Cents for Tomorrow campaign seeks to raise at least $2 million annually to help bolster the industry through producer-driven education programs. The campaign invites producers to contribute up to two cents per hundredweight of milk from their farms.

Pennsylvania dairy producers can receive up to $1,500 to tap into the expertise of a Center for Dairy Excellence “Dairy Decisions Consultant” to make decisions that will help shape the future of their dairy business. Fourteen individuals with experience in whole farm analysis and viability studies are available to producers through grants from the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association and the U. S. Agriculture Department.

When the votes were tallied at the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s 2011 Business Conference, the membership elected two new individuals to its Board of Directors and re-elected a third to the Board. Charlie Crave, Waterloo, Wisconsin, and Kay Zwald, Hammond, Wisconsin, were elected to their first three-year term on the Board while Mark Diederichs, Malone, Wisconsin, was re-elected to his second three-year term.

Scholarships worth $140,000 will be awarded to students attending the Farm and Industry Short Course (FISC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) this year. Applications are due April 20 to be considered in the first round of awards, according to Ted Halbach, director of the Short Course. Any student eligible for Short Course and who submits financial information on their Short Course admission application will be taken into account for a scholarship. The application form can be found here.

Biogas recovery systems at livestock operations can be a cost-effective source of clean, renewable energy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Because of its high energy content, biogas can be collected from manure and burned to supply on-farm energy needs for electricity or heating. With growing interest in clean, renewable energy, many opportunities exist for farmers to market the biogas collected from anaerobic digestion systems. Experience has shown that the profitability of biogas systems depends on the size of the operation, the method of manure management, and local energy costs.

Earlier this year, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new investments in 33 states to support the production and usage of advanced biofuels. Vilsack highlighted these projects as ways the Obama Administration is working to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil by creating alternative energy sources and promoting economic development and job creation. "The Obama Administration is working aggressively to bring greater energy independence to all of America by promoting the production of renewable energy in rural communities," said Vilsack. "This funding will help the nation's advanced biofuel industry produce more fuel from sustainable rural resources, and in doing so create jobs, a new revenue stream for agriculture producers and stimulate rural economies across the nation."