The Vatican has proclaimed Sister Theresa a saint. It was one of those wonderful recognitions that allow Christians in particular, and humanitarians in general, to put aside our differences and appreciate humans who have made the world a better place. As time passes and the erosion of years smooths our memories, we can look back at others in a historical sense. Those who rose above the often contentious or apathetic daily grind to make us a better class of men like Martin Luther King, for one, Helen Keller, Cpl. Pat Tillman, Billy Graham, Winston Churchill and Gandhi. Their lasting impact, personal integrity, and inspiration have lifted us all to a higher plane.

DeLaval will strengthen its presence and service in New York and Vermont through the acquisition of Premier Dairy Service LLC. Premier Dairy Service LLC is headquartered in Argyle, New York, with other locations in Middlebury and St. Albans, Vermont. The business was originally established in 1969. Currently, 18 employees at three locations provide service for approximately 1,500 licensed dairies. DeLaval believes the acquisition strengthens its commitment to maintaining and expanding its customer base. By acquiring Premier Dairy Service LLC, DeLaval will meet the needs of more than 150,000 cows in a most important dairy area.

Joe Camacho is a cage fighter. Can you imagine his mother saying, as he goes off to fight the front line of the Oakland Raiders, “Be careful, Joey, and don’t get hurt.”

As I have reported, I am now assigned to the State Department as an active member of the Civilian Response Corps. There are about 200 of us from 11 federal agencies, including the Department of State, Department of Defense and U.S. Agency of International Development, staffing the majority of our active component. There are eight of us from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Producers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois are invited to the 2011 Young Producer Winter Get-Away themed “YPCC Rodeo Finals,” which is sponsored by Accelerated Genetics on Jan. 29-30 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

The risk that a cow will develop mastitis is a function of pathogen load at the teat end and the cow’s ability to prevent a bacterial infection from becoming established in the mammary gland. Practicing good cow hygiene (keeping stalls clean, frequent scraping of alleys and following good milking procedures) will reduce teat-end exposure, and good nutrition can improve immune function, thereby reducing infection rates and severity of mastitis.

Scientists have found that lactoferrin—a whey protein found in milk— could be an anticancer agent for breast cancer. Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein that has been reported to inhibit several other types of cancer. According to a study published in the January 2011 issue of the American Dairy Science Association’s Journal of Dairy Science, scientists in Portugal found that breast cancer cells treated with lactoferrin decreased the cancer cells’ viability by 47-54 percent and decreased the growth rates of the cancer cells by 40-64 percent. “There is overwhelming evidence that biologically active food components are key environmental factors affecting the incidence of many chronic diseases,” said Lígia Raquel Rodrigues, author of the study and member of the American Dairy Science Association. “However, because the full extent of such components in our diet isn’t known, nor is the understanding of their mechanisms of action, we undertook this study for a closer look.”