Dan Fritsche Waukesha, Wisconsin daniel.fritsche@danisco.com Ruminant Key Account Manager, Danisco Animal Nutrition

Geoff Zanton St. Charles, Missouri geoffrey.zanton@novusint.com Ruminant Nutrition Manager, Novus International, Inc.

Amber Terhaar Pullman, Washington amberterhaar@vandals.uidaho.edu Lab Technician, Bio Tracking

This is one of my favorite issues of the year. In addition to the annual insertion of a free dairy stats poster, we delve into some of the industry's hottest topics, including national changes to dairy price policy, predictions for when the milk check will cover costs and when to sell the cows and get out.

In North America alone, there are over 700 species of flies that belong to the Muscidae (filth fly) group. Probably the single-most common of these is the house fly. No geographic locations or socioeconomic communities are spared the constant presence of the house fly. While they don’t bite, this fly’s habit of constantly crawling on nearly every surface – particularly manure – makes them very undesirable to have around.

It's time to assess your alfalfa stands. View this video from Dan Undersander, a forage agronomist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Milk Specialties Global has announced it has acquired the Protient Dairy Processing Facility in Norfolk, Nebraska, from PGP International. The Norfolk facility is considered a state-of-the-art processing plant capable of producing a wide variety of specialty milk products including lactose, cream, milk proteins, whey proteins and hydrolysates. The addition of this facility will significantly enhance Milk Specialties Global Food Solutions’ position as a major supplier to the sport nutrition, health and wellness, and infant formula markets.

Organic Valley is offering retailers nationwide “The Future is Organic,” a turnkey, cause-related campaign focused on providing schools with educational materials to teach children about the important link between food, health and the environment. The Future is Organic in-store promotion also offers advertising in national consumer publications, valuable prizes, online education, point-of-sale promotions and coupons to boost sales of Organic Valley snacks and lunchbox-friendly products during the months of August and September 2010.

The Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) is a voluntary program assisting landowners and operators in protecting grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring and conserving grassland resources. Signup deadline for this ranking period are March 15 and June 1, 2010.

The American Forage and Grassland Council will hold its annual conference June 21-23, 2010 in Springfield, Missouri. The council is offering several contests and competitions at this year's conference.