Ken Leslie, Professor Emeritus at the University of Guelph was the recipient of the first-ever National Mastitis Council (NMC) Award of Excellence for Mastitis Prevention and Control. The award was sponsored by Prevention Works from Boehringer Ingleheim Vetmedica, Inc., and will be awarded annually to an active NMC member for sustained contribution to mastitis prevention and control through research, extension or education, clinical practice or service to producers.

Click here to download a pdf of the latest checkoff watch, provided by Cattlemen's Beef Board and My Beef Checkoff Program. PD

On Dec. 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor closed a public comment period on its proposed updates to child labor regulations aimed at safety concerns in agriculture-related jobs. Since then, the Keep Families Farming website has been established to support the legislative effort on Capitol Hill, where this issue will almost certainly be voted on this summer. In the pages that follow are comments received and posted on their website.

U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett in Sioux City, Iowa, has rejected a lawsuit that sought to expand access to raw milk. Bennett dismissed the two-year-old case filed by a nationwide group of raw milk drinkers, producers and distributors. The lawsuit contends that the Food and Drug Administration rule allowing only pasteurized milk to be sold across state lines violates their constitutional rights to travel freely and decide what to feed their families.

The American Bankers Association’s (ABA) annual Farm Bank Performance Report showed that farm lending posted solid growth during 2011. The nation’s 2,185 farm banks increased farm and ranch lending $3.8 billion or 5.6 percent in 2011, for a total outstanding balance of $72.3 billion. "The growth in farm loans shows banks continue to meet the credit needs of both large and small farms and remain the most important supplier of agricultural credit," said John Blanchfield, senior vice president and director of ABA’s Center for Agricultural & Rural Banking.