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The 50th Annual Meeting of the National Mastitis Council (NMC), held Jan. 23-26, in Arlington, Virginia, attracted 400 individuals. The event commemorated the organization’s long standing commitment to mastitis control and milk quality and the kick-off to a year-long celebration of NMC’s 50 years. Attendees from all over the world represented various facets of the dairy industry, including dairy producers, veterinarians, researchers, consultants, equipment and pharmaceutical suppliers, dairy plant field staff, extension educators and students.
An innovative dairy educational program celebrated its 10thanniversary March 31-April 2 in Hickory, North Carolina. Over 10 years, North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) has helped prepare more than 3,000 students for careers in the dairy industry.
The Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s drive to raise the bar of professionalism for dairy producers across the country succeeded as the of 2011 Business Conference concluded March 16 in Madison, Wisconsin.
After surviving several months of high feed costs and stagnant milk prices, uncertainty still lingers over how all of us in the dairy industry will contend with 2011.
In our business and most others, periods of economic stress tend to breed new technologies and practices that further advance efficiency.
Editor’s note: The following news summaries highlight activity by groups that are interested in and working towards dairy reform.
Former Specter-Casey Bill to be reintroduced
The Progressive Agriculture Organization recently confirmed it is working with other producers to see that a failed dairy reform bill from the previous session of Congress is re-introduced this year.
The bill, known then as S1645 or the Specter-Casey Bill, would change how raw milk at the farm level is priced and would make it reflective of a national average cost of production and impose supply management. Arden Tewksbury, manager of the Pennsylvania-based organization, said that Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) was reviewing the bill and preparing to reintroduce it.
In today’s volatile marketplace, profit remains, but finding a way to it can be much more difficult than before. At its annual business conference this March, the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin paved a course to set its members on their own “Pathways to Profit.”
In a pre-conference breakout session, a business coach and two dairy producers joined forces to help others find their own path during difficult economic times.
Dr. David Kohl, business coach and president of AgriVisions LLC, said the key to finding profit is to manage revenues, inputs and interest rates and to find a balance amongst all three.
The biennial Western Dairy Management Conference looked and sounded much different than the last time the meeting convened in Reno, Nevada, in 2009 – both in the number of participants and the tone of presentations.
Attendance was up about 6 percent this year. And more of the 2011 presentations were optimistic about producer profitability and opportunities in the future.
Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley discusses with Utah dairyman and state legislator Bill Wright of Double Tree Dairy in Holden, Utah, the state’s new immigration enforcement and reform bills.
The bill that Wright sponsored, which was recently signed into law, will petition the federal government to allow Utah to create a legalized state guest worker program for illegal immigrants who hold a current job, have health insurance, have not committed a felony and pay a one-time fine as well as current taxes.
With increasing public interest in farm animal handling practices, a new website – Dehorning.com – has been launched to share science-based information and facilitate discussion about cattle dehorning. The website is sponsored by H.W. Naylor Company, Inc.
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