The National FFA Organization and National FFA Foundation have entered into a new, strategic alliance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Council for Agricultural Education designed to develop agriculture students’ skills, leadership qualities, personal growth and career success.

to see a related statement from NMPF. And to see talking points from Dairy Management, Inc. that you can use when speaking with consumers. Plus, check out this blog post from Brenda Hastings in Ohio about what the FDA's plan would mean for the nation's dairy farmers. New York Times articleEach year, federal inspectors find illegal levels of antibiotics in hundreds of older dairy cows bound for the slaughterhouse. Concerned that those antibiotics might also be contaminating the milk Americans drink, the Food and Drug Administration intended to begin tests this month on the milk from farms that had repeatedly sold cows tainted by drug residue.

Feb. 28 is the date and the people side of business transition is the topic of the next PDPW World-Class webinar. Leading the “Compensation: Why Pay is a Critical Business Strategy” presentation will be Dr. Donald Jonovic, Family Business Management Services. The Monday, Feb. 28, PDPW World-Class Webinar will begin at noon CST and last for 60 minutes.

National Dairy Shrine is again seeking nominations for its most prestigious awards: Guest of Honor, Pioneer, Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder, Progressive Dairy Producer and Graduate Production Award.

The sixth annual Dairy Business Association's (DBA) Expansion Symposium will be held Feb. 24-25, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The simple goal of growing Wisconsin's dairy industry is the charge DBA is leading at the 2011 Symposium. Following two years of low milk prices and increasing costs for corn and fertilizer, farmers need the skills necessary to help protect and grow their livelihoods. This year's Expansion Symposium will give attendees the information they need to keep their dairies progressive and profitable.

Dairy producers and their employees have the opportunity to improve their calf raising skills at the upcoming Calf Health and Management Workshops presented by Penn State Dairy Alliance. This Calf Health and Management Workshop will focus on calf care for animals from birth through 6 months of age. Colostrum management, calf health, vaccines for calves and younger heifers, calf and weaned calf housing, and calf and weaned calf nutrition are among the topics to be explored. Animal well-being issues will also be discussed.

Western States and Albertsons are teaming up to raise both food and awareness during the most challenging time of year for local food banks. The “Dump Hunger” campaign hopes to generate 225,000 pounds of food to support communities across the Intermountain West following the holiday season. Donations to the campaign can be brought to any of the Western States branch locations or participating ALBERTSONS stores.

J.D. Heiskell Holdings, LLC doing business as J.D. Heiskell & Co. announced that on Friday, January 14, 2011 it acquired Hawkeye Gold LLC, an ethanol and ethanol co-products marketing business with offices in Ames, Iowa. Heiskell will acquire all employees and assets of Hawkeye Gold LLC and will continue to operate the business under its current name in Ames, Iowa.

For the first time in 44 years, World Ag Expo is going mobile. Available for both the iPhone and all phones with the Android Market, World Ag Expo's Application gives its users access to everything the expo has to offer. "World Ag Expo 2011 is themed Tools for Agri-Business, and our new app is just that - a tool for success at the expo," said Lee Coito, 2011 Chairman. "Our app adds another free option for our attendees, building on our success in providing tools to help attendees identify in advance the exhibitors and seminars they want to see."

Optimistic outlook for 2011 Click here to download a pdf of the Export Watch department from Issue 2 2011, featuring updates from the U.S. Dairy Export Council.