New York’s milking herd shrunk by 1,000 cows in October, only slightly improving Idaho’s chances of becoming the nation’s No. 3 milk-producing state by the end of the year. After the first month of the fourth quarter, the difference in total annual milk production between the two states was 89 million pounds, down from 118 million pounds at the beginning of the quarter.

After 18 years, the Central Washington Dairy Management Conference (CWDMC) will no longer be offered. Volunteer conference organizers made the decision recently, citing poor producer attendance as their main concern.

Recently, adulterated infant formula in China was linked to tens of thousands of illnesses and four deaths. The scandal has heightened the world’s concerns about political corruption in China and the integrity of Chinese-manufactured goods overall. And the “crisis of confidence” among Chinese consumers will take years to overcome.

Progressive Dairyman teamed up with Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin to bring the 2008 Nutrient Innovation & Technology Tours. Dairymen and industry representatives spent three days driving throughout Wisconsin looking at the latest innovations and solutions to manure management systems.

“We need to preserve our social license to produce food. It’s a reality we all have to face and deal with,” says Logan Bower, who hosted the Dairy Animal Care and Quality Assurance (DACQA) producer certification “preview” October 15 at his 500-cow dairy in Blain, Perry County, Pennsylvania. Long before the undercover HSUS videos depicted mistreatment of “downer” dairy cows at a beef plant and auction barns, a producer-led effort – the National Dairy Animal Well-Being Initiative (NDAWI) – was already underway, working to develop its recently finalized principles and guidelines.

During a recent press conference, Dr. Jamie Jonker, the National Dairy Animal Well-being Initiative’s co-chair for the principles and guidelines committee and director of regulatory affairs for the National Milk Producers Federation, explained the changes between the draft initiative and the final approved initiative.

Per-cow production and culling activity will most likely determine if Idaho surpasses the nation’s current No. 3 milk-producing state, New York, by the end of the year.

After 33 years of teaching approximately 10,000 undergraduate students about animal agriculture, I have found that only two factors will cause a student to fail in the pursuit of reaching their vocational goals – lack of passion and poor attitude.

About a month ago, the folks at Progressive Dairyman sent a survey to professors involved in teaching students in dairy science.

Please understand that my selection of Student 3 comes from my perspective as the manager of a large commercial dairy operation.