Through World Ag Expo's Concerts for a Cause, the International Agri-Center has provided a grant for two future agriculture teachers to attend the World Food Prize conference. The students will learn firsthand about the global community's best efforts to alleviate hunger and promote the human right to a stable, nutritious supply of food. As the first recipients of the National FFA Organization's World Food Prize Grants, they will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 12-15, to attend the World Food Prize. Selected for the experience are Allison Nicole Hoover, 20, of Pennsylvania State University and Kirby John Schmidt, 20, of the University of Minnesota.

Contributions from Pfizer Animal Health and participating veterinarians, animal health suppliers and dealers continue to grow in support of FFA programs and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Foundation – Pfizer Veterinary Student Scholarships. This spring’s contribution of $890,870 brings the total amount donated through the Pfizer Animal Health FFA/AABP support program to more than $3.6 million since its inception in 2008.

The market management element of the dairy legislative package being readied for introduction in Congress would not have been active in 2010 or 2011, according to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), which helped develop the Foundation for the Future program on which the legislation is based. NMPF made the announcement to clarify misconceptions that farm-level margins would have been tight enough in the past 18 months to activate the proposed Dairy Market Stabilization Program (DMSP), one of three elements of NMPF’s Foundation for the Future program.

The USDA recently awarded Washington State University and five partnering land-grant universities $4.1 million for a five-year project to address issues associated with climate change and animal agriculture. The funding comes from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) via its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program. The project will be facilitated through the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center (http://www.extension.org/animal_manure_management).

The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, in affiliation with the Dairy Research Institute, announced the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards, a new program to recognize dairy farms, businesses and collaborative partnerships for efforts that deliver outstanding economic, environmental and/or social benefit, thus helping to advance sustainability of the dairy industry. The awards are divided into three categories: dairy farm, dairy processing/manufacturing and energy conservation/generation. Nominations are being accepted through Dec. 1.

JBS United and DeKalb Feeds have entered into a joint venture involving Dekalb’s Frytown, Iowa, mill facility. The new venture is called Central Nutrition Services, LLC, (CNS). CNS will focus on manufacturing superior quality livestock feeds and nutritional supplements for both JBS United and DeKalb Feeds and their customers throughout the Midwest. This announcement was made by Doug Webel, chief operating officer of JBS United’s Nutrition and Emerging Technologies, and Kelly Keaschall, president of DeKalb Feeds, Inc.

For more than three decades, Alltech has remained committed to its founding ACE principle; a promise that when doing business they have a positive impact on the animal, consumer and the environment. In order to achieve this, they have strategically placed regional offices in some of the most influential agricultural communities in North America, and one of them is in Fresno, California. Although placed in a starter office, they have maintained a steady presence with local businesses, producers and organizations.

With recent devastating floods destroying many U.S. farms, Dow AgroSciences, through The Dow Chemical Company Foundation, donated $100,000 to help with flood relief efforts in six states. Thousands of Dow AgroSciences’ customer locations and millions of acres have been impacted in the Midwest and Midsouth regions, and the funds will be used in efforts to help the agricultural community recover from the flood damage.

AgriLabs' Vice President of Marketing, Jim Glassford, will present the winners of the AgriLabs Dr. Bruce Wren Continuing Education Awards at the 44th annual meeting of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. These annual awards honor Dr. Bruce Wren, a long-time AgriLabs Technical Services veterinarian, in recognition of his lifelong commitment to practical and formal continuing education for veterinarians.

The Center for Dairy Excellence offers the Student Leader Scholarship Program to provide recognition, encouragement and financial assistance to outstanding students enrolled in academic programs that support the dairy industry. In 2011, the center had 23 applicants. Seven individuals were selected by the center's Board of Directors to receive $1,000 scholarships.