Connecting dairy producers on an international level was the focus of the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) Business Conference, held March 18-19 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Leaving behind the winter-gripped Northeast, 40 dairy producers boarded a bus in Tallahassee for three days touring Florida-Georgia line dairies during the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania (PDMP) 2015 March Dairy Tour. Tour-goers were quite curious how dairy managers in the South coax 82 to 95 pounds per cow per day and 120,000 to 180,000 SCC in the region’s heat and humidity.

Indiana Dairy Producers (IDP) held their annual meeting on March 16 in Indianapolis to highlight their new strategic plan, honor two outstanding dairy families and review last year’s events.

Nearly 200 people from 31 states and two provinces attended the Midwest Manure Summit in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at the end of February. Hosted by the University of Wisconsin Extension, the summit covered all things manure, from application and regulations to processing and odor. Various separation and nutrient recovery technologies were discussed.

Two founding members of the Western Dairy Management Conference were honored in March with memorial lectures during the 12th biennial gathering of the conference in Reno, Nevada. More than 1,600 researchers, educators, allied industry and dairy producers from across the country participated in the three-day educational event for large-herd dairies.

During the 2015 National Mastitis Council meeting, Dr. Brandon Treichler, quality control veterinarian with Select Milk Producers, and Scott Hughes of Hughes Consulting Services, led an on-farm workshop to improve milk quality observation techniques.