For the fifth year, dairy producers, employees and consultants who want to improve their operations, but may not have time to attend workshops off-farm, will have access to the most recent information on topics ranging from cow comfort to nutrition to animal behavior through online workshops. These free online “Technology Tuesday Webinars” begin Tuesday, Sept. 23 and are available at no cost to anyone with a computer and a high-speed Internet connection.

While no formal groundbreaking ceremony has occurred, the Hilmar Cheese Co.has already started moving earth at the site ofits new Turlock, Calif., milk processing plant.

Adding to an extensive portfolio of drip irrigation system offerings, Netafim USA has entered into a strategic alliance with Nebraska-based T-L Irrigation in support of their patented Precision Mobile Drip Irrigation (PMDI) platform.

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) asked the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board (PMMB) to keep the Class I over-order premium price for milk at $1.60 per hundredweight and to maintain the current fuel adjuster for the six months beginning Oct. 1, 2014.

Dairy producers looking for assistance in understanding the changes brought by the Margin Protection Program (MPP) now have a number of online resources to turn to, including two new online calculators.

Semex is saddened to announce the passing of its 11th Millionaire Sire, R-E-W Buckeye. Proven through Semex’s Premier young sire proving program in the U.S. in August 2005, Buckeye’s popularity was instantaneous, arriving as one of the world’s most popular BW Marshall sons and ranking No. 4 TPI.

It would seem fair to say that dairy farms are beneficial to their local communities. Not only do they provide a nutritious food source, but have contributed nearly 900,000 jobs nationwide. On the contrary, could dairy farms have negative effects on our livelihood?

I have to admit that I wanted to write this editorial just because the headline is so intriguing. When I teased the idea of it to my fellow editors Emily Caldwell, Peggy Coffeen and Karen Lee, they said they wanted to read a draft when it was ready. What follows is mostly a travelog, but it does have a happy ending.

The country’s dairy farmers are proud to produce products that can be an important part of the American diet. Sometimes, however, consumers are confused about what role dairy can, or should, play in their diets. Their concerns run the gamut – from lactose intolerance to organic versus non-organic milk to the safety of raw milk.