California Dairies, Inc. (CDI), Dairy Farmers of America Western Area (DFA) and Land O’Lakes, Inc. (LOL) have submitted a petition to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) requesting an emergency public hearing to consider a change to the Class 4b pricing formula. The petition specifically requests a temporary modification to the sliding scale that translates market prices for dry whey into higher monetary contributions to the California Class 4b price. This change to the Class 4b milk pricing formula would remain in place for 12 months and would represent the full value of whey as contained in the federal class III pricing formula.

Replacing key employees or hiring a new herdsman can cause turmoil for you and the rest of your workers. When necessary, promoting good workers from within your staff to key middle management positions works better than hiring an “unknown quantity” from another dairy. Not only do you know more about a potential candidate because he or she has a history with you, but you also have a person who is already familiar with you and the “culture” of your dairy. However, the adjustment required by both you and the employee is significant and the preparation to make the change should not be underestimated.

The Animal Agriculture Alliance has added to its board of directors and executive committee. Mark Etienne (Potash Corporation), Billy Frey (Alltech), Scott Oler (Vance Publishing Corporation), Paul Matzat (Genus/PIC) and Kathy Simmons (National Cattlemen’s Beef Association) recently joined the list of 27 board members. Jeff Cannon (Diamond V) and Jamie Jonker (National Milk Producers Federation) were added to the board’s executive committee. Current chairman Chris Ashworth (Elanco Animal Health) welcomed Paul Pressley (U.S. Poultry & Egg Association) as the alliance’s new chair-elect and Sherrie Niekamp (National Pork Board) as treasurer. Kristi Krafka, vice president of regulatory affairs and quality assurance for the animal nutrition and health division of Kemin in North America, will serve a two-year appointment as the chair of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) Feed Regulatory Committee.

Brian Nelson Turlock, California Regional Services Specialist – Western Region Accelerated Genetics

Andrea Tholen Mercer, Pennsylvania Penn State Extension Extension Educator – Dairy Herd Health

Patrick Criteser Portland, Oregon President and CEO Tillamook County Creamery Association

Devin Hyde Rochester, Minnesota Calf and Heifer Specialist Purina Animal Nutrition

David Treiber Dublin, California Senior Vice President of Fluid Business Development California Dairies, Inc.

Milk Specialties Global Human Nutrition Division announced new developments in dairy protein and nutraceutical ingredients. Whey Protein Hydrolysate powder for tablets allows for compaction into tablets with unprecedented ease and delivers high quality, easier to digest whey protein in a quick ingestible form.

A new product in the Dairymaster range is the platform teat sprayer for rotary parlors, which provides both pre-spray and post-spray of teats. For the pre-spray, the cow walks onto the rotary and when her CowID is displayed on the milk meter the intelligent software activates so that she is sprayed for a predefined time. For the post-spray, once the cluster is removed from the cow again the intelligent software activates and there is a spray delay time.