Plans for a powdered milk processing plant in Fallon, Nevada, that would create 44 full-time jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs have moved a giant step closer to reality. Quail Hollow LLC, a subsidiary of Dairy Farmers of America, closed an agreement with the city of Fallon to buy 31.5 acres. Construction of the $70-million facility is tentatively scheduled to begin in May and be completed by the summer of 2013, Fallon’s Lahontan Valley News reported. Eric Grimes, executive director of the Churchill Economic Development Authority, said the plant would have a “massive impact on the county and the region.”

State water regulators found more than 50 decomposing cow carcasses at the Rego Dairy in Gustine, California. The operator could face fines and a referral to the state Attorney General's office. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a cleanup order. Dairy owner Franklin Rego has until March 30 to dispose of the carcasses. If he can't meet that deadline, he could face fines.

The Dairy Practices Council is excited to announce the distribution of five guidelines: REVISED Guideline 58, Guidelines for Sizing Dairy Farm Water Heater Systems. This is the third edition of this popular and handy reference. It has been updated to show the latest technology applicable to dairy farm hot water needs to clean pipeline milker systems.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids (FS4JK). The organization has promoted farm safety to more than 6 million people through local programs and education since 1987. Over the past 25 years, FS4JK has established a network of more than 120 chapters across the U.S. and Canada that offer farm safety presentations on a local level. In that time, 35,600 volunteers donated 280,000 hours of their time to help promote safety on the farm.

More than 100,000 consumers have requested ongoing information about food and agriculture through the Center for Food Integrity’s (CFI) successful Farmers Feed US program. The database includes email addresses for consumers in 12 states (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania) who have “opted-in” for additional information while registering in Farmers Feed US sweepstakes.

JCB, the world’s largest privately-owned construction equipment manufacturer, is building upon the success of its New Generation skid steer and compact track loader line with the addition of eight new small platform machines. The eight new machines – the 135, 155, 175, 190 and 205 skid steers and the 150T, 190T and 205T compact track loaders – complement JCB’s nine large platform New Generation models launched in November 2010.

BioTracking LLC continues to improve its industry leading pregnancy detection technology for use in ruminant animals. Advances by BioTracking researchers have allowed the company to update the BioPRYN blood pregnancy test to determine the pregnancy status of livestock as early as 73 days post-calving, reducing the wait time for pregnancy diagnosis post-calving by 17 days.When applied at 28 days or more post-breeding and 73 days post-calving, the new test is more than 99 percent accurate when an animal is determined to be open.