Dan Glickman hasn’t left Washington, even though his last public service office as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture during the Clinton administration (1995-2001) ended in 2001. Glickman has since served as CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America and at several Washington think tanks. He is co-chair of AGree, a recently formed initiative backed by nine of the world’s leading non-profit foundations. Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley asked him about the initiative’s goal and his perspective on current ag issues.

Catharine Kuber Arlington, Virginia Membership Services Manager Animal Agriculture Alliance

Phillip Tobin Des Moines, Iowa Regional Sales Specialist Balchem Animal Nutrition & Health

Of all the tasks on a dairy producer’s to-do list, where does marketing fit? For some, it ranks up there with calculating rations or managing employees. For others, it is an inconsistent effort that gets attention on occasion. For still others, it is a very low priority. In the 15 years since the dairy markets have been in place, most dairy producers have fallen into the latter two categories. So if you are looking for evidence that marketing is worth the effort, you’ll find there is very little data documenting the cumulative effects of consistent marketing.

Dairymen can still legally sell Grade A milk in the U.S. if their herd’s average somatic cell count (SCC) is greater than 400,000 after August 1, but their options may be more limited without some effort. In November, the USDA announced it had agreed with the E.U. to begin certifying U.S. dairy farms that produce milk used for products or ingredients exported to the E.U. that have an on-farm average SCC of 400,000 or less. Many co-ops say they will ask their farms to comply with the agreement’s lower SCC standards, rather than segregate milk supplies. Most will start communicating this month the changes their members will see in order to be in compliance.

Here are some of the new products or updates to previous products that have been announced as of January 19, 2012. Return to this section of the Progressive Dairyman website periodically to find out what new products will be impacting the dairy industry.

Note: The following are opinion commentaries. No: The Dairy Security Act of 2011 and other sideshow plans are just another way for everyone to make money off of milk, except we farmers who produce it. We can all acknowledge there is not enough money in milk for everyone who touches it to be rich, so the popular answer seems to have the farmer buy expensive insurance. Picture a pie chart … Now, in your mind, make the circumference of that pie larger (money from insurance claims). Now cut your piece – bigger piece, right? But at whose expense? Yours! Yes, your piece will be bigger too, but don’t forget to deduct the premium you paid to insure everyone else a bigger piece. You lose again.