Western United Dairymen has secured $500,000 for water quality projects on dairies in California’s Central Valley. The funding is provided through the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP), part of the 2008 Farm Bill conservation title, and is administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) made cash payments of $4.8 million in equity retirements in April. These cash payments represent the retirement of the 2002 Equities. This is in addition to the $1.9 million in cash patronage from 2010 earnings paid to members earlier this year. Combined, MMPA has paid $6.7 million in addition to the monthly milk check to its dairy farmer members in the first four months of 2011.

Country music recording artist John Michael Montgomery started the 2011 Central Plains Dairy Expo with a bang on March 29. More than 2,600 people were estimated to have attended the three-day event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with the vast majority being dairy producers. Other special events included a Prayer Breakfast, where Harvey and Lisa Van Ess, Van Ess Dairy, Sanborn, Iowa, and Mike Wells, president and CEO of Wells Dairy, LeMars, Iowa gave testimonials in faith. Story continues below photo slideshow.

Upgrade means fewer requirements for most Minnesota cattle producers; state remains committed to ensuring disease is eliminated from cattle and wildlife. The Minnesota Board of Animal Health today announced that the State of Minnesota will be submitting an application for statewide bovine Tuberculosis (TB)-Free status by the end of April. The request comes less than six years after the discovery of an infected beef herd in July 2005. The Board anticipates approval of the application in late summer or early fall of this year.

The leading national trade organizations representing dairy producers and processors today sent a letter to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, urging him to oppose legislation in the state senate that would allow the direct sale of raw milk to the public. In the letter from the dairy associations, which was also sent to State Senate Democratic Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) said that the food safety risks inherent in raw milk will increase the incidence of foodborne illness and reverse public heath improvements in New Jersey.

A recent Prospective Plantings report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows an increase in corn acres the National Corn Growers Association said. The report, based on a survey of actual farmer intentions in March, states farmers intend to plant 92.2 million corn acres in 2011. This is a 5 percent increase from 2010 and up 7 percent from 2009. If realized, it will be the second highest corn planting in the United States since 1944. This is just behind the 93.5 million acres planted in 2007.

If you couldn’t picture a better way of life than family dairy farming, here’s your chance to prove it. Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., a family-owned business, is proud to introduce the Dairy Life Photo Contest. The contest is calling all dairy farm families to submit photos that capture what their cherished lifestyle is all about. Winning entrants will appear in a 2012 calendar to be distributed across the country and at the 2011 World Dairy Expo.

As part of its ongoing commitment to invest in the future of the veterinary profession, Pfizer Animal Health announced the recipients of its second annual student scholarship program. Pfizer awarded $2,500 each to 300 second- and third-year veterinary students at accredited universities throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean, for a total of $750,000.

More than 70 auction items donated by dairy industry enthusiasts brought a total of $20,000 for dairy education programs of the Professional Dairy Producers Foundation in its 2011 Silent Auction. A package of 100 units of Semex Semen with tank topped the auction at $2,850. Dairy Producer Loren Greenfield from Markesan, Wisconsin, purchased the semen units and Justin Daniels of Kansasville, Wisconsin, purchased the semen storage tank, donated by Semex and ai24. Twelve tons of dry distillers grain donated by United Wisconsin Grain Producers garnered the second-highest amount of $2,100, purchased by Russ Warmka of Fox Lake, Wisconsin.