The annual meeting of the Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation will be held on Thursday, March 10, at the Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation Dairy Center near Calmar, Iowa.

As today’s dairy industry continues to change and evolve, the perception is that producers can do very little to control milk price and on-farm profitability. But, this isn’t true; producers can learn to manage risk to control their future. In March, Penn State Dairy Alliance will host a series of one-day workshops across Pennsylvania titled Managing Your Milk Margin to Improve Your Dairy Cash Flow. This workshop is tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual dairy. During the workshop, annual cash flows will be evaluated for each farm, and producers will learn more about risk management as it relates to their operation’s income over feed cost and milk margin breakeven.

A half century ago Harold Gould was looking for some good land to start a farm. The Delaware County native in 1956 picked a spot on South Street Road in Pavilion, New York. The high limestone soil has a good pH for growing crops. But Gould, now 82, noticed some spots didn’t drain well. He installed tile to move water off the land so he could plant crops sooner in the spring. He was rewarded with better yields in the well-drained soil.

The National FFA Organization is now accepting applications for its 2011 New Century Farmer conference. The exclusive, highly competitive conference is open to college of agriculture students who intend to pursue careers in production agriculture after college. Those selected to attend the conference will be among the first in the nation to learn about the latest technological developments in the agriculture industry, and will receive business management advice from top industry leaders. The program will also help students begin to develop a nationwide network of industry professionals and colleagues to whom they can turn for support when they begin their own operations.

to jump to the article. Click here to see "Cool stuff we saw at World Ag Expo [2012]" Summary: This article in our March 1st issue, detailed the new and neat things editors observed while attending the world’s largest outdoor agricultural exhibition held in Tulare, California. Coverage of World Ag Expo-related activities will ramp up in the first four issues in the new year. In our January 1st issue of 2012, Progressive Dairyman will preview the unique dairy-related events that will occur during this year’s show. A map of the dairy area of the show grounds will be inserted into the January 20th issue. And a recap of the cool stuff our editors saw will appear again in the March 1st issue. Watch for more information about the eight dairy-specific seminars Progressive Dairyman will be hosting during the show. Several of the sessions will highlight forward-thinking dairies and their straightforward owners in virtual farm tours.

Early this morning I read this blogpost (http://www.ethanolrfa.org/exchange/entry/ethanol-fact-vacuum)from the Renewable Fuels Association: In it, the author claims that "America is still feeding the same amount of corn to livestock it historically has." According to USDA data, feed corn and corn byproduct usage declined from 2008 through 2009. To RFA's credit, total livestock populations on feed during that time were nose-diving and depressed, as was the economy. The latest estimates from last month indicate feed corn use will increase slightly during the current marketing year, spanning Sept. 2010 to Aug. 2011.