The primary objective of a job description is to help employees and supervisors reach a mutual understanding about important details of a job in order to avoid future problems. This article discusses the need for job descriptions, how to prepare them, and how to make use of them for more effective human resource management. In addition, some examples of job descriptions for positions in the milking center are included. Job descriptions should never be considered final; they should be open to changes and should be reviewed at least once per year by both employee and supervisor.

A Minnesota company will take over two dairies in Veblen, South Dakota. Riverview LLP will assume management immediately after a bankruptcy judge approved a purchase agreement late last week, according to the company and court documents. The two dairies, known as Veblen East and Veblen West, will be renamed Marshall Dairy.

Louisiana's agriculture department says a vaccine developed by scientists at the LSU AgCenter is showing results in preventing a disease that costs U.S. cattle and dairy producers an estimated $300 million a year. The disease is "anaplasmosis," which is spread by ticks and destroys red blood cells in cattle.

DeLaval is sponsoring a webinar on Rule 4570 – Dairy Air Quality on Feb. 17 at noon PST. Paul Sousa of Western United Dairyman will be presenting on “New regulations and their impact.” He’ll discuss how the rule affects dairies milking more than 500 cows in the San Joaquin Valley, new silage requirements and the changes that were made to the previous rule.

When Congress last revised the nation's milk-pricing laws in 2008, groups representing dairy farmers and the companies that buy their milk struck a rare deal that sounded counterintuitive: buyers and sellers should be able to agree in advance to prices lower than what the federal government says farmers must be paid. Farmers aren't biting, the latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggest. Participation in the government's forward contracting program for milk is so meager that the USDA has stopped actively tracking it and has no immediate plans to collect the sort of data that would help Congress decide whether to extend the program in next year's rewrite of federal farm policy.

Today, Governor Tom Corbett announced George Greig of Linesville, as Pennsylvania's Secretary of Agriculture. Acting Secretary Greig, a former dairy farmer andcurrent crop farmer,owns and operates a650acre farm in partnership with his brother in Crawford County.

 In an off-farm capacity, Acting Secretary Greig has served on the USDA Farm Service Agency PA State Committee,Crawford County Conservation District, Conneaut Township Supervisor and Great Lakes Regional Water Board. Healso currently serves as a State Board Member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.

World Dairy Expo is pleased to announce the 2011 official judges. The individuals who will be responsible for placing more than 2,500 head of dairy cattle during the five-day show are:

Pfizer Animal Health announces the return of the FFA and American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Foundation Support Program, which has resulted in more than $2.38 million in contributions to local FFA chapters and veterinary student scholarships since its inception in 2008.

NRCS is currently revising the National 590 Nutrient Management Standard. The proposed new national 590 Nutrient Management technical standard was posted on Jan. 11, 2011, on the Federal Register.