A few weeks ago, I taught my husband’s heavy equipment class of high school students how to write a résumé and cover letter and gave them information to prepare them for an interview with a potential employer. I talked to them about skills, work experience, education and interests. I talked of job portfolios and letters of recommendation.

Preventative and low-level (feed) use of antibiotics in food animals have been incriminated as causes for antibiotic resistance in human pathogens. As a result of this concern, the European Commission has banned low-level feeding of antibiotics to cattle for growth promotion or disease prevention.

University of Idaho animal physiologist and dairy management Prof. Amin Ahmadzadeh works closely with Idaho’s rapidly growing dairy industry. He also puts a priority on educating future dairy leaders, recently winning national recognition as the cream of the crop among college teachers. “Amin is very deserving and does a great job with students. He’s enthusiastic and brings a lot to the classroom,” said John Foltz, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences associate dean and academic programs director. “My advice to all the teachers is that we must teach with all the energy we have. If at the end of class, we don’t feel exhausted and tired, we haven’t done our job. I want to give the students everything I have to help them learn. My mission is to accomplish that the best way I can,” Ahmadzadeh said. That works both ways. Students also have to invest effort, he added. “I tell students: Education is not something to have like a degree. Be an educated person.” Ahmadzadeh won one of six regional teaching awards given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. He was among eight professors, including two from the West, who were honored Nov. 12 in New York City by the nation’s oldest higher education association, which represents 216 colleges and universities. “His role is important because we’re a large and growing dairy state,” Foltz said, citing recent statistics that showed Idaho is battling with New York to become the third-largest milk producer in the U.S., behind California and Wisconsin. “We don’t have more cows, but we’re much more productive. Amin does a good job of giving our students a practical view of the science,” Foltz said. Idaho cows average 63 pounds of milk a day compared to New York cows’ 52 pounds. Ahmadzadeh, an associate professor of dairy management, joined the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences faculty in 2000. He teaches courses on dairy management and animal science. PD —Excerpts from University of Idaho news story Amin Ahmadzadeh Dairy Management Professor amin@uidaho.edu

It is now recognized that defining and meeting the nutritional requirements of the dry cow can greatly impact animal health, production in the ensuing lactation, overall longevity and animal well-being. Nutrition and management during the dry period are essential in determining the profitability of the cow for the rest of her lactation.

Replacements are an investment in the future of a dairy, and they are significant, often representing 15 to 20 percent of the total cost of milk production, which is second only to dairy feed costs. The likelihood of a positive payoff on those investments is dramatically improved when the management team has a system in place that generates quality heifers.

In a large room decorated with maps of Tajikistan, nearly 15 people gather for a day of training. These are Tajiks. They are agronomists. They speak Russian, and they are all men, except for two. This is their story.

When I met with Ted Carpenter and Paul Kelly more than 18 months ago, they had an idea that seemed almost too good to be true. I remember leaving the conversation thinking: “If they can prove what they are saying, then what they have to say would really be worth saying!” I am here to make good on my thoughts, because Bio-Environmental Solutions for Today (BEST) has lived up to its end of the conversation.

As the year ends, it brings a sense of closure for all that has transpired within the dairy industry during the past 12 months. We’ve seen higher than normal farm-gate milk prices coupled with record-breaking feed and fuel costs. Who would have ever thought corn would be more than $9 and wheat would be $4.50? And now diesel is $3.65 per gallon locally! What seems constant are the inconsistencies and the unexplained variables in the milk price/feed cost ratio.

Change is accelerating to an incredible pace in the dairy industry. In just the past few years we’ve had to deal with issues like: BSE, rBST, organic, high grain prices, volatile milk prices, feed grains for fuel production, high demand for milk components, cloning, sexed semen, consolidation, immigration, etc. It makes me think of Billy Joel’s song, “We didn’t start the fire.”

How do you make a good dairy a great dairy? Is it adopting all the latest gadgets that are introduced? Is it changing protocols all the time to stay on top? Neither of these are the answer for Jim Collins, author of the best-selling book, Good to Great. His answer is to focus on: “First who, then what.”