Here are a few thoughts on three articles I suggest you don’t miss in this issue:

The dairy checkoff’s strategy of working with partners to move more dairy is paying off as the country’s leading food service companies, processors and retailers invest in initiatives that find more homes for milk.

Your local promotion staff works in a variety of ways with partners and others to help move more dairy. Some highlights: SUDIA and the United Dairymen of Idaho partnered with Chick-fil-A to bring together menu developers from restaurant chains headquartered in the Southeast.

Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) recently promoted Barb O’Brien to the newly created position of president. In this role, she will oversee the strategic planning and operations for DMI, which manages the national dairy checkoff. O’Brien, a 15-year DMI veteran, also remains as president of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.

Most dairies have various individuals who owners and managers can go to for advice in the many areas of management and operational matters. Often, this is informal and includes those individuals having some level of input on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

Increased volatility in exports, which is creating price instability, signals that U.S. dairy farmers are operating in a global market more now than ever before, according to Matt Gould, analyst with Dairy Food and Market Analyst Inc.

There’s nothing any of us want more in this world than to take care of our family. To give them opportunities we never had. So we work and build something, a business, in which the rewards may not be reaped during our lifetime but can hopefully be an opportunity for the next generations.

Editor’s note: Click here to read this article in Spanish. In a matter of seconds, one small mistake can change a dairy farmer’s life forever. Did you know human negligence is the major cause of machine-related accidents?