Alan Zepp, risk management program manager at Pennsylvania's Center for Dairy Excellence, provided a dairy market update and discussed risk management options during his monthly “Protecting Your Profits” conference call on May 25.

I love the fairs. Mostly because some of my best childhood memories were made in the cattle barns at the King County Fair and the Washington State Fair while showing my cows. A lot has changed since my 4-H days, but the fair is still a great place to connect with consumers about agriculture.

Arla will offer milk premiums for European dairy farmers steering clear of GMO feeds. U.S. dairy loses a leader with death of Kirkpatrick. Asian companies are investing in Russia. This and other U.S. dairy industry news can be found here.

Although the term “nutritional scours” is often thrown around in today’s dairy industry, what many calf raisers might diagnose as nutritional scours is likely the result of common misperceptions surrounding nutrition inputs and manure outputs. Below are six common scours myths:

California’s Class 4b milk price whey factor is now permanent. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will not defend a state law that excludes farm workers from the right to organize. Montana’s Board of Livestock approved a fee arrangement to help pay the costs of dairy inspections in the state. This and other U.S. region-by-region dairy news can be found here.

There’s a new Canadian-U.S. "protein highway." A House committee included key dairy provisions in the “Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act.” OSHA has new reporting requirements for large farms. The International Trade Commission says U.S. dairy will fair well under TPP. This and other U.S. dairy policy news can be found here.

Beverly HamptonFARM Program CoordinatorNational Milk Producers FederationWashington, D.C.

Emily Yeiser SteppDirector, FARM Animal Care ProgramNational Milk Producers FederationPotomac Falls, Virginia

Failure. I looked at the big fat F next to organic chemistry and felt every dream, every optimistic thought in my head fade to gray and disappear. I had just finished the fall semester of my junior year of college and returned home for Christmas break. It was the first time I’d ever failed a class or anything for that matter. Sitting there in my room, I’d never felt so frustrated, so defeated, so hopeless.