The president of the Iowa Farm Bureau will lead the board that governs Iowa’s public universities after his colleagues voted to carry out a personnel shake-up orchestrated by Republican Gov. Terry Branstad. One day after David Miles, the Board of Regents president, and Jack Evans, its president pro tem, announced they were stepping down at the governor's request, the board voted 7-0 to name dairy farmer Craig Lang, of Brooklyn, Iowa, as board president. The board also voted 7-0 to name agribusiness leader Bruce Rastetter, the top donor to Branstad's campaign last year, the president pro tem.

Dodge City, Kansas, plans to build a $7 million facility for a large agricultural exhibition show that had previously been held in Garden City and Great Bend. The Western Kansas Manufacturers Association (WKMA) has hosted the 3i Show, a major ag-related trade expo, in Garden City and Great Bend in alternating years for nearly six decades. The three i’s in 3i Show stand for irrigation, implements and industry.

Heartland Grains and Milling, LLC, a manufacturer of poultry feeds, was acquired by Pacific Elements, LLC effective July 1, according to Pacific Elements, LLC, Director of Operations, Vince Cline. The two companies share the Heartland facilities in Ceres, California, where Pacific Elements, LLC is a major supplier of custom animal feed supplements for dairy, beef, poultry, pet and companion animals.

The U.S. EPA AgSTAR Program is pleased to provide information on U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Value-Added Producer Grant Program. Applications are being accepted for grants to provide economic assistance to independent producers, farmer and rancher cooperatives, and agricultural producer groups through the Value-Added Producer Grant Program. The grants may be used for feasibility studies or business plans, working capital for marketing value-added agricultural products, and for farm-based renewable energy projects, including anaerobic digester projects. Eligible applicants include independent producers, farmer and rancher cooperatives, and agricultural producer groups.

Due to increasing demand, global animal health and nutrition company Alltech has started construction on its 32nd production facility globally, and ninth North American in one of its fastest growing regions in the U.S. The new site will call Clovis, New Mexico, home and will be the fifth of its kind to produce one of Alltech’s emerging technologies, Optigen. Optigen, a non-protein nitrogen source originally developed by Cornell University and then later purchased from Agway, has found a niche in today’s volatile dairy market.

Midwest Dairy Association has announced the six Ozarks Division winners of the Midwest Dairy Educational Award, a $500 scholarship for college expenses. “The Midwest Dairy Association’s Educational Award supports our local dairy farmers by helping them to fund the higher education of their children in whatever field of study they pursue,” said John Howerton, Berryville, Arkansas, chair of Midwest Dairy’s Ozarks Division board.

Farms Technology, L.L.C., announced a mobile trading technology application for their enhanced electronic grain marketing program, providing even more flexibility for the buying and selling of corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum. DPP (Dynamic Pricing Platform) grain desk helps sellers of grain commodities make, manage and monitor offers. As an extension of this online system, the new mobile app, which is available on iPhone and Android smart phone systems, is the latest innovation in the grain commodities trading market designed to connect sellers with their preferred buyer.

A number of research and education projects designed to provide reliable data to soybean growers, expand markets for soybeans and educate the public have been awarded checkoff grants by the Pennsylvania Soybean Promotion Board. In addition, the Board also awarded grants for research benefiting animal agriculture, the largest domestic user of soymeal and the largest sector of Pennsylvania’s agricultural industry.

For months, it's been so hot and dry in Louisiana that the 125 cows and 80 heifers at Forrest Hill Dairy were getting a mid-day misting to cool them down. With their usual Kentwood pastures bare dirt, they've been eating baled grasses that Cathy Forrest had planned for winter hay. Even with the noontime break, the cows are too hot to eat as much as usual so milk production is down.