With more than 1,700 exhibitors and 100,000 attendees from 67 countries all on 2.6 million square feet of showgrounds, World Ag Expo is the largest ag expo of its kind worldwide. During this year’s show February 12-14, the grounds will expand again with the addition of the Dairy Technology Center (DTC) and surrounding outdoor dairy exhibit space.

There’s more room at World Ag Expo this year. A new venue, named the Dairy Technology Center, will house an extra 130 dairy exhibits under an indoor canvas tent on the southern side of the International AgriCenter showgrounds.

How can someone who milks water buffalo win a contest sponsored by a magazine for dairymen with traditional milk cows? The answer for Kent Underwood is simple: Milking water buffalo isn’t much different from milking a Holstein.

Live dairy cattle will be on display during this year’s World Ag Expo for the first time in show history. The exhibit, part of Semex’s “Walk of Fame,” will allow dairy producers to see and touch nine lactating dairy cattle, featuring Holstein and Jersey breeds.

Taller is better when Lawson Spicer formulates a close-up ration for Skyward Dairy.“We want a pretty bulky ration,” says Spicer, a nutritionist based in Claremont, California.

Simply putting cows out to pasture during their dry period is a thing of the past. Today’s dairy needs a dry cow management program to ensure healthy cows and consequently, healthy calves.

On some dairy operations dry cows are “out of sight, out of mind.” While it’s important to keep the dry period as uneventful as possible, we still need to monitor dry cow activity to ensure cows have every opportunity to calve successfully and begin profitable lactations.

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