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Agricultural equipment manufacturers have risen to meet the needs of today’s growing industry; however, local town and county roads where this equipment travels have not changed.
Based on the results of a four-state, four-year study (click here to read Lee's article in the March 21st issue of Progressive Dairyman and more about this study), Kevin Erb, conservation professional development and training coordinator with the University of Wisconsin Extension, has identified a few short-term and long-term solutions.
“There are several key steps the farm community and town board can take to minimize damage potential,” Erb says.
According to the U.S. EPA’sAgSTAR program, anaerobic digesters are technically feasible at more than 2,600 U.S. dairy operations, but many early adopters of methane digester systems find they are not supported by the current market conditions and energy policies.
HOW WE MET: I met Rachel a few years ago through mutual friends when I was looking for someone to watch a little person very near and dear to me. I see Rachel a few days every week.
While she knows what I do for a living, the majority of the time our conversations are about kids and family.
Knowing she’s a mom trying to do right for her kids and those entrusted to her each day, I thought she’d be a good example of a primary household shopper from small-town, middle America.
Nearly 1,400 people from 26 states and five countries gathered in Madison, Wisconsin, last week for the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin Business Conference. With “Innovation” as the theme, dairy producers and allied industry shared ideas through educational sessions and the Hall of Ideas trade show. All great ideas and innovations come with a little inspiration. To provide that at the 2012 event was Donald Driver of the Green Bay Packers football team.
With a name like World Ag Expo, the event is bound to attract people from all over. While there, Progressive Dairyman met up with Meerten and Anita Zeldenrust from Barrhead, Alberta. They had traveled to Tulare, California, as part of a tour group.
Each spring, Meerten and Anita like to travel to a destination outside Canada. When they saw an advertisement in Progressive Dairyman announcing a trip to California for the World Ag Expo organized by Ken Natzke Travel, they decided to give it a try.
With a name like World Ag Expo, this event is bound to attract people from all over.
Not only were some attendees arriving two-by-two, others were coming in a busload at a time.
Progressive Dairyman was able to catch up with four different tours that made their way west to Tulare, California.
James De Jong (right), agriculture analyst for Rabobank N.A., began his morning seminar echoing how important the export market is to the U.S. dairy industry for 2012 and beyond.
“Without this global market we would not have been able to grow at the rate we are accustomed to in the U.S.,” De Jong said. The U.S. dairy industry is highly linked to the global market.
To exit that market would mean contracting the industry by 8 to 10 percent, a feat that would be detrimental to most dairymen.
Over the past decade the export market has become a viable portion of the U.S. dairy industry. A panel of dairy producer leaders shared their experience in learning more about this growing opportunity.
California dairy producer and Dairy Management Inc. board member Jim Ahlem explained how the DMI business model has evolved over the years to increase the impact of each dollar invested by dairy producers.
Everyone seems to have a comment to make about food these days. The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) is encouraging those that spend their days producing food to become a part of the conversation.
USFRA is a coalition of more than 70 national, regional and state agricultural groups and their partners committed to continuously improving how food is grown and raised to provide healthy choices for people everywhere.
On Sep. 2, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would make revisions to existing regulations pertaining to the employment of youth on farming and ranching operations.
Five months later, the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade met for a hearing titled “The Future of the Family Farm: The Effect of Proposed DOL Regulations on Small Business Producers.”
The hearing was held to examine these rules so that members may better understand their potential effect on small business farm operations as well as youths working in or training for occupations in agriculture.
