Just five years shy of their family dairy’s 100-year anniversary, dairymen brothers Bruce and Brad Scott of San Jacinto, California, faced a most terrible “what if” situation. State water quality regulators informed the Scotts that within five years they could no longer apply any manure – in liquid or solid form – to their adjacent farm ground.

The following individuals were among the finalists selected last year for the 40 Under 40 in Agriculture Awards. More than 200 individuals were nominated for the award, and the winners were chosen based on their leadership and commitment to advancing the cause to double food production by 2050. We asked a few of the winners who have ties to the dairy industry to talk about their current work and their thoughts on global milk and food production at the start of 2014.

Pizza can have some weird toppings. In South Korea, I saw Koreans sprinkle corn kernels on top of their pizzas. Even in the U.S., I’ve tasted some weird dessert pizzas, including one garnished with Reese’s pieces. And I’ve also seen long wedges of potato baked into the dough of the fast-food legend’s circular crust.

Idaho veterinarian Mark Kirkpatrick recently encouraged producers who are using regular DHIA testing to harness the power of the data they are collecting to improve their dairy operations, especially to improve disease monitoring and evaluation of the impacts on milk production. Kirkpatrick, a managing technical service veterinarian for Zoetis, spoke in December at Idaho DHIA’s annual meeting in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Just when I think it’s going to be difficult to find a Christmas-themed message that relates to the dairy industry, a miracle occurs. For this issue, several came together. From the beginning of my employment with Progressive Dairyman, our publisher emeritus Leon Leavitt has encouraged us to find Christ-centered articles and Nativity-themed art for our Christmas issues.

Jerry Kozak joined National Milk Producers Federation in 1997 as its CEO after previous work for the New Jersey Health Department, the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the International Dairy Foods Association. At the end of the year, he will retire and turn over leadership to incoming CEO Jim Mulhern. Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley interviewed Kozak about his decade-and-a-half tenure as leader of the Arlington, Virginia-based trade association.