The feature story about demand for fluid milk on the cover of this year’s June Dairy Month issue has been in development for several months. Fluid milk represents a significant portion of U.S. domestic demand. And it’s in trouble again.

Per-capita fluid milk consumption in the U.S. has been in decline for a number of years. Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley recently asked Dairy Management, Inc. CEO Tom Gallagher why fluid milk consumption is in decline and what can be done to reverse the trend. Q. Why is fluid milk consumption declining? A. GALLAGHER: It’s a fact that for all but one of the last 25-plus years, per-capita milk consumption has declined. There are a lot of people who operate under the myth that the fluid market is a mature market and it’s just not capable of growing. That’s just not true.

After the introduction and live demonstration of DeLaval's newest robotic milking parlor in Gamleby, Sweden, there were many questions about the possibilities for future adaptions of the technology. DeLaval's Jonas Hallman, director of automatic milking, fielded most of these questions. He's been working with the company's robotics division for the past three years and has seen how far the technology has already come. In the video below Hallman discusses the technology's potential in the future.

This article was #1 in PDmag's Top 5 most-well read New Technology articles in 2011. to jump to the article. Summary: The public display of a robotic rotary was arguably one of the most important announcements of 2011, so we weren't surprised to see this particular article top the list. Had it been included in the Top 25 most online-read articles, it would have ranked second, beat only by the raw milk poll. In fact, the YouTube videos accompanying this article, featuring a tour of the rotary and interviews with DeLaval leaders, received more than 2,000 views. Because this article was so popular, we asked DeLaval Marketing Manager Mark Futcher some follow-up questions: Q: What type of interest have you received? How do you quantify that interest? A: In the U.S., the interest in DeLaval Automatic Milking Rotary (AMR) from dairy producers has varied from those who are curious about the technology to those desiring to have the country’s first commercial installation. Most of the interest has come from farmers with herd sizes ranging from 300 to 900 lactating cows.

Two years ago we requested a few randomly selected U.S. producers in all regions of the country take a readership survey. Thankfully, many of them participated.

Central Valley dairymen and two dairy nutrition companies recently gave a helping hand to a Visalia soup kitchen and Christian social service organization. The Visalia Rescue Mission held its second annual Empty Bowls fundraiser dinner in Tulare County, California, in March. Diamond V and Nutrius sponsored the event and invited their local dairy clients to buy a ticket and attend. A minimum donation of $25 was required for a ticket. Jessica Van Ginkel, community development director for the Visalia Rescue Mission, says ticket sales and donations helped raise more than $12,000 for the center. Some gave more than the requested $25 ticket price.

While taking my occasional turn feeding our 4-month-old son at odd hours of the night, I catch up on reading articles and news on my smartphone. I’ve subscribed to several RSS news feeds, and with the aid of an app, I can read and share them with others from one application. (I’m a fan of the iPhone’s Reeder app – .99¢ on iTunes.)