John Geuss of Adisseo discusses with PD Editor Walt Cooley a new app his company has recently released to help dairy producers calculate the economic impacts of amino acid balancing. The free app calculates the price of milk for any Federal Milk Marketing Order that pays on components. See what else the app can do in this video. PD Click here to see more videos from the Progressive Dairyman YouTube channel.

Aaron Kochman of Lauren AgriSystems talks with PD Editor Emily Caldwell about the ParlorPro app. The app itself is free but features a teat-scoring module for $20 a year that allows users to standardize their herd's teat scoring based on guidelines from the National Mastitis Council. PD

This issue contains some articles I’ve specifically asked our editors or contributors to gather together. Here’s why I think they are relevant. $12 corn –As corn prices rallied this summer due to the effects of drought, I asked Scott Stewart to write a follow-up to several articles he wrote a few years ago predicting conditions near those of the present. Click here to see his comments.

Editor’s note: This is the final article in a three-part series on developing middle managers. With the right people on the Scandinavian warship and everyone busy rowing, it is time to see who rows the best, who needs more direction and who might need to find a seat on another ship. “Employee evaluations remind the employee what your expectations are, give you a better handle on performances and provide marching orders for retraining, replacing or rewarding,” said Mary Kraft, a dairy producer from Fort Morgan, Colorado.

Promoting agriculture and specifically the dairy industry is something I think is very important. I enjoy telling people and educating them about the industry that I love so much. I’m often asked how I manage to juggle promoting the dairy industry, family life and farm life.

Hannah Miller, 21 Stephenville, Texas Student; Assistant Account Manager Throughout the several BSE investigations in the United States since the first case in late 2003, the safety of milk and dairy products has never been in question. To learn more about modern dairy farm practices, Click here.

The Lord commanded the children of Israel to remember that they were bondmen in the land of Egypt. But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing. —Deuteronomy 24:18

It could happen. Movies have shown us how. Whether from the radiation of a NASA Venus probe, the mutation of prions from Mad Cow Disease or – as postulated by Harvard psychiatrist Steven Schlozman – a virus leading to the condition known as Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Syndrome, the threat of the infectious brain-eating undead looms over us all.

The news out of Africa was not good. Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Three of his colleagues were killed as well. The event is developing as I write, but let me share with you a perspective. The diplomatic corps is but a fraction of the size of the U.S. military. Their efforts are diplomacy and development, whereas our military personnel work in the defense of our country and its interests. The diplomatic corps are generally foreign service officers, spending most of their time overseas.