Corn harvest lagging in Wisconsin

A late spring and a wet fall have created a one-two punch that has led to a late Wisconsin corn harvest. In the November 30 Wisconsin Crop Progress, published by the Wisconsin field office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, they report that 67 percent of corn intended for grain has been harvested . . . which means 33 percent still stands in the field. By way of comparison, last year 97 percent was harvested by this time. The five-year harvest average for this week is 95 percent. Just one week ago, only 59 percent of the corn destined for grain was off the field, compared to five-year average of 87 percent.

Wisconsin's wet autumn has led Govenor Jim Doyle to issue an executive order allowing farmers to haul overweight loads on most roads to get their crops to storage or processing. The order will last through the end of December, except for the Christmas holidays, Dec. 24 through 27, and exempts vehicles from weight restrictions if they are carrying corn, potatoes, cranberries, and soybeans to storage or processing. These loads can exceed weight limits by 15 percent. Farmers must meet all other vehicle requirements for size, operation, and driver qualifications and cannot travel on roadways with special weight restrictions or on most interstates.

World Dairy Expo classes now on DVD

If you would like to own a three-disc set of the International Holstein Show, you may order it at www.worlddairyexpo.com or call the World Dairy Expo office at (608) 224-6455. Orders will be accepted through January 1, 2010.

The International Holstein Show is captured in its entirety, including interviews and sponsor messages just as it was seen on the big screen at the show and on the world wide web. Each class has been recorded on a DVD and chaptered by class. The three-disc DVD set sells for $25. The Supreme Champion ceremony is also available in its entirety on a separate DVD.

All the other breed shows have been edited to include each class parading in the ring followed by judge’s reasons on the class. Each colored breed class sells for $15.

Sexed semen vs. conventional: When does it pay?

According to Dr. Victor Cabrera (pictured), assistant professor and extension specialist in dairy management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the answer tends to be an easy one and is often dependent upon just one huge herd performance aspect at each dairy – A.I. conception rate.

In his presentation at the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council’s annual meeting November 19-20 in Boise, Idaho, Cabrera said sexed semen use in heifers in high-conception-rate herds (83 percent and above) virtually always makes sense but tends to rarely be profitable in low-conception-rate herds (34 percent and less).

For average-conception-rate herds, the answer is less clear and depends greatly upon two other factors – what the current market value of heifers is and the price difference between conventional and sexed semen used at the dairy. In general, though, using sexed semen for the first two breedings tends to be more profitable than conventional semen.

“The single most important factor in this decision is current or expected conception rate,” said Cabrera, “and the biggest variable is the value of heifer calves. In situations where heifers are expensive and conception rate is high, five or more A.I. breedings with sexed semen is likely justified. But if heifers are inexpensive, especially if conception rate is low, it may not be wise to use sexed semen at all.”

He added that there are other important factors that each dairy must also consider when making a sexed versus conventional decision which he could not incorporate into his financial computer model. These include decreased biosecurity risks, the possibility of faster genetic progress, and herd expansion opportunities.

Milk price will continue to strengthen

We can expect higher milk prices in the months ahead. The recent USDA Economic Research Service publication, Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook, explains the fundamentals at work.

Simply put, milk supply will be coming back into closer balance with demand. A continued drop in cow numbers will be a big driver. There has been a 226,000-cow drop in the U.S. dairy herd size during the past year. USDA expects the U.S. dairy herd to average 2 percent fewer cows during 2010 than in 2009. The estimated national herd in October was 9.1 million cows.

Declining feed prices should help push up milk per cow to trend levels during 2010. The 2009 average is expected to end up around 20,570 pounds per cow and rise to 20,950 next year, a gain of 1.85 percent.

The average price of corn next year is estimated to be around $3.55 per bushel compared to just over $4 this year. Soybean meal price for 2010 is projected to be around $280 per ton compared to $331 this past year.

USDA now is forecasting 2010 milk production to be 187.7 billion pounds, which would be a 0.8 percent drop from where milk production is expected to end up for 2009.

World demand, especially for butter and powder products, is improving the export outlook. The improved outlook for economic recovery in the rest of the world, especially in Asia, combined with lower-than-forecast milk production from Oceania, form the basis for robust export demand, says the report.

Cheese and butter prices next year are forecast to be approximately 35 cents and 27 cents a pound higher next year, respectively. This would translate into an average Class III price next year of around $15.40 next year compared to about $11.25 this year. The All-Milk Price could average in the range of $16.50 per hundredweight next year compared to $12.65 this year.

Stonyfield and CROPP enter new partnership to sustain organic dairy farming

CROPP, the nation’s largest organic milk cooperative recently announced that it has entered a new partnership with Stonyfield Organic. CROPP is best-known to the dairy industry for its Organic Valley brand of dairy products. For more than 11 years, CROPP has supplied milk for all of Stonyfield’s dairy products with the exception of fluid milk. However, in this new partnership, CROPP will manage the organic milk supply for Stonyfield fluid milk products and invite the farmers producing that milk into the cooperative. HP Hood, the previous supplier, will continue to process the milk. CROPP will also license the Stonyfield fluid milk brand and oversee its sales and retail distribution.

The goal of the new partnership, according to Stonyfield Organic, is to further sustain organic family farming and preserve consumer choice. "This broader partnership with Stonyfield keeps organic farmers organic, keeps organic land organic, helps keep toxins out of our bodies and our earth, and gives retailers and consumers a much-needed alternative," said George Siemon, CEO of CROPP Cooperative. CROPP Cooperative currently includes 1,333 members from across the country who produce a variety of organic foods, including dairy, meats, eggs, and produce.

Canadian veterinarian pleads guilty to embryo fraud

Brian Hill, D.V.M., has pleaded guilty to “the largest case of genetic fraud in the history of the Canadian dairy industry,” according to Jim Romahn, a Hoard’s Dairyman contact in Ontario, Canada.
Hill admitted to taking about $1.2 million worth of embryos from about 40 purebred Holstein and Jersey breeders and to falsifying records, including sires, dams, flushing dates, and health status.
He exported embryos to 15 countries, including the U.S., with massive contract deliveries of more than 6,000 each to China and Russia.
In one aspect of the fraud, he used scrub cows purchased for as little as $100 as donors, indicating in the records that the embryos were from top-quality purebreds. In another aspect, he told breeders he was getting only one or two embryos per flush from their cows, but, in fact, was probably collecting the industry average of seven per flush.
Hill was a highly respected veterinarian — vice-president of the
Canadian Livestock Genetics Association and chairman of the certification committee of the Canadian Embryo Transfer Corporation.
He was sentenced to one year, plus three months in prison and nine under house arrest. He also faces several lawsuits filed by disgruntled farmers.

Putting family farm faces on the No. 1 milk state

Building greater consumer confidence in dairy products by showing the tremendous care and caring that California dairy families put into what they do is the focus of 15 compelling videos at www.realcaliforniamilk.com, hosted by the California Milk Advisory Board.

Filmed at dairies up and down the state, the beautifully crafted videos don’t focus on “where does milk come from?” as much as they do on some of the people who produce it -- in their own homes, in their own fields and corrals, and in their own words. There are no scripts or sets or suits, just real California milk producers and their families talking honestly and spontaneously about what they do and why they love doing it.

The two-minute vignettes are informative, engrossing and often surprising slices of Golden State dairy Americana. Not only does the unabashed joy of working with animals and producing wholesome food come ringing through loud and clear, but there are also some unexpectedly touching, poignant moments when memories of sacrifice and loss are recalled.

The videos brim with insight and surprises, calves and kids, gorgeous cinematography, and sincerity that can’t be rehearsed. They also put real, reassuring faces on the No. 1 milk state that debunk the corporate farming myth and skewer the myopic “factory farm” stereotype. Whether you take the time to watch a few videos or all 15, we think you’ll be glad you did.

The check is in the mail

Well, the direct payment checks coming to dairy farmers may not be in the mail, but they will be soon. That was the message from Under Secretary of Agriculture Jim Miller who spoke to the 1,000 people attending the joint annual meetings of the National Dairy Board, United Dairy Industry Association, and the National Milk Producers Federation at Grapevine, Texas.

The direct payments were authorized and funded in an amendment to the Senate ag appropriations bill. $60 million of the $350 million measure was earmarked for purchases of cheese for government feeding programs and food banks. There was pressure from the dairy industry to use all of the $350 million to purchase and distribute product to help draw down dairy product inventories. It was thought that that action would have provided more lasting price relief for dairy farmers. However, making direct payments with $290 million seemed to turn out to be the most acceptable alternative politically.

Under Secretary Miller told those at the meeting that dairy farmers should expect their direct payment checks by the end of December or, possibly, as early as mid-December.

Miller also said that USDA received more than 300 nominations for the new USDA dairy advisory committee. He expected USDA would make an announcement on the makeup of that committee “within the next few weeks.”

Watch for more about the joint NDB/UDIA/NMPF meeting in the December issue of the magazine.

Digging deeper into flavored milk

In our November issue, you’ll find a Farm Flash about a recent study regarding flavored milk in a suburban Connecticut school. The study that was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association proved a point we weren’t surprised by: Kids drink more milk when it’s flavored. The researchers in the study offered advice to schools saying that we must consider the nutritional trade-off for 60 calories of high fructose corn syrup.

Now there’s more research out about how we can improve the look of milk in schools. We heard about this one from the National Dairy Council. A study published in the Journal of Child Nutrition and Management tested new milk enhancement strategies like plastic, resealable containers; flavored milk; ice-cold milk; and low-fat or fat-free options. The outcome revealed that consumption increased by an astonishing 35 percent when these improvements were made. The authors pointed out that they believe offering flavored milk was a key factor in this study’s outcome.

Below, you will find a link to the National Dairy Council’s publication “Flavored Milk in Perspective.” Take a look, and share it with your local schools. If you’re interested in more information about enhancing the look of milk in your children’s schools, visit the New Look of School Milk website by the National Dairy Council.

Flavored Milk in Perspective.

Drost delivers Mythbuster message on newborn calves

Just like Jamie and Adam on the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters television show, Maarten Drost, D.V.M., of the University of Florida told those attending the fifth annual Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council meeting that suspending a newborn calf by the hind legs to clear the lungs of fluid is a myth. This practice does not clear mucus from the lungs. In fact, until a calf is born, the lungs have never inflated and have never had fluid in them. When a newborn calf takes its first breath outside the dam, this is the first time the lungs have inflated.

So, where does the fluid come from when the calf is suspended by the hind legs? Drost says most of the fluids that drain from the mouth in these calves comes from the stomach and is called amniotic fluid which calves normally swallow during their development in the uterus.

Suspending a newborn calf by the hind legs actually places more pressure on the lungs because the weight of the stomach and intestines places added pressure on the diaphragm which makes expanding the lungs more difficult. The most effective, immediate way to clear the airways is to run your thumbs from the eyes to the nostrils and express the fluid from the nasal passages, to extend the head and neck, and to pull the tongue out straight. Suction is also helpful, says Drost.

So what can be done for a calf that is having difficulty breathing? Sudden cooling is a very important respiratory stimulus that can be elicited by simply pouring cold water over the head of the calf. Cold water elicits (to draw or bring out) the gasp reflex that aids in the expansion of the lungs. Brisk rubbing of the skin or tickling inside the nostril with a piece of straw also has a favorable effect. Once breathing, sit the calf in a position so that its front and rear legs are positioned directly underneath the abdomen. This position will best allow the calf's lungs to expand as shown in the above photo. Do not lay the calf on its side. This will limit the expansion of the lungs, as well.

To learn more about delivering and handling newborn calves, check out the obstetrics section of Drost's website at www.drostproject.org.

Nation's top repro herds share what it takes to get cows bred

On November 12, Mitzie Blanchard of Charlotte, Iowa, and Andy and Brian Schilling of Darlington, Wis., represented the four platinum winners of the inaugural Reproduction Awards at the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (DCRC) regional meeting in St. Paul, Minn. These two herds, that do an outstanding job getting cows safe in calf, shared what it takes to get the job done with the 225 people attending the St. Paul, Minn., meeting. The two other platinum winners will share their tips for success at the Boise, Idaho, DCRC meeting in Boise, Idaho, on November 19 and 20. Those award winners are Kloppe Dairy, New Haven, Mo., and Myers Farm, Union Grove, N.C.

Schilling Farms, LLC, Darlington, Wis., says that keeping the program simple works well for them. All setup and breeding injections are given by one person . . . on time, with proper technique. Cow comfort is critical. The farm features sand bedding, fans, sprinklers in both the lactating and fresh cow groups; it works well for them, reports herd veterinarian, B. J. Jones. The entire Schilling Farm team is shown at the right.

Andy Schilling says that, "Fresh cow care and teamwork among the members of the farm team are critical to getting cows safe in calf. We also are good at listening to suggestions and other people's ideas."

Blanchard Family Farm, Charlotte, Iowa, has been crossbreeding for the past decade and reports an extremely high pregnancy rate (PR) for the past 12 months. The entire herd averages 32 PR. Ray Nebel of Select Sires who nominated the herd looked deeper into the data and reported to those attending the DCRC meeting that the Blanchard's crossbreds have a 36 PR rate, while their purebred Holsteins average 29 PR. Nebel is quick to point out that the farm is extremely diligent on heat detection as they have four designated periods during the day that the farm team looks for heats.

When asked what it takes to be successful at getting cows bred, Mitzie Blanchard says, "It takes a team approach. If the cow care systems are not working, cows will not respond," she says. "Paying attention to detail and knowing your cows is a must," she concluded. Mitzie is shown in the photo with Ray Nebel.

To learn more about these top fertility herds, download the extensive Round Table found under Dairyman Extras and click on the November 2009 Issue, Page 702 "The 2009 DCRC Reproduction Awards... These herds get cows bred."

A toast to a healthier heart with chocolate milk

Medical researchers in Spain say that flavonoids, the compounds abundant in red wine that play an important role in preventing heart disease, are also present in cocoa and have the same beneficial effects for patients drinking cocoa in the form of chocolate milk.

Results of the study, which was published in the November issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, saw clear positive effects of cocoa flavonoids in the 42 older high-risk cardiovascular disease volunteers who participated. The researchers noted, however, that these effects were not as significant as those seen in red wine.

Participants in the four-week study were both men and women at least 55 years old who were considered at high risk for heart disease. Each person drank two eight-ounce glasses of chocolate skim milk per day, with a total cocoa consumption of about 1.7 ounces per day.

At the end of the trial, researchers observed not only significantly lower levels of serum biomarkers related to atherosclerosis in the volunteers, but also higher levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

Now for something completely different

We'd like to see you report this in Hoard's Dairyman. That was the challenge presented by acquaintances at the Cornell Nutrition Conference. Believe it or not, the presentation in question was about dinosaurs. And, to our skeptical friends from the conference, here's our report.

Tucked in between papers on transition cows and the amino acid needs of chickens was a presentation by the colorful Cornell animal scientist P. J. Van Soest. One of animal science's most brilliant minds, Van Soest is best known for discovering the acid-detergent/neutral detergent system of analyzing fiber levels. His method has had incalculable impact on how we feed dairy cattle and other ruminants. And, perhaps, we should include any animal whose digestive tract contains some fermentation at some point.

Combine unequalled knowledge of fiber digestion and fermentation with a wealth of creative thinking and it is not difficult to envision how Van Soest got into paleozoology and why the discipline came to him. In fact, Van Soest's presentation at the nutrition conference was a brief report of a symposium on Sauropods held in Bonn, Germany, to which he was invited.

Sauropods were herbivorous dinosaurs that lived about 140 to 210 million years ago. They are the largest animals that ever existed. They were about 120 feet long head to tail, weighed nearly 100 tons, and had footprints that measured 2 to 2-1/2 feet in length.

What dinosaurs ate and how they digested it are among the topics discussed when these scientists meet. The dinosaurs were not ruminants, but they likely had hind gut fermentation that helped digest the conifers, cycads, ferns, gingko, and horsetails that existed then. Today's grasses and legumes did not exist. They are only 30 million years old. The herbivorous dinosaurs may have swallowed stones to develop a gastric mill (gizzard) to reduce particle size and speed up forage rate of passage. Scientists speculate about Sauropods' blood pressure and whether they were able to graze on treetops or whether their diet consisted mostly of shorter plants.

Other points of interest from Van Soest's talk: Dinosaurs were warm-blooded, today's birds are more closely related to dinosaurs than any other animal, and there was no such thing as a Brontosaurus which appear in much dinosaur literature and which became a symbol of the Sinclair Oil Company. A paleontologist put the head of one dinosaur on the body of another which "created" a dinosaur that never existed. 

We told you this was going to be different.

Check here for cow power

Picture this: You get your next electricity bill and to your surprise it looks a little different. That’s because just below where the total you owe is — there is a new little check box. Next to the box it says “Cow Power.”

This same scenario happened to the 159,000 customers of Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS.) With the addition of a handful of on-farm methane digesters in the state of Vermont, the power utility CVPS instrumented a new Cow Power program. David Dunn, who works with the program at CVPS, discussed the program during The Dairy Practices Council’s 40th annual meeting held recently in Albany, N.Y.

Customers who check the box offer to pay 16 cents per kilowatt-hour on their electricity bill to support the project. That hefty price tag for energy doesn’t go to the CEO of the power company either. Most of the savings go directly to the farms that produce the energy. This way, farms receive a price that provides a better economic incentive to continue to produce energy from manure. In all, 3,800 of 159,000 customers have opted to pay the higher price. That’s only a humble 2.3 percent of their total customers. However, that small percentage has meant the program can pay farms a decent price, in addition to funding about a half-dozen more digesters that are in the works and set to start producing power in the next year. One customer, Green Mountain College, checked into the Cow Power program and has generated nearly $48,000 for the program. The college’s participation has even garnered a plethora of media attention because of this new commitment to “green” renewable energy.

To find out more about CVPS’s unique Cow Power program, you can visit its website here.

Financial losses keep mounting

Numbers printed in the latest Dairy Farm Operating Trends by accounting firm Moore, Stephens, Wurth, Frazer, and Torbet simply put in red and white what dairy producers nationwide have known for some time . . . it's a financial storm out there. In the first six months of 2009, dairy producers throughout California, Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, and the Texas Panhandle lost between $429 and $677 per cow. New Mexico was on the low end of the losses while Idaho and parts of California were in the $600 range.

When looking at profits and losses per hundredweight basis (cwt) or the cost to produce roughly 11.6 gallons of milk . . . west coast farms were losing between $4.37 and $6.43 for every 100 pounds leaving the farm. Specific losses were $4.37 in Arizona; $4.38 in New Mexico; $4.73 in Southern California; $5.06 in the Texas Panhandle; $5.38 in Kern County, California; $6.03 in California's San Joaquin Valley; and $6.43 in Idaho. The data used to compile this information is based on herds with a combined production of over 1.7 billion pounds and more than 164,000 head of mature cows.

Alicia wins back-to-back titles

The nation's largest Jersey show kicked off at 8 a.m., Monday morning in Louisville, Ky. For many years, the All American Jersey Show has featured a unique format that sees the cows placed before the calves and heifers. Judge Brian Sayles of Paris, Ontario, Canada, and his consultant Hank Van Exel, Lodi, Calif., selected Ratliff Price Alicia as Grand Champion. Bred and owned by Ron and Christy Ratliff of Garnett, Kan., Alicia is a back-to-back Grand Champion of the All American Jersey Show. Alicia, the first place 4-year-old, also captured Reserve Grand Champion honors at the 2009 World Dairy Expo. Shown above are judge Sayles (left) and consultant Van Exel as they look at what went on to become the Grand and Reserve Grand Champion cows

Reserve Grand Champion honors went to Frederick 2783 Adventure owned by Eaton and Walton Lackey of Carlisle, Pa. She placed second in the very deep 4-year-old class. In all, there were 222 cows shown on Monday. Shown below are Alicia (right) and Adventure (left).



Taking home Intermediate Champion honors was Belfontaine Remake Oshgosh shown by Ben Sauder of Tremont, Ill., with Reserve Intermediate Champion going to Gadget Jade of Edgebrooke exhibited by Mike Dilly, Montour, Iowa.

On Sunday evening, the 57th All American Jersey Sale averaged $4,712.50 on 44 lots. The high seller was Lot 2, Choice of "Renegade" daughter of BW Avery Katie 121-ET. She sold for $15,500 and was consigned by Brentwood Farms, Orland, Calif. The first choice was purchased by Clauss Dairy Farms and Yosemite Jersey Dairy, Hilmar, Calif. The second high seller was Lot 3C, Gabys Dale Avalon-ET. She brought $15,000 and was consigned by Henry Gaby, Greeneville, Tenn. She was purchased by David Allen, Reedsburg, Wis.

Minnesota, Virginia Tech, and Cobleskill win at Louisville

Minnesota 4-H'ers swept the Youth Contest with individuals placing first, second, fourth, and tenth place at the 36th North American International Livestock Exposition. The actual contest was held Sunday with the results being announced Monday morning. With four in the top ten, the Minnesota 4-H topped second place New York by 29 points. Shown in the photo are coach Molly Neil; Maria Pieper, second place individual; Jennifer Vanderwal, fourth individual; Jessie Bester, tenth individual; Caitlin Durow, high individual; and coach Krista Sheehan. In all, there were 22 teams in the Youth Contest. Third place team, Michigan 4-H, won reasons while Abbey Wethal from Wisconsin 4-H was high in reasons.

In the Collegiate division, Virginia Tech kept its winning streak from World Dairy Expo alive by winning the college contest which featured teams from 16 schools. Pacing the Virginia Tech team was the duo of Caitlin Patrick and Dana Gochenour. Patrick had a score of 718 or a 47.9 average for ten classes and five sets of reasons, while Gochenour was just five points behind. Second place University of Wisconsin-Madison won reasons with team member Chelsea Holschbach winning, talking her way to top reasons honors with a 46.6-point average.

Taking home the Post-Secondary Championship was New York State University at Cobleskill with a score of 2044. That team featured the eighth (Ben Bemis), ninth (Ariel Garland), and tenth (Elizabeth Trombly) place individuals. In second was the Ohio State ATI team which won World Dairy Expo. Taking home high individual honors was George Costa, Jr., who averaged 47.1 for his Modesto College team. He also won reasons with a 46.6 point average. The Modesto Team won reasons.

Webinar on wet corn strategies and alternatives

Mike Hutjens and the University of Illinois Extension Dairy Team will be hosting a webinar on November 18 and December 3. More details about the event follow:

With late planting of corn, a cool summer, and a record wet fall, many crop and livestock producers are faced with questions and concerns with corn over 25 to 30 percent moisture; presence of yeast, molds, and mycotoxins; and alternatives to handle wet corn grain. These fast pace webinars will discuss several key concerns and questions outlined below.
• Status of wet molds and mycotoxin formation
• Update of mycotoxin levels measured in commercial labs
• Storage alternatives including drying, high-moisture corn, and use of propionic acid
• Pricing wet corn
• Feed value of immature corn for livestock
• Mycotoxin binder choices
• Your questions from participants

Register for a session now by clicking a date below:

Wed, Nov 18, 2009 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CST

Thu, Dec 3, 2009 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CST

Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar.

System Requirements:
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

New York wins ninth National 4-H Quiz Bowl title

Teams from 17 states came to Louisville, Ky., to participate in the 30th Annual National 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Competition. During the past 30 years, only two states attended every contest . . . New York and Maryland. And it just so happened that these teams sorted themselves to the top with New York taking home their ninth Championship and Maryland taking second place. Finishing third was Iowa, with Virginia, Vermont, and Pennsylvania all placing Honorable Mention.

Shown in the photo is the Championship team from New York. In the front row: Matt Young, coach; Deborah Grusenmeyer, coach; Grace Wivell. Back row: Meghan Vaill, Stephanie Supa, Sean Galley.

Dairy Internship Directory Available

College students who are looking for an internship can find an assortment of possibilities on the Dairy Shrine website. The directory currently contains 36 different internships across the country available to college students. Because some of the internship positions have more than one intern, the actual number of offerings totals 69. There are opportunities for students to take internships in communications, public relations, marketing, on-farm consulting, youth education, and company development. To visit the directory, go to www.dairyshrine.org and click on Students’ Corner found on the website’s left navigation bar. From there, click on Internships to find the complete directory.

If companies would like to post their internship on this directory, they can go to the Internship page and scroll to the bottom and select the Post an Internship icon. There they can fill in details about their internship and have it posted free of charge for college students from across the globe.

National Dairy Shrine brings together dairy producers, scientists, students, educators, marketers, and others who share a desire to preserve our dairy heritage and to keep the dairy industry strong. National Dairy Shrine now has over 17,000 members encompassing virtually every facet of the industry. In addition, Dairy Shrine gives over $30,000 annually in scholarships to dairy students. Postings for these scholarships also can be found under the Students’ Corner on the National Dairy Shrine website.

To join the 17,600 members of National Dairy Shrine, contact Dave Selner at National Dairy Shrine, P.O. Box 1, Maribel, WI 54227; e-mail info@dairyshrine.org or phone at (920) 863-6333.

Chic consumer choices are often environmentally stupid

Pasture-fed beef or feedlot-finished? Out-of-state eggs or locally grown? Milk from backyard herds or large operations?

In the 21st century, food choices by U.S. consumers are increasingly the result of perception that is flawed and intuition that is ignorant. What’s more, although the latest chic fad is to buy products that are “environmentally friendly” or have a small “carbon footprint,” the truth is that many of those choices are environmentally stupid. This cold dose of reality was delivered by Dr. Jude Capper, assistant professor of dairy science at Washington State University, at the 71st Cornell University Nutrition Conference in Syracuse, N.Y., October 20-22.

"Consumers might think they are making responsible, virtuous food choices, when in truth they are supporting production practices that consume more natural resources, cause greater pollution, and create a larger carbon footprint than more efficient, technology-driven conventional methods," she said, offering these examples:

• In 2007, the U.S. dairy industry produced 8.3 billion more gallons of milk than in 1944, but due to fewer cows and improved productivity the carbon footprint of the entire dairy industry was 41 percent smaller.

• Time needed for beef animals to reach slaughter weight on pasture is nearly double those fed corn. This means energy use and greenhouse gas emissions per pound are three times higher in grass-fed cattle.

• While ‘locally grown’ is well-intentioned, it is incorrect to assume that the distance food travels from point of origin to point of consumption accurately reflects its environmental impact. As an example, a dozen eggs trucked several hundred miles to a grocery store as part of a 23,400-dozen shipment is more fuel-efficient and eco-friendly than a dozen eggs purchased at a farmers’ market (4.5 times more fuel used) or local farm (17.2 times more fuel used).

“The desire to protect the environment, and doing so, in part, by altering personal behaviors is admirable. However, those personal decisions must be based on sound science rather than idyllic intuition,” she said.

California Dairy Board’s “Milkdonkulous Giveaway”

The California Milk Processor Board has come out with some one-of-a-kind websites lately. From the exceedingly interactive “Got Milk?” website to the fancy Spanish-speaking “Toma Leche” site, the sunshine state’s Milk Board surely is wowing site visitors. And they’ve done it again — this time in rock opera style. Battle for Milkquarious is the name of their new competition and website. The website includes a lengthy 1970’s/futuristic-style rock opera video that features White Gold, the supposed hero of Milkquarious. Milkquarious is the island completely powered by milk, of course. Just to forewarn you if you watch it, the movie was created with today’s teens in mind. It’s completely satirical.

The site invites California Public High School students to submit rewrites to scenes in the movie. Visitors of the website can watch submitted scene rewrites and vote for a winner. The winning student will win $20,000 for his or her school’s arts programs, a second-place winner will receive $10,000 for his or her school, and eight other schools will receive $2,500.

Town Hall meeting on dairy prices to be held November 6

For nearly a year, low milk prices have hampered dairy farm families. Throughout these financially trying times, numerous producer groups have come together to propose solutions for this challenging situation. On November 6, the Wisconsin Holstein Association will be hosting a forum to discuss remedies for this pressing matter. The town hall meeting will take place on Friday, November 6, 2009, at 1 p.m. at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. The four invited milk marketing and pricing specialists will provide the opportunity for dairy producers throughout the Midwest to ask questions and get answers regarding the proposed guidelines for dairy product pricing. All concerned dairy industry members are welcome to attend.

The panel will involve four industry professionals, and it will be moderated by Hoard’s Dairyman associate editor, Corey Geiger. Industry specialists will be given the opportunity to speak briefly before opening the floor to questions from dairy producers attending the town hall meeting. The panel will include Lucas Sjostrom, Holstein USA’s Government Relations Specialist and Communications Assistant; David Cooper, General Manager for Family Dairies USA; David Fuhrmann, President of Foremost Farms USA; and David Ward, Dairy Director, Cooperative Network.

Even though Lucas Sjostrom’s official title is Government Relations Specialist and Communications Assistant, this summer he spent nearly 100 percent of his “government” time on the Dairy Price Stabilization Program (DPSP). He has been traveling to cooperatives and organizations presenting Holstein USA’s DPSP around the country and developing marketing materials to better explain the program.

David Cooper currently serves as the General Manager for Family Dairies USA, the seventh largest cooperative in the country with 3,300 members in six states. The organization offers testing verification and dairy marketing services, leadership in dairy policy, trade, and Federal Milk Marketing Orders, and programs and activities to its members.

David Fuhrmann became the second president of Foremost Farms USA on September 2001. He is a 33-year veteran of the dairy industry. Fuhrmann’s career with the cooperative began in 1981 when he joined Wisconsin Dairies Cooperative ¾ one of the cooperatives that consolidated to become Foremost Farms USA ¾ to manage the barrel Cheddar cheese production facility at Richland Center, Wis. Foremost Farms is the nation’s eighth largest dairy cooperative and has 2,350 members throughout the Upper Midwest.

David Ward is the Dairy Director of Cooperative Network, based out of Madison, Wis. The largest statewide association of its kind, Cooperative Network is committed to building Wisconsin’s and Minnesota’s cooperative businesses. Cooperative Network serves more than 600 member-cooperatives, owned by more than 6.3 million Wisconsin and Minnesota residents, by providing government relations, education, marketing, and technical services for a wide variety of cooperatives, including farm supply, health, dairy marketing, consumer, financial, livestock marketing, telecommunications, electric, housing, insurance, worker-owned cooperatives, and more.

Calves get more than one kind of scours

Scours is probably the most predictable part of raising calves – so predictable that maybe the only way to not have scours is to not have calves.

Dairy producers tend to see scours arrive on their farms at the same days of age for each batch of newborns, but that age tends to vary for each dairy. Few are likely to know what kind of scours they’re dealing with, even though the age at onset and the severity are big clues to which bacteria are involved.

There are actually four main pathogens that cause scours and several other minor ones, says Jerry Olson, a senior veterinarian with Pfizer Animal Health:

• During the first week of life, the prime suspect of scours is Escherichia coli K99.
• In later cases (up to a month of age) the prime suspects are rotavirus serotypes G6 and G10.
• Coronavirus also tends to be seen in calves over a week old, but it generally produces more severe scours because it affects both the small and large intestine, whereas rotavirus affects only the small intestine.

The most efficient way to manage scours is to prevent it. Veterinarians recommend doing this by vaccinating the dam against all four pathogens, so that passive immunity is transferred to the calf in its colostrum.

Ideally, says Olson, this should occur far enough ahead of the closeup cow’s “colostrum concentration window” which peaks about two weeks before calving, so that maximum antibody levels are also present in the blood.