Our inaugural guest author is Dr. Jennifer House from the Zoonotic and Environmental Epidemiology Division of the Indiana State Department of Health. Her article, "What Is Pasteurization" serves as a very important reminder as to why pasteurization is a critical step in providing healthy dairy products to the consumer which they can use with complete confidence regarding their safety.

Dr. House received a B.S. in Animal Science and a veterinary degree from North Carolina State University.  She has also received a master's degree in public health from the University of Iowa and completed a certificate program in Community Preparedness and Disaster Management from the University of North Carolina.  Dr. House is a diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine.  Prior to working in Indiana she served as a Veterinary Specialist for the Emergency Programs Division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  In 2009 Dr. House re-located to Indianapolis to serve as the Director of the Zoonotic and Environmental Epidemiology Division of the Indiana State Department of Health.

Are Raw Foods Safer and More Nutritious Than Processed Foods?

Focus On Margin, Not Feed Cost and Milk Price

By Virginia Ishler, Tim Beck and Rebecca White

The authors are with Penn State's Dairy Alliance Risk Management Team.

Producers have various opportunities to manage their risk. Exerting control requires that you know your breakeven income over feed cost (IOFC) and your milk margin breakeven. Knowing these costs will help dairies adapt to changing conditions of current and future milk and feed markets.

The first step in managing risk is monitoring the operation's income over feed cost.  This can be done in one of two ways: Read more...

Farmers facing unprecedented risks amid $6 corn, analyst says  

By Bruce Blythe, Business Editor  |  Friday, November 05, 2010

U.S. farmers face unprecedented risks as corn hovers near $6 a bushel, including the prospect that a mass speculator exodus sends grain futures prices tumbling, market advisor Mike North said.

Grain exports have slipped recently, a sign that high prices are curtailing overseas demand, North noted. Additionally, escalating feed costs are squeezing margins for domestic beef and pork producers and may force them to trim herds next year.

Read more...

The Milking System Checks You Need

by Gaylen Guyer, William Kilmer, and Tom McCaulley
Guyer and McCaulley are Land O'Lakes milk production specialists based in Wisconsin. Kilmer is an MPS based in Pennsylvania.

Whether you use the latest high-tech robot or a traditional milking system, maintaining your system's peak performance is crucial to prevent profits from going down the drain. Dairy producers Ron and Ester Van Langen decided to incorporate the latest technology in their new operation located in central Wisconsin. Making the transition from 40 cows in tie stalls in their native Holland to 130 cows in free stalls led this young couple to choose a robotic system to minimize labor and get the most milk.

Before buying a robot, the Van Langens and a group of their consultants toured several dairies already using them. The group discussed how the changes in the Van Langens' herd care and milking equipment would affect their dairy's operation and returns.

Read more...

Fluid Milk Footprint Studied

FEEDSTUFFS, 9/26/2010

The U.S. dairy industry has completed a comprehensive study of the carbon footprint associated with the production of a gallon of fluid milk, and the findings validate the results of other studies that have put the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of all dairy products at only about 2% of total U.S. emissions.

For the study, researchers followed the lifecycle of a gallon of milk -- from the beginning when crops are grown to feed cows, to when milk is produced and delivered to processors, through processing, packaging and distribution and all the way to the purchase and disposal of the gallon of milk by the consumer.

The study involved 500 farms and 50 processing plants across the U.S. as well as more than 210,000 round trips transporting milk from farm to processor.

From a processing standpoint, the study represented 25% of all fluid milk in the U.S.

Read more...

59th Annual HOARD'S DAIRYMAN ROUND TABLE

Low numbers add up to top quality milk.

Rock-bottom SCCs and bacteria counts put these seven operations at the pinnacle of milk quality. Here, they share how it's done.

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RENO, NV - As they stood before the attendees of NMPF's 2010 Annual Meeting and presented their joint yearly report to the membership, NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney and President & CEO Jerry Kozak focused on the need for dairy farmers to rise above individual differences and the fear of change in order to move forward with the Foundation for the Future initiative.