FARM program highlighted at Goshen, Decatur meetings

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health is holding it's second artisan dairy processors meeting on Thursday, March 24 at the Normandy Barn at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. This meeting will focus on starting a dairy milk bottling business. Speaking at the meeting is Doug Westendorp, owner of Moo-ville Quality Creamery 

of Nashville, Michigan. The meeting will begin at 1 PM Eastern Standard Time. For questions, or to RSVP for the meeting, contact Terry Philibeck at 317-554-2391 or by email. 

At each regular IPDP board meeting, we recieve updates from the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management (IDEM), the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Milk Promotion Services of Indiana staff and others. Board members agree that these reports are very valuable and believe that this information should be shared so that more of you can benefit from it. Of course we appreciate the opportunity to ask questions of Terry Philibeck (ISBOAH), Andy Tauer (IDEM), and  John Nagle (ISDA) and are grateful for their attendance at IPDP board meetings. If you have questions or concerns that you would like relayed at our next board meeting, contact us here. To read a summary of the reports that were given at the February 16th board meeting, click here.

Dairy Farmers Work to Develop Dairy Pricing Policy for the 21st Century

A grassroots coalition of dairy farmers is actively trying to bring about necessary changes in national dairy policy. The Dairy Policy Action Coalition (DPAC) recently went to Washington DC to visit with members of the Senate Ag Committee. DPAC wants dairy policy that encourages more competition and product innovation and a better price discovery process. Dave Forgey, IPDP Executive Board member and DPAC board member, was interviewed recently by Hoosier Ag Today's Andy Eubank. You can read the article or listen to the interview for even more information here.

There is a recent incident of someone posing as a milk inspector in Wisconsin. There are no reports in Indiana of anything like this. However, in these days of anti-animal activists and undercover videos, farmers must be mindful of unusual activity surrounding our farms. We typically know our milk inspectors, but their ID's are always available to us, and if there are any questions, don't hesitate to ask! You can read about the Wisconsin incident here. 

Chocolate Milk Under Attack (Again)

Even though the USDA has come out with new nutrition guidelines that strongly encourage milk consumption, some groups like to suggest that flavored milk  contributes to America's obesity problem. Read more