Holstein Association USA announced the top Holstein Breed Age Average herds for 2018 classifications. ... Read more
Education, agritourism, rural broadband and funding of local roads are among key issues being tackled by the Wisconsin Dairy Task Force 2.0’s sub-committee on Dairy and Rural Community Vitality.
Michel Wattiaux, professor of dairy science at UW-Madison, has been named interim director of the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, effective March 1. In this role, Wattiaux will provide continuity of leadership for the center, which operates a multi-disciplinary research and outre…
Professional Dairy Producers is inviting dairy farmers, agribusiness and allied industries to the 2019 PDPW Business Conference set for March 13-14 at the Alliant Energy Center, Madison.
FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative will host Producer Discovery Workshops as part of the cooperative’s 2019 annual meeting Friday, Feb. 22, at the Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center in Onalaska.
The Wisconsin Brown Swiss Association is accepting applications for the 2019 Wisconsin Brown Swiss Queen. Applications are due Feb. 25.
Registration for the 2019 International Precision Dairy Conference is open. The event, set June 18-19 in Rochester, Minn., will feature five plenary talks and six concurrent breakout sessions, along with two poster sessions and a trade show.
The Professional Dairy Producers Foundation Board of Directors announced Janet Keller as executive director during their December 2018 meeting. Keller began her duties Jan. 7, assuming the leadership position held by Deborah Reinhart who will officially retire June 1.
UW-Extension continue to offer a number of meetings across the state for farmers interested in learning about the new Dairy Revenue Protection program, a new federal insurance tool, with a quarterly payout to dairy farms when milk revenue falls below their insured revenue level.
While farm-level milk prices inched higher for January, bigger gains may be in the cards for later this year.
JOHNSON CREEK — Maria Bendixen has always had ambitions to help people achieve their farming goals, working with agriculture producers on farm financial management for more than 15 years through UW-Extension and the Wisconsin Technical College system. She now has her own business, Cowculatio…
A study released Jan. 30 by the U.S. Dairy Export Council projects that new trade agreements between Japan and other countries will put U.S. dairy exports at a competitive disadvantage, resulting in lost U.S. sales of $5.4 billion over 21 years.
MADISON — Like many schools, businesses and communities across the state, the cold weather forced board members of Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin to amend their plans for a meeting on Jan. 30. Instead of traveling to Madison, board members phoned into the DFW office, approving a few budget items…
In a marketplace increasingly crowded by plant-based imitation dairy products, the results of a new survey show that customers are confused about whether those products are indeed dairy foods and whether they carry the same nutritional value.
Presenting on stage at the Dairy Strong conference on Jan. 23, Laurie Winkelman painted a picture of someone who invests money, time and resources into promoting dairy farming and bettering the community, even in ways that don’t seem to be related to dairy farming.
In late January, Brody Stapel was re-elected president of Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative by the board of directors at the co-op’s annual business meeting during the Dairy Strong conference.
Research continues to show that milk is one of the best products for athletes to consume. That’s why employee owners at Vita Plus Loyal were proud to donate milk for the Loyal High School boys and girls basketball teams and wrestling team.
MADISON — Last spring, Katie Dotter-Pyle, a dairy farmer in Maryland, was busy scrubbing dividers in her calf barn, listening to music pumping from a Bluetooth speaker she carries with her when completing chores around the farm. One of her favorite songs came on the radio — and she couldn’t …
The 2019 Precision Dairy Farming Conference will be June 18-20 at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minn.
Wisconsin Guernsey Breeders Association is sponsoring its annual essay contest, with the winner receiving a registered Guernsey calf at the annual convention in March. Youth can choose between two topics: “What a Guernsey calf would mean to me,” or “The Guernsey cow is important to me because.”
Representatives of the World Dairy Expo have announced the eight individuals who will serve as official judges during the 2019 World Dairy Expo Dairy Cattle Show set for Oct. 1-5. The official judges are responsible for the evaluation and placing of more than 2,300 cattle at the annual event…
BARABOO — While rotational grazing has likely been on the beef producer’s radar for some time, there is renewed interest in using the system on dairy operations, especially for those working in Sauk County’s Conservation, Planning and Zoning Department, where soil conservation technician Ser…
BARABOO — Adam Abel has been moving cows since he was 8 years old, even though his dad, a dairy farmer, had no intentions of switching to a rotational grazing system. His dad was all about confinement and “going big,” but the summer after the first grazing conference was held in Wisconsin in…
More than 450 people attended the annual Wisconsin Junior Holstein Convention earlier this month in Sheboygan County.
World Dairy Expo representatives are accepting nominations for the 2019 Expo Recognition Awards now through Feb. 1. Producers, organizations, academic staff and others involved in the dairy industry are encouraged to nominate individuals to recognize their outstanding work and dedication to …
The first Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Dairy Exchange meeting of 2019, previously scheduled for a date in January, has been rescheduled due to speaker availability and other items beyond the department's control. The new date for the first Dairy Exchange of 2019 w…
A “Women in Dairy” event will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the Crow River Winery and Vineyard. The featured speaker will be Julie Tesch from the Center for Rural Policy and Development.
The Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and Center for Dairy Research recently announced partnerships with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and the U.S. Dairy Export Council to deliver more educational programming than ever before at the 2019 Cheese Industry C…
One day in 2014, a man stopped by Bill and Bonnie McMillin’s farm in southeastern Minnesota’s Wabasha County and offered to pay cash for all 160 acres — lock, stock and barrel. Such an offer can be tempting. After all, the McMillins had worked hard over the previous few decades to build a 45…
Youth looking for support to buy their first Brown Swiss can apply for the Nelson McCammon Youth Heifer Program offered by the Wisconsin Brown Swiss Association. The organization is accepting applications between now and Feb. 15.
The first Global Dairy Trade auction of 2019 saw its weighted average of products offered jump 2.8 percent following the 1.7 percent rise on Dec. 18 and 2.2 percent on Dec. 4. Sellers brought 63.2 million pounds to market, down from 79.8 million in the Dec. 18 session and the lowest amount s…
Agricultural groups and parties on both sides are expressing general satisfaction with the new farm bill and the programs it will provide.
Dairy Strong, one of the Midwest’s premiere conferences for the dairy community, will be held Jan. 23-24 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison, bringing together more than 700 farmers, corporate professionals and government and university representatives to explore…
The base price paid to dairy producers for Class III milk in December took a tumble, ending the year on a low note at $13.78 per hundredweight. This is the lowest Class III price since last February, when it sunk to $13.40.
Emmi Roth, a Wisconsin producer of specialty cheese, including award-winning blue cheese, is expanding with the acquisition of Great Lakes Cheese’s blue cheese plant in Seymour.
Scholarships are available for FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative membership youth pursuing a post-secondary education. Applications are due March 29.
Total 2018 Cooperatives Working Together-assisted member sales reached 72.5 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 17.4 million pounds of butter (82 percent milkfat) and 41.6 million pounds of whole milk powder. The milk equivalent of these sales is 1.364 billion pounds on a milkfat basis.
World Dairy Expo’s annual Friends of Expo Party was held on Dec. 10, recognizing the efforts and contributions of WDE’s nearly 500 volunteers. The evening was highlighted with the presentation of the 2018 Friend of Expo Awards to longtime Expo volunteers Pat and Phyllis Agnew, Diane Amundson…
MADISON — Four dynamic panelists with interests in food shared their perspectives with attendees of the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s Dairy Food and Policy Summit in late-December. The panel, which featured representatives from The Origin Milk Company, Foremost Farms USA, Kwik …
VALDERS — Anyone who said rules are meant to be broken hasn’t met Gary Sipiorski.
A $10,000 grant was presented to Weyauwega Elementary School, Fremont Elementary School and Weyauwega-Fremont Middle School to fund new healthy eating and physical education equipment for the schools. The Fuel Up to Play 60 Hometown Grant is from Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin and the Green Bay …
Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin has named Suzanne Fanning as senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Wisconsin Cheese. Since joining the organization two years ago, Fanning has played a key role in the start of a marketing transformation for Wisconsin’s 175-year-old cheese industry.
Welcome to 2019. As of midnight Dec. 21, 2018, a partial shutdown of the government went into effect due to the failure of a House-passed continuing resolution in the Senate. At issue is President Trump’s insistence of funding a border wall with Mexico.
STEVENS POINT — Kaitlyn Lietzke has always been interested in cows, even though she didn’t grow up on a farm. With the help of recent grants from both the National FFA Organization and the Wisconsin FFA Foundation, Lietzke plans to purchase a cow of her own.
BALDWIN — Dairy farmers considering making the shift to beef production must change their mindset about cattle, as well as the way they view their existing resources including as barns and cropping systems, according to David Kammel, a biological systems engineer at UW-Madison.
The freshly signed farm bill, dubbed the 2018 Agriculture Improvement Act, contains several provisions that should prove popular with dairy producers, ending an otherwise disappointing year for the industry on a positive note.
Wisconsin Dairy Task Force 2.0 held its second meeting on Dec. 13 at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where the nine sub-committees provided updates on their work.
There aren’t many photos of the late Marilynn Taylor, except for her Weyauwega High School graduation portrait and a few other fuzzy images.
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin recently unveiled the Dairy Cares of Wisconsin Simulation Laboratory, a state-of-the-art training facility that allows medical professionals to learn and sharpen their skills.
Ingredients that go into a cow’s diet not only have a big effect on cost but also on production on the farm, said Bill Weiss, professor at The Ohio State University. During a recent Hoard’s Dairyman webinar, Weiss discussed ways to look at an ingredient’s nutritional value and determine if i…
The demand for grass-fed dairy products continues to grow in the U.S., a highlight in a somewhat stagnant organic market, according to University of Vermont Extension Agronomist Heather Darby. During a recent eOrganic webinar, she discussed some of the challenges facing grass-fed dairy farmers.