Event Coverage

On March 31st a meeting was attended by over 160 individuals representing 87 dairies with just under 260,000 cows to provide input into how dairy producers in Idaho want their organization to address the current ongoing dairy crises.

The economics of the dairy industry is like any other industry; if supplies outpace demand, the price will go down; when supplies are short, price will go up. The question lies in how to control supply. Everyone realizes that if producers fail to make a correction in the supply/demand equation, the market place eventually will. In 1980 there were approximately 225,000 commercial dairy operations in the United States; 30 years later we are down to less than 57,000. The market place has made the necessary adjustments to keep supply and demand in balance, even with all of the current government programs.

On Tuesday, April 13, 2010, the Progressive Agriculture Organization arranged for thirty dairy farmers and ten supporters to meet with the agriculture aides of several members of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate in an effort to gain support for immediate emergency action to be taken to prop up prices paid to all US dairy farmers.

The High Plains Dairy Conference kicked off in Amarillo, Texas, at the Ambassador Hotel March 11-12. As is customary for the conference, producers took part in two days of educational presentations and networking that organizers hope will help them improve their dairies.

Success through people
Tom Fuhrmann talked about management systems and how to get more out of your dairy and your employees, especially Hispanic workers. He emphasized the differences between American culture and Hispanic culture and why those differences may get in the way of some of the results producers expect out of their new managers.

For its 50th anniversary, the Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) Farm Show received a most appropriate gift – plenty of golden sunshine. Unseasonably warm temperatures attracted 23,000 visitors from throughout Wisconsin, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Minnesota, Illinois and Canada to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) grounds in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, March 30-April 1.

All Ohio dairy farmers were invited to attend the Ohio Dairy Forum on March 31, 2010. The forum’s featured speakers presented federal dairy policies that are being discussed around the country and helped dairy farmers gain a better understanding and a more comprehensive insight to the design of the policies.

More than 1,300 dairy producers and industry representatives gathered in Madison, Wisconsin, March 16-17 for the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) Business Conference. The annual conference brings together producers from across the country to learn and share ideas that will help make them successful in the year ahead.