Event Coverage

A rotating milking parlor, weeping-wall manure-settlement basin, cross-ventilated dairy barns that work like huge swamp coolers – all were features at a Southwest Dairy Day held May 8 near Dublin.

On April 16-17, around 20 dairy producers from southern Wisconsin and Illinois visited five dairies to see new Lely robotic milking units in action. The tour, sponsored by Argall Dairy Systems of Belleville, Wisconsin, and Lely, stopped at dairies that had installed from one to four robots since September of 2008.

The Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s (PDPW) Annual Business Conference, March 17-18, in Madison, Wisconsin, fulfilled its theme by “Adding Passion, Multiplying Profits.”

More than 1,100 producers gathered from across the U.S. for the two-day event. Together they faced their challenges head-on, discussed solutions and walked away with a proactive approach to the future.

Producers who made the trip to the bi-annual Western Dairy Management Conference in Reno, Nevada, last month had two things on their minds – depressed milk prices and how long they would last. More than 25 presenters addressed visitors during the three-day conference, and in one way or another, each spoke to producers’ economic concerns during presentations or after while fielding their questions.

On March 27-28, the Empire State hosted 124 students from the top dairy programs in the U.S. and Canada as they competed in the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge. The 31 schools were divided up on four dairies in the Finger Lakes region: Elmer Richards and Sons Farm, Twin Birch Dairy, Venture Farms and Currie Valley Dairy.

Despite the tough economic situation facing California dairy producers, Western United Dairymen (WUD) members and supporters gathered to focus on the year’s accomplishments and chart a course for the future during their the annual convention held March 4-6 in Rohnert Park.