News

Foremost Farms USA has issued cash payments totaling $31.8 million during 2009 and 2010 to dairy producers who are current and former members of the cooperative.

The University of Minnesota Dairy Extension Team currently has two Minnesota Dairy Days programs set for 2011: March 8 in Sauk Center and March 16 in Caledonia. Speakers include Noah Litherland, Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota – St. Paul; Paul Peterson, Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota – St. Paul; Craig Roerick, University of Minnesota Extension – Stearns County; Chuck Schwartau, University of Minnesota Extension – Rochester.

The Wisconsin Holstein Association’s annual convention will be held Feb. 18-19, 2011 and hosted by the Dodge County Holstein Breeders at the Best Western Campus Inn in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Early this year the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy released its first-ever Sustainability Progress Report. Progressive Dairyman interviewed Erin Fitzgerald (pictured below left), the center’s vice president of sustainability, to review some of the highlights of the report. Below are her comments about excerpts from the report.

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Q. How did this sustainability effort get started?
In 2008 we brought together 200 stakeholders including NGOs, academics, producers, retailers from across the dairy value chain and asked them how we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and produce value.

As a new Congress is assembled, dairy coalitions are busy outlining their reform plans for 2011. Here is what some of the key players are working on:

Foundation for the Future
NMPF is working to put the specifics of the Foundation for the Future program into legislative form so that members of Congress can have the legislation evaluated for its costs and economic impact.