Why does consuming more dairy foods when dieting and exercising lead to more weight-loss than just dieting and exercising alone? This is a question the dairy industry and researchers have been asking for years, and now new research published in the December issue of Obesity Research helps shed more light on the answer.

Researchers at the University of Colorado found that when exercising adults on a slightly reduced-calorie diet consumed 3-4 servings of dairy foods each day, their metabolism changed so that their bodies burned more fat than they did when they had one serving of milk and milk products daily under the same conditions.

Source: International Dairy Foods Association/ News Release, Feb. 13, 2006
Source URL: http://www.idfa.org/news/stories/2006/02/research.cfm

Agreement between farmers, environmentalists, state government, and a state’s administrative leaders is generally found about as often as are four-of-a-kind in a poker game. But in Maryland, these four disparate groups agreed on legislation to boost agriculture and help revitalize the Chesapeake Bay.

Funding for agricultural programs designed to limit nutrients running off land and into the bay is one aspect of the Agricultural Stewardship Act of 2006.

Source: The Herald-Mail/ Tamela Baker, Feb. 15, 2006
Source URL: http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=131113&format=html

Dairy: The January 1 inventory showed almost 4.3 million dairy replacement heifers, up almost 4 percent from a year earlier and more than 6 percent from 2 years earlier. The larger-than-expected rise was triggered by the very high replacement prices of 2004 that encouraged unusual measures to keep as many heifers as possible.

Source: USDA/ ERS, Feb. 15, 2006
Source URL: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/LDP/Feb06/LDPM140T.pdf

All cattle and calves in the U. S. and Canada combined totaled 111.9 million head on January 1, 2006, up 1 percent from a year ago. All cows and heifers that have calved, at 48.6 million head, was up 1 percent from a year ago.

Source: USDA/ NASS, Feb. 15, 2006
Source URL: http://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/uscc0206.txt

CORN futures on the CBOT MAR’06 corn contract closed down 2˘/bu at $2.186/bu with the DEC’06 contract finishing lower 0.6˘/bu at $2.562/bu. Technical selling by the funds amid huge U.S. corn stocks along with declines in wheat and the soybean complex pressured price. Funds sold up to 3,500 lots while rolling out of MAR’O6 positions. Funds have been attracted to corn as they are generally seen as undervalued at this time. New ethanol production capacity coming on line faster than expected is fueling interest by diversified funds pushing them to bullish positions in the corn market. While ethanol production increases are good, one must realize that ethanol production will not take as much corn out of this market as might be expected. It is good to remember a by-product of ethanol production is brewer’s grain. For every bushel of corn ethanol uses it puts back two-thirds of that same bushel into the feed grain market.

Source: Virginia Cooperative Extension/ Mike Roberts, Feb. 14, 2006
Source URL: http://www.ext.vt.edu/news/periodicals/purcell/2006wp/06.html

To explore how hoof pathologies affect dairy cattle gait, we studied cows with sole hemorrhages (n = 14), sole ulcers (n = 7), and those with no visible injuries (n = 17).

In summary, subjective assessments of dairy cattle gait provide valid and reliable approaches to identifying cattle with sole ulcers.

Source: Effect of hoof pathologies on subjective assessments of dairy cow gait. Journal of Dairy Science 89 (1): 139-146, 2006. Flower, F.C.; Weary, D.M.

SDSU Extension Dairy Specialist Alvaro Garcia said the goals of a heifer rearing program are to reach a target freshening weight by 24 months of age or less, while at the same time allow the animals to express their full genetic potential for milk production. The cost of raising dairy replacement heifers represents approximately 20 percent of total dairy farm expenses.

“A reduction of the age at first calving thus aims at decreasing these costs as well as increasing the total milk produced during their productive life,” Garcia said.

Source: South Dakota State University/ News Release, Feb. 15, 2006
Source URL: http://agbionews.sdstate.edu/News/newsrelease.cfm?id=2390

If these applications have to be made, consider the following criteria before heading out to the field.

• Application rate for solid manure is limited to 10 wet tons/acre for manure with more than 50% moisture and 5 wet tons/acre for manure with less than 50% moisture.

• Liquid manure should not be applied at a rate higher than 5,000 gal/acre.

• Applications should be targeted to fields with at least 90% surface residue cover.

Source: Ohio State University/ BEEF Team Newsletter/ Robert Mullen and Maurice Watson, Feb. 15, 2006
Source URL: http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefFeb15.html

Conventional wisdom suggests a corn crop be rotated with another crop. Some farmers are disregarding that sage advice and producing high yields by growing corn in the same field year after year, said two Purdue University agricultural economists.

With corn demand expected to rise, in part, because of increased ethanol production, more farmers could consider growing corn after corn -- a practice commonly referred to as "continuous" corn. There are risks and benefits for producers who choose to abandon rotating corn with soybeans, said Jess Lowenberg-DeBoer and Bruce Erickson.

Source: Ag Answers/ Ohio State University and Purdue University/ News Release, Feb. 10, 2006
Source URL: http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/agcomm/aganswers/story.asp?storyID=4146

The reality of possibly joining the European Union is hitting home for Bulgaria’s milk and meat sector. About 200 of 730 Bulgarian dairies, slaughterhouses and processing plants have been forced to shut their doors after failing to follow stricter food safety standards.

Just 148 of Bulgaria’s 300 dairies remain open after veterinary checks to eliminate facilities with poor hygiene.

Source: CEE-foodindustry.com/ Leah Vyse, Feb. 15, 2006
Source URL: http://www.cee-foodindustry.com/news/ng.asp?n=65849-dairy-bulgaria-eu-accession