Zoning officials on the Blackford County Board of Zoning Appeals were wrong to deny a public hearing for a proposed 2,000-cow dairy in Indiana, according to a judge.

Special Judge Marianne Vorhees ordered the board to schedule a hearing on an application by Gerwin and Marinke Oolman to build a dairy about 20 milkes north of Muncie, Ind.

Source: Fort Wayne News-Sentinel/ Associated Press, March 3, 2006
Source URL: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/14011162.htm

A Minnesota cheese manufacturer is blue when it comes to expanding its operations.

Faribault Dairy Co. Inc. will restore several more nearby sandstone caves so it can expand its blue cheese production. The company reopened Treasure Cave Co. five years ago and currently uses five of the former plant’s 13 caves to age its blue and gorgonzola cheeses.

Source: Grand Forks Herald/ Associated Press, Feb. 28, 2006
Source URL: http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/13985069.htm

In a letter directed to Dana Coale, Deputy Administrator of Dairy Programs at USDA, five major U.S. dairy cooperatives are requesting an emergency Federal Order Hearing to change those pricing formulas that affect how dairy farmers are paid. Cooperatives have complained that rising energy and labor costs have left them with processing losses. Therefore they are requesting that make allowance--those parts of the pricing formulas that cover processing costs--be increased. But the current proposal only covers Class III and IV milk. In other words, only processors of butter, nonfat dry milk, cheese and dry whey would be directly affected. Fluid plants and processors of Class II products (yogurt, ice cream, and cream cheese) would be left untouched.

Source: Penn State University/ Ken Bailey, March 3, 2006
Source URL: http://dairyoutlook.aers.psu.edu/Weekly/2006/WeeklyDairyMarketOutlook030306.htm

Milk production in Australia and New Zealand continues to decline seasonally. In Australia, hot temperatures in December had a negative impact on milk production on the down side of the year. Output for December was 0.4% lower than December 2004 and continued to cause cumulative production volumes to decline to 0.3% ahead of last year. Earlier on in the year, milk handlers and producers were optimistic that output this year would be around 1% ahead of last season, but it does not appear that this will be the case.

Source: USDA, March 2, 2006

Milk production trends in Europe continue to build seasonally although overall volumes are trailing last year by about 1%. For some producers, this is not a disappointing position to be in. Producers, especially those that are running over their quota volumes, may not have to reduce their marketing as much by March 31 which is the end of the current milk quota year. For the most part, milk volumes are sufficient to maintain steady inventory growth. International sales remain light and unaggressive with market activity centering around internal or domestic needs. Most products and prices remain steady, although skim milk powder prices and demand have jumped sharply.

Source: USDA, March 2, 2006

A fluorescent labeling method was developed to study plasminogen (PG) concentration and location in simulated bovine milk.

Our results suggest that, instead of thermal denaturation through irreversible unfolding, covalent bond formation between PG and other milk proteins is the mechanism of PG inhibition during thermal processing.

Source: Fluorescent labeling study of plasminogen concentration and location in simulated bovine milk systems. Journal of Dairy Science 89 (1): 58-70, 2006. Wang, L.; Hayes, K.D.; Mauer, L.J.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the role and localization of PDE4 during sperm capacitation.

These data suggest that AKAP3 binds both PKA and PDE4A and functions as a scaffolding protein in spermatozoa to regulate local cAMP concentrations and modulate sperm functions.

Source: AKAP3 selectively binds PDE4A isoforms in bovine spermatozoa. Biology of Reproduction 74 (1): 109-118, 2006. Bajpai, M.; Fiedler, S.E.; Huang, Z.H.; Vijayaraghavan, S.; et al.

Dairy farmers need to observe their cows’ natural behavior before upgrading the animals’ stalls, a North Dakota State University dairy expert advises.

All too often, dairy producers invest a lot of money in new stalls to improve their cows’ comfort only to find the animals aren’t using the stalls, according to NDSU Extension Service dairy specialist J.W. Schroeder.

“To build ergonomically correct stalls, you must know the normal resting positions, and rising and lying motions, as well as the dimensions of dairy cows and their space requirements for normal behavior,” he says.

Source: North Dakota State University/ News Release, Feb. 22, 2006
Source URL: http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/newsrelease/2006/current/18comfor.htm

Below is a summary listing of Career notices and awards in the industry. Detailed information about each listing is available by clicking the “Click to read more” link. If you have an announcement you would like us to include here, please send it to Patt Ligman, pattligman@metafarms.com or Metafarms, 423 West Travelers Trail, Burnsville, Minnesota 55337. The next CareerTrak is scheduled for March 20, 2006.

Job Listings This Week:
None this week

Awards & Accolades:
1. St. Johns Brothers Named Dairy Farmers of the Year

Faces In New Places:
1. AMPI Young Cooperators Elect Officers
2. Buis Elected NFU President

So far, Arla’s annual loss from the boycott has been calculated at DKK 400 million ($64.48 million US). This, however, assumes that Arla’s cheese and butter products will return to Middle Eastern stores reasonably soon, and that, before the end of 2006, Arla will have recovered 50% of its pre-boycott volumes. Considerable uncertainty, therefore, is attached to the figure.

The DKK 400 million loss derives from lost revenue from the Middle Eastern markets and the fact that surplus milk is currently being sold at a loss as industrial butter and milk powder.

Source: Arla Foods/ News Release, March 2, 2006
Source URL: http://www.arlafoods.com/C1256E9400315C5D/Doc/5C0F5F1A22E7A621C1257125003AA995