The winner of the 2024 Farm Bureau Farm Dog of the Year award is Skippy, owned by Georgia Farm Bureau members Donald and Laura Adams. AFBF, with support from Nestlé Purina PetCare, recognized Skippy, three regional runners-up and a People’s Choice Pup at its convention.
More than 450 people attended the annual Dairy Strong conference to explore the industry’s latest innovations, celebrate its collaborations and delve deep into sustainability. Conference attendees included farmers representing 280,000-plus cows along with industry experts and representatives from allied business sectors. They listened to keynote addresses, panel discussions and presentations on the latest technology and sustainability tactics. More than 40 vendors shared their products and services during the tradeshow. The event, themed “Growing Stronger Through Sustainability,” was held at the KI Convention Center.
According to a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange, an often-overlooked benefit of the dairy industry’s adoption of genomics is the impact it is having on sustainability. By optimizing genetics within their herds, dairy producers have successfully bred new generations of cows to produce more milk, butterfat and protein with fewer resources.
The Dairy Business Association honored Tom Crave of Crave Brothers Farm with the association’s Advocate of the Year award for his role in shaping Wisconsin’s dairy community. The award was presented during DBA’s Dairy Strong conference at the KI Convention Center.
This year, the Dairy Business Association and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin collaborated to unveil a new honor for dairy men and women who prioritize building trusted relationships with their neighbors and the surrounding community. At DBA’s annual Dairy Strong conference, the groups announced Doug Grotegut as the inaugural recipient of the Community Builder Award.
Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the country, re-elected three dairy farmers to the board of directors during the co-op’s annual business meeting at the 2024 Dairy Strong conference.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) strongly supports the Death Tax Repeal Act, led by Reps. Randy Feenstra (IA) and Sanford Bishop (GA). The Senate companion bill is led by Sen. John Thune (SD). Repealing the federal estate tax, also known as the Death Tax, is a top priority for NCBA.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) welcomed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement that the agency is pursuing a Remote Grading Pilot Program for beef. The pilot program will allow a USDA meat grader to assign grades from a remote location, increasing the grading options available to producers who sell into smaller, local processing facilities.
Megan Eckhardt of New Braunfels, Texas, and Jaime Luke of Stanberry, Missouri, have each been awarded a $15,000 W.D. Farr Scholarship by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation (NCF). The annual W.D. Farr Scholarship program recognizes outstanding graduate students for their academic achievements, leadership and commitment to the advancement of the beef industry.
Steph Carlson has joined the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) as assistant vice president (AVP) of state and national relations. In her role, she will serve as the primary NPPC point of contact for state pork organizations. Carlson will be based in Des Moines, Iowa.
Isadora Machado, a graduate research assistant at Iowa State University (ISU) College of Veterinary Medicine, recently led a research project at ISU to quantify how much a PRRS outbreak impacts antibiotic use on a pig farm. The study found that injectable and water antimicrobial use in groups of nursery pigs increased 379 percent during the 15-week epidemic phase after the farm became PRRS-positive. The use of injectable antibiotics also increased 274 percent in older pigs, closer to market weight. While both groups showed a significant increase in antibiotic use following a PRRS outbreak, there is a greater impact on nursery and grower pigs because their immune systems are less developed than finisher pigs.
