Alltech is pleased to present the 2025 Most Valuable Employee (MVE) Award to Alejo Gutierrez of Enchanted Dairy in Little Falls, MN. This award recognizes the value of a dairy farm employee with an exceptional work ethic who exhibits integrity and who engages in their responsibilities on a dairy farm. Nominations are made by a farm manager, dairy owner, farm consultant, or nutritionist based on qualities such as perseverance, honesty, and integrity. The finalists were honored during the annual Alltech Dairy Summit on Dec. 11, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) President and CEO Gregg Doud praised the congressional passage of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, calling it a significant bipartisan victory for both dairy farmers and student nutrition.
Consumers continued their preference for wholesome dairy products in 2024, as new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows U.S. per-capita dairy consumption at near historic highs. Butter consumption hit a new record last year, while yogurt consumption showed the strongest overall growth followed by cottage cheese and regular ice cream in 2024. Cheese consumption remained unchanged from a record high the previous year. USDA’s Economic Research Service reports that Americans consumed 651 pounds of dairy per person in 2024 on a milk-equivalent, milk-fat basis, a level that nears historic records dating back to 1975 when USDA began tracking dairy consumption trends. Dairy processors are responding to this consistent surge in demand by making historic investments of more than $11 billion in new and expanded manufacturing capacity across 19 states.
The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on the Abuse of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). Todd Wilkinson, South Dakota cattle producer and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) past president, testified on the rampant EAJA abuse by environmental groups that have become repeat litigants as soon as Congress discontinued reporting requirements in 1995.
The 2026 Animal Agriculture Sustainability Summit will be held at the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta. Organized by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY), the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) and the Meat Institute, the summit will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 27, and is complimentary for all registered IPPE attendees.
Envu is making it easier for ranchers to make smarter decisions about their grazing management rotation through their innovative ranch management tool, RangeView. Now, ranchers can seamlessly integrate CERES TAG into their RangeView dashboard, enabling even more powerful tracking of cattle across range and pasture, herd optimization, and return on investment.
Merck Animal Health recently announced the commercial availability of CIRCUMVENT® CL vaccine, a ready-to-use vaccine formulated to protect pigs three weeks of age and older against disease caused by Porcine Circovirus (PCV) Types 2a and 2d and Lawsonia intracellularis. Complements the CIRCUMVENT CML launched in 2023, giving producers tailored vaccination options based on herd health status.
Over a dozen Republican members of Congress sent a letter to President Donald Trump, highlighting concerns about the United States’ overreliance on China for the supply of its vitamins and amino acids used in both human and animal food. The letter comes just weeks after the Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER), the animal food industry’s nonprofit research arm, released a groundbreaking report, which detailed the extent to which the U.S. relies on China for vitamins and amino acids that are used in animal feed and pet food, human food and pharmaceuticals. The November report showed that, on average, 78 percent of U.S. vitamin imports come directly from China; for specific vitamins, such as biotin, imports are as high as 100 percent. The report also provided an analysis of the animal health, welfare and production impacts that could result should a disruption to the supply occur.
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) pushed the Trump Administration to ramp up their avian flu response as the first dairy herd in Wisconsin tested positive for avian flu in Dodge County earlier this month. Specifically, Senator Baldwin is calling on the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Secretary Brooke Rollins to stop delaying the implementation of their avian influenza vaccine policy, in order to keep costs down for consumers and ensure Wisconsin’s livestock and agricultural industry are protected from the ongoing outbreak. In a letter sent to Secretary Rollins, Senator Baldwin emphasized that nearly four years into the current avian flu outbreak, the disease is still spreading, infecting over 3.5 million animals on Wisconsin farms since September, including the first confirmed case of avian flu in dairy cattle last week. Senator Baldwin urged the Trump Administration to move forward with finalizing and implementing a national avian influenza vaccination strategy, as included in USDA’s Five-Pronged Approach from February 2025.
Updated research, supported by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was released quantifying the U.S. poultry industry’s on-farm antibiotic use. The updated report shows continued improved antibiotic stewardship and commitment to disease prevention within poultry production. As part of its commitment to a transparent and sustainable food supply, the poultry industry works to balance the responsible use of antibiotics considered “medically important” to human health with the need to maintain healthy poultry flocks.
