Tuesday, June 18, 2013
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The Senate, by a 66 to 27 vote, has passed its version of a $500 billion farm bill. The Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 contains the Dairy Security Act backed by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). The bill is similar to one approved last June 21 by the Senate, including ...
Friday, June 14, 2013 11:25 AM
The members of Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) June 12 committed to an additional two-year program of export assistance. They also endorsed a larger investment in the farmer-funded, self-help program, voting to enhance the membership requirement from 2 cents per hundredweight of milk to 4 ...
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 10:52 AM
JEROME, Idaho -- Jerome Cheese Co. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have reached an agreement in a civil lawsuit brought by EPA in 2011 alleging the company violated the Clean Water Act. The alleged violations consist primarily of discharges of phosphorous into an irrigation sys ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 11:26 AM
Dairy Farmers of Washington and Les Schwab Tires have named two high school student athletes as the inaugural winners of the Smart Choices Scholarship. Tanner Perry from Snohomish and Kendall Todd from Odessa were chosen for their achievements on the field and in the community. Each receives ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
TILLAMOOK, Ore. -- Kevin and Annette Thomas have nine children, 10 grandchildren and 500 dairy cows, so life at Silver Mist Farms at the south end of Tillamook is a constant whirlwind of work and play. Kevin Thomas, 51, said he and his wife, who is 50, have been dairying on their own since August ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
Though widely considered a cowboy town, Ellensburg, Wash., does not have many milking cows. All of Kittitas County has only a single dairy, and the family that operates it is not quite sure why it is the only one. Mike and Kenny Scott are the primary operators of Scott's Dairy, taking over their ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
JUNCTION CITY, Ore. -- As the third generation shoulders leadership roles, Lochmead Dairy continues to serve as the focal point of a diversified business model established in 1965 by Gladys Gibson and her late husband, Howard. Since then, the size of the family farm has increased from 120 to 3,00 ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
* There are approximately 480 dairy farms and 262,000 dairy cows in Washington. The average herd size is 546 cows per farm. Washington was the only state to add new dairy farms -- 10 -- last year. * Washington ranks 10th in total milk production the U.S. Total milk production exceeded 6,243,000,000 ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
Holstein: Holsteins are black and white, although there are also some "Red Holsteins." They are the most popular dairy breed in Oregon and the Northwest. These large dairy cows weigh about 1,500 pounds and produce the most milk on average. They originated in the province of Friesland, The Netherland ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
HANFORD, Calif. -- Believing that fluid milk is the "face of the dairy industry," Rosa Brothers Milk Co. in Hanford made a move to bring that face and their name directly to the consumer. Brothers Noel and Rolland Rosa, third-generation dairy farmers, branched out in 2012 to open a unique creamer ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
CEDARVILLE, Calif. -- For Joanne Danielson, creating goat cheese is a mix of chemistry, animal science and art. "There's a lot of art to it, and there's a lot of chemistry. And I love the critters," said Danielson, owner of Curds & Whey Dairy. Located in Modoc County's Surprise Valley in far ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
SALEM -- At the turn of the new millennium, Volbeda Dairy was a thriving 1,880-cow operation run by John and LucyAnn Volbeda and their son, Darren, while John's other son, Rod, was running his 600-cow Volbeda Farms near Salem. Fast-forward to the present time and Rod Volbeda's Willamette Valley C ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
When brothers Dirk and Bill Van Slageren started Cherry Hill Dairy, they wanted to do something that they enjoyed. For them, it was a departure from their father's work. "You either farm the sea or you farm the land," Dirk said. Their father, a commercial fisherman, chose the sea. It was work th ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
ZILLAH, Wash. -- Now in its third generation of operations, Cow Palace Dairy has grown a great deal over the years, and it looks to start new projects that will make it even greater. Adam Dolsen, owner of the Cow Palace, said that the dairy started in the 1970s as side work for his grandfather, B ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
GOODING, Idaho -- Three families take award-winning care of the 450 milk cows at the 190-acre Hilt Dairy south of Gooding, Idaho. Chuck Hilt owns 50 percent of the cows and is the herd manager. The advantage of having a dairy of a moderate size, he said, is that he makes the management decisions ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
LEMOORE, Calif. -- In a world of low dairy prices and rising feed costs, Barbara Martin, co-owner of Dairy Goddess, has found a way to bring some profits back to the dairy. A third-generation farmer, Martin runs a 1,000-cow dairy. Most of the bulk milk is sold to California Dairies, but she keeps ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
Jamie Bledsoe, a well known face in the California dairy industry, got his start when he bought his first heifer and began selling milk when he was only 16 years old. "I knew when I was 16 I wanted to be a farmer and wanted to be a livestock producer," said Bledsoe, who now owns Golden Genes in R ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
David Hale, 65, is a Vietnam War veteran and has been involved in dairy farming since before his military service. He grew up in California working on the dairy farm of an older brother, then began tending it himself when his brother joined the military. Hale's "blended family" today includes so ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
Alan Mann calls his 160-cow dairy herd "one of the nation's few registered Guernsey dairy herds," an enterprise that -- without other employees -- keeps him and his wife, daughter and son-in-law busy from sunrise to sundown most days. The Manns -- Alan and Barbara -- along with daughter Darlene S ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
Dan DeGroot, co-owner of Skyridge Farms with his wife, Carolyn, said that he was surprised when he won the national Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability Award for practices that deliver outstanding economic, environmental and social benefit. When he attended the Second Annual U.S. Dairy Sustaina ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
J&K Dairy is owned and operated by four dairy professionals, Jason and Karen Sheehan and Tony and Brenda Veiga, who believe in being good neighbors. "We want to be good neighbors and do the best we can," said Jason, who is on the Lower Yakima Valley Advisory Committee, an advisory board for d ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
DECLO, Idaho -- Ben Andersen is a third-generation dairy farmer who looks forward to seeing the next generation take over the dairy. His grandfather, Lyle Andersen, began a dairy operation many years ago in Tyhee, Idaho, which is near Pocatello, as a side business to being an agricultural agent. ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
DENAIR, Calif. -- Ray Prock, a Stanislaus County dairyman, says he was raised with a passion for the industry. "My parents started the farm in 1972 with a small number of cows," he said. "I suppose most kids have dreams of having careers other than the family business. But I learned about dairy o ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
When talking with dairy farmers, the most common refrains include words like "family" and "multi-generational." And "love" and "passion." Clearly, being a dairy farmer is not a typical job. The work is relentless -- seven days a week -- and the pay depends on scores of factors, most of which ar ...
Friday, June 07, 2013 12:00 AM
National Milk Producers Federation, which developed federal dairy policy reform being considered in the farm bill, views a vote in the House Judiciary Committee as a good compromise on the divisive milk supply management portion of the Dairy Security Act. The committee Wednesday approved by ...
Thursday, June 06, 2013 10:52 AM
YELM, Wash. -- Experimental plots of short-season corn will sprout soon as researchers seek suitable varieties for growing dairy silage in Western Washington. The region has a fairly short growing season, so growing sweet corn is an iffy proposition. But silage corn can be harvested without ever ...
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