London | Reuters –– British dairy farmers should be better protected from falls in the price of milk, lawmakers said on Tuesday in a report warning of a crisis which could damage the country’s dairy industry in the long-term. A price war between supermarkets in Britain has led to milk being sold at rock-bottom prices, […] Read more
British lawmakers call for more protection for dairy farmers
Sask. study strengthens case for chocolate milk
Pulling chocolate milk from schools over its sugar and calorie content may drive down children’s overall milk consumption at school and make the nutritional benefits tougher to replace, a new Saskatchewan study finds. Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, with funding from Dairy Farmers of Canada, have now looked at […] Read more

Dairy support price trimmed starting March 1
Canada’s dairy producers can expect their overall revenue from sales of industrial milk to slip nearly two per cent starting in March. The Canadian Dairy Commission on Thursday announced it will snip the support price it sets for skim milk powder effective March 1 to $6.3109 per kilogram — down from the current $6.4754 — […] Read more
China’s small dairy farmers dump milk as sector enters downturn
Beijing | Reuters –– Small dairy farmers in China are dumping milk and selling cows as demand from processors slows in a sharp turnaround from last year, when a scramble for supplies prompted a huge surge in milk powder imports. Slower growth in milk product consumption, higher yields from modern dairy farms and the excess […] Read more

Records show powerful antibiotic for cattle often misused by farmers
Ceftiofur accounted for one-fourth of USDA drug-residue violation reports in 2013
Reading Time: 3 minutes It is one of the most potent antibiotics used by U.S. cattle and dairy farmers. But the strength of the ceftiofur and the frequency with which it’s being misused has created a threat to human health that may overshadow the drug’s effectiveness, a Reuters examination shows. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautioned in 2012 […] Read more

Cattlemen’s Young Leaders wanted
Reading Time: < 1 minute Applications for the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program are now open. The program, a national youth initiative by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, offers mentorship opportunities to those aged 18 to 35 who are interested in developing their industry leadership skills or career potential. Those selected as mentees will be paired with industry leaders to begin a 10-month […] Read more

‘Breeding to feeding’ builds better dairy bulls
Crossbred Jersey-Limousins could be the answer to rebuilding North America’s cattle herd
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta dairy producers may favour Holsteins on their farms, but down in the heart of America’s Midwest, Jerry Wulf milks around 30,000 “smaller, more efficient” Jersey cows — over half of his total dairy herd. But Jerseys have just one problem, he said. “That stray Jersey bull calf that she was raising was a liability, […] Read more
Italian court orders new trial for bankers in Parmalat scandal
Parma | Reuters — Italy’s top appeals court on Friday threw out jail sentences against prominent bankers Cesare Geronzi and Matteo Arpe in a case related to the country’s biggest corporate scandal, the 2003 collapse of dairy group Parmalat. The Court of Cassation quashed the sentences handed down by a lower court in 2013 and […] Read more

Shuttered Que. beef plant’s equipment sold
The chance of a rescue for Quebec’s Levinoff-Colbex cull cow packing plant has passed, now that the facility’s equipment has been sold off piecemeal at auction. Provincial investment financing agency Investissement Quebec and other creditors still own the Colbex building and land at St-Cyrille-de-Wendover, in the Centre-du-Quebec region. But the plant’s receivers sold its equipment to a consortium of […] Read more

New program for dairy producers aims to reassure consumers
ProAction replaces the Canadian Quality Milk program by adding components for animal care and environmental sustainability
Reading Time: 3 minutes Dairy producers are revamping the Canadian Quality Milk program by adding protocols for animal care, on-farm food safety, traceability, biosecurity, and environmental sustainability. The new national accreditation program, called ProAction, was designed with consumers in mind, said Mike Slomp, industry and member services manager with Alberta Milk. “ProAction is about the social licence to operate, […] Read more