Fonterra, formed in 2001 and tracing its roots back to New Zealand's first dairy venture in 1814, sells more than $8 billion of products a year, including Anchor Butter and Anlene milk powder. Cheese and milk powder prices doubled in the past year as demand rose and a surge in biofuel crops cut arable land available for food production. Global demand may increase by 2.5 percent a year through 2010 and milk prices are likely to remain elevated for some time, Rabobank Groep, the world's...

If a cow's nutritional needs are not met this winter, the calf will be weaker at birth, have a lower survival rate, and the quality and quantity of milk from the cow may not be adequate to sustain the calf. Lemenager said managing forage supplies is important to meet the nutritional requirements of beef cows this winter. The next critical phase is whether these cows will return to estrous after they calve in a reasonable period of time and conceive. Lemenager said that if cows are...

An idea that began with a cup of milk has led to cows and other farm animals being given to people around the world to help fight hunger and poverty. Each family that receives a heifer from the organization agrees to "pass on the gift" and donate a newborn calf to another family in need. Most of the donations come from individual Americans, but contributions also come from people, organizations and Heifer affiliations around the world. Recipients also must teach others the sustainable...

Target said its meat products exceed all federal guidelines for safety, but the corporation "is working to add (warning) labels to those products that encourage guests not to rely on color or the use or freeze-by date alone" to judge product freshness. Target is asking permission from the federal government to put warning labels on meat packages that use carbon monoxide. Top meat producers Hormel and Cargill endorse the use of labels to inform customers when carbon monoxide is used in the...

SPRINGFIELD With hay in short supply and high priced grain, beef cattle producers are evaluating their feeding operation and looking at co-products to fill the void for their cow-calf and feeding operations. Headlining the conference will be Rick Rasby, Extension beef cattle specialist from the University of Nebraska who will present two topics including, Storage, Handling Issues and Timely Buying of Co-Products, along with Using Co-Products in Growing and Backgrounding Diets. Headlining...

Plan to stop into the kitchen for a warm cookie before you climb aboard a wagon for a ride along the Ottauquechee River behind a brace of Percherons. Exhibits chronicle rural life in Vermont at the end of the 19th century and recount the grand experiment of the Billings farm, which was established by Frederick Billings, a lawyer and conservationist, in 1871 as a model scientific dairy farm operation. Billings had cattle shipped from the Isle of Jersey, and the farm continues to breed these...