Dairy Quality Link
Invest in a good harvest
No farmer will argue with the fact that harvest can make or break his crop. He'll tell you of the huge investment in crop inputs and how timing is critical for a successful harvest. I heard it said once, "Margins are too tight to blow it at harvest time."
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Dairy food safety starts on the farm
Lately, food safety seems to be top of mind with consumers. And, since they are your customers, that means it should be top of mind for you, too.
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Product traceability: fact, fiction or the future?
In the near future, we must develop a traceability system based on technology and the changing desires of consumers.
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Animal care increasingly under the magnifying glass
During the last three years, I have worked with McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's on auditing meatpacking plants for animal welfare. These audits have resulted in great improvements. Each plant is audited, using an objective scoring system that I developed for the American Meat Institute.
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Consider dairy products with a high health index
All milk is not the same. Research conducted at Iowa State University, in conjunction with Land O'Lakes, shows that the health index of milk varies from cow to cow.
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HACCP: A win/win for producers, processors and consumers
The dairy farm always has been and continues to be a "food manufacturing facility."
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Paying for quality
It takes a "quality mind-set" to produce high-quality milk on a consistent basis. But, pride in the product and regulatory influence can only go so far in motivating producers to do a better job. Basically, it comes down to economics.
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Achieve better milk quality with Hispanic milkers
When producers are asked to list their milk quality goals, it doesn't take long for them to come up with numbers for production and somatic cell count. But, when Hispanic milkers are asked the same question, they often respond with silence, or if they do give an answer, it is along the lines of "I don't understand the question" or "I don't know."
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Use teams to improve milk quality
Advice about milk quality can be obtained from many sources, including veterinarians, dairy plant and cooperative personnel, extension agents, other farmers and management consultants. Advisory teams formed of key milk quality advisors have been used as one strategy to improve milk quality.
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Biotech crops do not affect milk quality
During this morning's chores, the mixer wagon was loaded with a variety of feedstuffs - probably corn, soybean meal, corn silage and cottonseed, among other things.
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Trace the source of bacteria
Bacteria numbers in milk are routinely monitored. In order to be sold for Class I (beverage milk) purposes, the number of bacteria must not exceed 100,000 colony-forming units per milliliter.
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