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Western states, Texas and Florida show biggest year-over-year percentage gains.

Northwest Dairy Association (NDA), a dairyfarmer-owned cooperative, and Darigold, Inc., its wholly owned milk processing subsidiary, recently pledged support for the draft dairy reform legislation released by House Agriculture Committee ranking democratic member Collin Peterson (D-MN) earlier this summer. Peterson, who plans to introduce the legislation this fall, will be joined by Congressman Mike Simpson (R-ID) as a co-sponsor. The proposal is based on Foundation for the Future (FFTF), a comprehensive dairy reform proposal authored by dairy leaders across the country."Our decision to support the Peterson/Simpson proposal is not one taken lightly,” according to Jim Werkhoven, Chairman of the Northwest Dairy Association and Darigold boards of directors and a dairyfarmer in Monroe, Washington. “We began our evaluation of the proposal more than a year ago, by presenting it to the membership at our annual meeting. Since then, we have discussed the plan in many forums, including area producer meetings. There is an industry consensus building around Foundation for the Future that promises improved economic stability for dairyfarmers and ensures food security for the nation.”

BY SHERRI ACKERMANThe Tampa TribuneTAMPA It’s the latest public education controversy to sweep the nation, and it has nothing to do with high-stakes testing or graduation rates.This debate is about chocolate milk, and it’s coming soon to a cafeteria near you.This summer, the Los Angeles Public School District banned chocolate milk from its lunchrooms. It joined a growing list of states, including Florida, that link the sugary beverage to childhood obesity.One school nutrition manager in Coloradodubbed chocolate milk “soda in drag.”

Program represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make major improvements, says National Milk Producers Federation.

Food prices are expected to rise as the corn surplus shrinks due to a hot summer, which likely scorched this year’s corn crop.

By Josh Rhotenjrhoten@wyomingnews.comCHEYENNE - Drought conditions across the U.S. have created a unique situation for Wyoming ranchers.Demand for hay continues to grow, sparking an increase in prices.Monte Lerwick, a rancher and farmer in Albin, said he was seeing a rise in prices, even for low-quality hay, because of the high demand."Our hay prices have been really high this year, and we have started to bundle it up into larger bails to send to other places because of the demand,” he said. “It doesn’t even really matter if it’s high quality or not, people just need it because of that drought.”

In its September World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, USDA also projected lower U.S. feed grain supplies for 2011-12.

Corn conception, and development, is poorly understood. So biology professor Virginia Walbot devotes her career to tackling one of botany’s big puzzles: the sex life of corn.