- Dairy producers
- Dairy cooperative executives and directors
- Dairy processors
- Suppliers and consultants to the dairy business
- State and federal regulators
- Promotion organization executives
- Academics
The emphasis for all is on frank discussion, with plenty of opportunities for interaction.
Conference Agenda: April 19 - 21, 2009
(Saturday, April 18)
2:00 pm—5:00 pm Meeting Registration
Sunday, April 19
Farm and Industry Tours (optional) cost $125.00 per person (includes breakfast, a box lunch, and a beverage). The tours are on a first-come, first-served basis. Please specify your tour preference with your registration.
7:00 am Continental breakfast for tour participants
7:45 am Meet in hotel lobby and board buses
A) DeHaan Family Great Western Dairy - Ault, Colorado
Great Western Dairy is part of the strongest growing sector of agriculture in Weld County. Casey DeHaan and his wife Janelle are sixth-generation dairy farmers.
The DeHaans use a carousel (rotating platform) system, which began operation in early 2008.
This is how the Great Western Dairy carousel operates:
- The cows form a single-file line and step onto an empty stall as the carousel slowly turns.
- The cows are milked as the carousel turns.
- Once the cow has given all her milk, the milking machine is automatically detached from the cow.
- At the end of the 10-minute rotation, cows back out of their stalls and return to the dairy's corrals.
Aside from hay, corn, and mineral supplements, byproducts from making food and fuel make up about half of the diet at Great Western.
The DeHaan dairy farm tour will be followed by a visit to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Fort Collins.
OR
B) Kraft Family Quail Ridge Dairy - Fort Morgan, Colorado
Chris and Mary Kraft opened their brand-new Quail Ridge facility in 2008, with a capacity of 4,000 cows. The entire dairy is built on flow: cow flow, people flow, milk flow, and manure flow. Two-lane highways move cow traffic through 15-foot-wide foot baths to free-stalls with automated scrapers.
The free-stalls at Quail Ridge are bedded with compost created on-farm, and the alleys are scraped, rather than flushed, due to water restrictions.
The Kraft dairy farm tour will be preceded by a visit to the Leprino Foods facility in Denver.
1:00 pm—4:00 pm Meeting Registration
6:00 pm—7:00 pm Dairy Leadership Reception
Sponsored by Elanco Animal Health
7:00 pm—9:00 pm Dairy Leadership Dinner
Welcome & Introductions
Randy Mooney, NMPF Chairman
Les Hardesty, Dairy Farmer from Greeley, CO
Sponsored by Elanco Animal Health
Monday, April 20
7:00 am—5:00 pm Meeting Registration
7:00 am—8:00 am Breakfast
Sponsored by Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative and Watson/Mulhern LLC
8:00 am—8:30 am Welcome & Introductions
Tom Camerlo, Dairy Farmer from Florence, CO
Rep. John Salazar, U.S. Congressman, Third District of CO
Session 1
8:30 am—10:00 am Surviving 2009: An Outlook for the Dairy Economy
Depressed about the recession? 2009 is shaping up to be among the toughest years on record for dairy farmers, who in addition to dealing with the collapse in milk prices, have also had to confront volatile grain prices, the credit crunch, and high energy costs. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? What can farmers do to manage?
Moderator: Chris Galen, NMPF
Terry Barr, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
Professor Bruce Babcock, Iowa State University
Marv Hoekema, Dairy Decisions Consulting, LLC
Dan James, Mountain Plains Farm Credit Services
10:00 am—10:30 am Break
Sponsored by Western Dairy Association
Session 2
10:30 am—11:45 am Help Wanted: Farm Labor Availability & Immigration Policy
Finding and keeping an adequate workforce remains a key concern of dairy farmers. Congress has yet to enact any positive changes to our immigration laws, even as criminal justice agencies step up enforcement against farm workers.
Moderator: Jaime Castaneda, NMPF
Tamar Jacoby, ImmigrationWorks USA
Leon Sequeira, Former Assistant Secretary of Labor
12:00 pm—1:00 pm Lunch—Driving Demand for U.S. Dairy Products: Update on Dairy Checkoff
Tom Gallagher, Dairy Management Inc.
Session 3
1:15 pm—2:30 pm As the World Turns: Dairy Exports in a Challenging Global Economy
The global dairy market has changed dramatically in less than a year. How can U.S. companies respond to an environment that suddenly has gone from hot to cold?
Moderator: Tom Suber, U.S. Dairy Export Council
Mike Brown, Glanbia Foods, Inc.
Jerry Dryer, JDG Consulting
2:30 pm—3:00 pm Break
Sponsored by U.S. Dairy Export Council
Session 4
3:00 pm—4:30 pm Tracing Dairy Products from Farm to Fork
The number of recent foodborne illness outbreaks associated with both imported and domestically-produced products has given renewed focus to whether traceability is both possible, and a necessity. This session will address how programs such as Animal ID, Country of Origin Labeling, and product traceability all fit together to provide assurances of food safety.
Moderator: Alan Reed, Dairy Management Inc.
Clay Detlefsen, International Dairy Foods Association
John Meyer, Holstein Association USA
5:00 pm Meet in hotel lobby and board buses for Hotel Boulderado
5:30 pm—7:00 pm Western Dairy Association Reception
All registered NDLC participants are invited to attend. Heavy hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be served. Buses will also provide transportation back after the reception. Hotel Boulderado is a 10-minute drive from the Omni.
Tuesday, April 21
7:00 am—5:00 pm Meeting Registration
7:00 am—8:30 am Breakfast—The Future of the Beef Checkoff
Lucinda Williams, Chair of the Cattlemen's Beef Board and dairy farmer from Massachusetts
Session 5
8:30 am—10:00 am Milk for Manufacturing: How Should it be Priced?
It seems that no one likes the way milk for manufacturing dairy products is priced under marketing orders, be they state or federal – each decision reached results in winners and losers. Is there a better way to price milk going into cheese, whey, butter and powder that can satisfy cooperatives, processors and individual producers?
Moderator: Jim Tillison, NMPF
Dave Fuhrmann, Foremost Farms
Geoffrey Vanden Heuvel, Milk Producers Council
Jeff Williams, Glanbia USA
10:00 am—10:30 am Break
Sponsored by McLeod, Watkinson & Miller
Session 6
10:30 am—11:30 am Caring About Cows: The Impact of the Increased Spotlight on Animal Care
Over the past several years, anti-animal agriculture activists have increased their attacks on industry practices and technology, and have gained a substantial amount of media coverage. This session will discuss some of these attacks and the best way for the industry to respond. In addition, the National Dairy FARM Program will be discussed to demonstrate how it will help the dairy industry provide consumer assurance of appropriate practices.
Moderator Betsy Flores, NMPF
Charlie Arnot, CMA Consulting
Brock Herzberg, Mountain Area Council Political Action Trust/Political Action Committee
Gatz Riddell, American Association of Bovine Practitioners
11:30 am—12:30 pm Lunch—The Environment of the Environment
The activity surrounding environmental issues impacting dairy producers has increased significantly over the past few years. Our luncheon speaker will address a number of these and provide pertinent information regarding what may be coming in the future.
David Crass, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP
Session 7
12:45 pm—1:45 pm Climate Change Legislation: Cloud or Silver Lining for Dairy?
Congress and the Obama Administration are expected to give serious consideration to a sweeping new effort to control greenhouse gases and reduce global warming. Livestock producers have a great deal riding on how lawmakers deal with climate change.
Moderator: Jim Mulhern, Watson/Mulhern LLC
Sara Hessenflow Harper, The Clark Group, LLC
Bill Hohenstein, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Jeremy Symons, National Wildlife Federation
Session 8
2:00 pm—3:00 pm Manure Happens: Doing Digesters Right
This session will present the first-person experiences of several dairy farmers who operate manure digesters. It will examine the opportunities and challenges, the costs and benefits, of operating digesters.
Moderator: Chris Galen, NMPF
Dick Waybright, Mason Dixon Farms in PA
Mark Diedrichs, Lake Breeze Dairy in WI
John Fiscalini, Fiscalini Farms in CA
3:00 pm—3:30 pm Break
Sponsored by United Dairymen of Arizona
Session 9
3:30 pm—4:30 pm Future Innovation for the U.S. Dairy Industry
Creating lifelong dairy consumers is key to the dairy industry’s future success. As part of its Youth Improved initiative, the National Dairy Council is working to maintain and grow dairy’s position in schools. Key to that effort is working with processors to drive innovation with products that kids really like. In this session, you’ll learn more about Youth Improved and how it is protecting and growing dairy’s position in schools by understanding and sharing what kids really want.
Jean Ragalie, Dairy Management Inc.
4:30 pm Closing Remarks
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