The International Dairy Foods Association has selected Michael Dykes to replace Connie Tipton as its president and CEO. For the past 19 years, Dykes was vice president of government affairs for Monsanto. He has spent his career involved in developing agricultural government affairs policies and strategies, according to an IDFA press release. At Monsanto, he was responsible for a portfolio of programs that included agricultural biotechnology policy. [node:read-more:link]

If you work on U.S. agricultural policy in Washington, D.C. for a long enough period, you learn two important rules of thumb. Rule No. 1: once a new farm bill is done, the House and Senate Agriculture Committees will strongly resist any legislative changes to it, claiming it would jeopardize the bill’s delicate balance to ‘re-open it.’ Rule No. 2: as soon as that farm bill is fully implemented—if not sooner—stakeholder groups will start thinking about what changes they might like to be made the next time. [node:read-more:link]

State officials say another case of bovine tuberculosis has been detected on a northern Michigan cattle farm. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development says the potentially fatal illness was confirmed in an Alcona County beef herd when one of the animals was tested before being moved to another place. Sixty-six cattle herds in Michigan have been found to be infected with bovine TB since 1998. Alcona County is one of four counties where cattle producers must test their herds for the disease annually and before they’re moved. [node:read-more:link]

The USDA has announced it will increase funding for farm loans to help more than 1,900 approved applicants.  The reprogrammed funds by Farm Service Agency (FSA) will leverage $185 million for operating loans.  Given the current farm economy, FSA loans are in higher demand in 2016.  The money is believed to cover nearly 30 percent of the loan back log ahead of the start of the next fiscal year.  In the 2016 fiscal year, more than 6,400 customers were guaranteed loans for farm ownership and operating. A new year coupled with fresh funding starts Oct. 1. [node:read-more:link]

A recent study highlighting the renewable energy capacity of the eastern power grid found adding new transmission capacity can help further cut costs and emissions.  the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found the grid serving the eastern half of the U.S. is technically capable of integrating enough wind and solar power into the system to meet 30 percent of the region's yearly energy needs. [node:read-more:link]

Dan O’Brien, owner of Wild Idea Buffalo Co., has used his experiences in cattle ranching, nature conservancy and academia to create a unique livestock production business model that not only addresses animal welfare, but also land conservation and bolstering the historic American bison herd back to its once thriving state. Mobile slaughter coupled with a marksman carrying a 30-06 rifle with a special cartridge, work in conjunction to produce and process 100 percent grass-fed and stress-free bison, but that’s just a piece of O’Brien’s overall vision. [node:read-more:link]

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the investment of $26.6 million by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) into 45 projects that will spur innovative conservation initiatives on both rural and urban farms across the country. Public and private grantees will provide matching investments, bringing the total value of support to $59 million. [node:read-more:link]

3D printing has a whole host of use cases, but one that you might not previously have thought of is the use of additive manufacturing to create cow’s milk — minus the cows.  That’s the mission statement of a startup called Perfect Day Foods, founded by two twenty-something biomedical scientists. The firm has so far raised $4 million from investors. Perfect Day’s plan? To create a lactose-free milk substitute that’s a whole lot closer to the real thing than existing milk substitutes. [node:read-more:link]

Senator Tammy Baldwin says millions are being lost in milk export sales to Canada due to dairy pricing changes this spring. Baldwin is asking USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Michael to investigate the new Canadian dairy pricing policies to see whether they're fair and to make sure trade agreements are being upheld. “You need to investigate whether trade deals are being broken though this policy and you especially need to talk with your Canadian counterparts now that they're looking at expanding this Ontario based policy nationwide,” said Baldwin. [node:read-more:link]