A judge has struck down a six-month extension of an emergency moratorium on new confined-animal feeding operations passed by Jerome County commissioners in November. Click here for the full story.
Cattle, dairy groups win lawsuit against S. Idaho county
Livestock groups prevail over county decision
The Idaho Dairymen’s Association and the Idaho Cattle Association have prevailed in their lawsuit challenging Jerome’s County’s November 2007 enactment of an “Interim Ordinance” to prohibit the construction of new or existing livestock operations.
Calif. Tomato Board is dissolved, state looks at California Milk Processor Board
Another department audit found that the California Milk Processor Board paid its executive director $291,361 in his first seven months on the job -- including a $50,000 signing bonus, free health insurance and $73,478 in reimbursed expenses -- without a finalized contract. Agriculture department spokesman Steve Lyle said in a statement that the agency has hired more auditors and plans to improve its supervision. "Generally, the department is committed to doing full fiscal compliance audits of all state commissions," the statement said. Click here for the full story.
Madera dairy owner to speak at radio frequency ID conference April 16
Larry Pietrowski, co-owner of Costa View Farms, Madera, will be a keynote speaker for an RFID conference in Las Vegas sponsored by RFID Journal, the world’s leading media and events company covering radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Click here for the full story.
Class III futures jump higher....again
Class III dairy futures for the second half of 2008 jumped higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday, in fact, the September contract went over the $19.00 mark. July through December contracts now average $18.82 and there is really no sign things are going to let-off. Dave Kurzawski with Downes & O’Neill says there are a number of things pushing this. “I think there are commercial end users out there looking at the whey price and looking at the Class III price and doing the math,” and that has them, “getting a little nervous.” Click here for the full story.