Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Susan Duncan, Dairy and Sensory Evaluation

Bill Eigel,                Food Biochemistry

Joe Marcy:               Food Processing

Merle Pierson: Food Microbiology

 Sean O’Keefe: Food Chemistry

Susan Sumner:   Food Safety

Walter Hartman:    Dairy Plant Manager whartman@vt.edu

Kim Waterman:  Dairy Chemistry    Kwater@vt.edu

UPDATES AT VIRGINIA TECH

The 19 th Annual Virginia Dairy Quality Control Conference will be held Tuesday September 13 th , 2005. Mark you calendars now and plan to attend!

  HOT TOPICS AND DAIRY ISSUES

Secretary of Ag and Forestry Interview

Recently (2/6/05), The Roanoke Times published a question/answer session with Robert Bloxom, who has held the position of VA's first secretary of Ag and Forestry for a little over a month. He also oversees the Dept. of Ag and Consumer Services, the Dept. of Forestry, The VA Ag Council and the VA Marine Products board. Several questions pertained to VA's dairy industry:

What do you see as the future direction for agriculture in VA? “Even with all the changes that have been going on (IT and technology coming into the state) agriculture and forestry are still the number 1 industry in VA. If we can help farmers, watermen and foresters be more successful, then we will have accomplished our mission to make our rural areas much more viable. We're trying to figure out marketing, research and preservation. Education is overriding. Putting together players at the very bottom is the strategy to develop the plans for the future. Management from the bottom up is successful.”

What assistance will be available to help farmers with large herds comply with EPA and Dept. of Environmental Quality regulations?

“Expand the focus on waste management. Federal and state government need to step up and do some things. For example, look at the Shenandoah Valley which is part of the Chesapeake Watershed. Let's develop a plan that would reduce the nutrients going into the Chesapeake Bay . It's not fair to require farmers to comply with the regulations without some kinds of benefits.”

What kind of state government help can be expected to encourage the establishment and marketing of niche products? “The marketing department will be actively involved. VA Tech, through its research department, is developing unique and special products that we need to develop into niche markets. I ran across a request in the economic development office from someone who wants to put wine in wooden barrels. A minuscule example, but it's something we need to court. Virginia Works identifies small, special research products which could evolve into some major market areas. I'm hoping nobody toys with its funding.”

What is the role of agriculture and forestry in the state's economic development plan and, in particular, in rural VA? “Farming in rural areas has come under a lot of pressure because of expanding populations. But there's still a big demand for food and for forest products. The economics in the rural areas will improve because of those demands.”

What is the role of VA Tech's Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Natural Resources in your vision for agriculture and forestry? “It's major. No question in my mind. Research stations are so beneficial to farmers. The whole department is very important, including the Extension division.”

What do you plan to do to promote new agricultural business in VA, i.e., meat and dairy processing plants? “We will follow up on any leads we get. I give credit to the secretary of Commerce and Trade. They found a market for apples in Cuba . There's a special type of soybean that the Japanese are interested in. And VA has to compete with Brazil , which has a large production of soybeans. Research and marketing come into play again. The department lost personnel over the past few years. Perhaps that has decreased the specialty areas our marketing people would be able to cover. We would hope to be able to have the right personnel to do the right job. That could mean increasing the budget. Or people may shift from one division to another.”

Are you considering appointing or forming a dairy advisory committee to help bring you up to speed on the dairy industry, including milk prices? “That's not a question I have approached yet. I have no idea. Right across the hall is the milk commission; I can certainly go over there and gather some information. Carlton [Courter] is the commissioner, and he's from a dairy family. We're putting together some agricultural groups to look at. Maybe we can have a dairy group, chicken group, turkey group. A study to double net receipts for farmers in VA Agriculture 2002-12 was written by a group of agricultural specialists. I can re-energize that same group and take it from where they left off.”

Are you going to be a buffer or liaison among the dairymen, the state and the federal government on environmental mandates? “Yes. I think you would have to be. The secretary really is a liaison, putting together all the players, all the details and putting together a plan. I would hope to do that.”

Given that milk prices were good for 2004 and, on average, were terrible for the past five years, do you have any plans to help drive a better pricing structure for the dairymen in VA? “I'm not sure how to approach that. Herds are down. The number of dairy farms is down, yet production is up. They're doing some pretty good things. But it's difficult to manage and manipulate the market. But I know the dairymen are not making money. I need to talk to the dairymen to see how we approach that, the pricing structure.”

Ultra-Filtered Milk

Ultra-filtered (UF) milk is a fluid ingredient that contains lower levels of lactose and higher levels of protein than regular milk. It has a fresh dairy flavor and good solubility. It is a versatile ingredient that has been marketed commercially since 1996, and has been increasing rapidly in popularity with dairy processors and food and beverage manufacturers that produce lower-carbohydrate versions of dairy products and dairy-based beverages. Prior to the “low-carb explosion”, most whole milk UF product was used for cheesemilk standardization. UF skim milk and diafiltered UF skim milk are new in the past 2 years. Diafiltration removes additional carbohydrates (lactose and minerals) from the milk and allows it to be used in lower-carb versions of milk, yogurt, ice cream and dairy beverages. Diafiltration can reduce the lactose content to 1% or less (down from 4.5 to 5% lactose in whole milk UF products). Using UF milk as an ingredient may require formula adjustments because lactose adds sweetness and changes texture (especially in frozen desserts where freezing point is affected).

These new products do not meet the standards of identity for traditional dairy products. Since the FDA has no carbohydrate carbohydrate labeling guidelines, the dairy and beverage industries have created a variety of names and claims. Some companies call these products “dairy beverages” or “cultured dairy snack” while others use a nutrient descriptor, such as “reduced sugar, lowfat yogurt”.