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

VDTS Meeting

The Virginia Dairy Technology Society met on February 23 rd at the Courtyard by Marriott in Charlottesville , VA. Approximately 24 people attended. Bud Ross and Otto Drescher of the Nickel Institute discussed the basics of pipe corrosion, how to spot good/poor welds in the processing plant, different types of stainless piping, corrosion effects and fabrication defects.

A business meeting followed the program. Several topics were raised: The Spring Golf Tournament will be held in Monticello , VA this year. Tamesha Ballard (Ph.D. candidate; Biological Systems Engineering), Brian Stanek (junior; FST), and Noelle Todd (senior; FST) received VA Dairy Tech Society scholarships for participating on the 2004 Virginia Tech Dairy Products Evaluation Team. Tech Society members representing dairy processing facilities and related businesses were encouraged to offer internships with their companies for students in applicable majors, such as Food Science and Dairy Science. VDTS is still looking for officers for this year. Interested parties should contact Gray Sherrill (phone: 804-337-0130).

HOT TOPICS AND DAIRY ISSUES

First International Symposium on Milk Genomics and Human Health

An international research effort focused on using genetics to unlock more health secrets of milk took a major step forward with the first International Symposium on the Milk Genome and Human Health. The conference was held last November in Napa , CA .

Symposium organizer Dr. Bruce German, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California at Davis , said the conference was the first time that researchers involved in the milk genome project were able to meet in person. In attendance were experts in nutrition, genomics, bioinformatics and milk from around the world.

The focus of the research effort is to use genomics – the study of genetic material – to investigate the lifelong health benefits of milk for adults. Scientists and organizations from the United States , New Zealand , Australia , Ireland , Canada , Switzerland and the Netherlands are building databanks that contain genetic information about milk. The purpose of the symposium was to clarify the tools and technologies that the researchers will use as they collaborate to mine these databanks for information on how the components of milk work.

“This project is tapping into technology in ways that will produce big results for the dairy industry,” said German. “The study of genomics allows us to go beyond simply understanding that milk is beneficial and challenges us to discover precisely how and why.”

The milk genome project, under way at the University of California , Davis , is part of a larger inquiry into preventing disease through foods that improve health. While nutritionists have long known that milk offers health benefits, they haven't fully understood exactly how milk delivers those benefits. Of the many foods that humans consume, only milk has evolved over millions of years to precisely help mammals thrive and fight off disease. By studying the genetic material of milk, scientists hope they can understand which milk molecules utilize which mechanisms to provide milk's benefits. “We now have a new strategy for discovering even broader nutritional benefits of milk that contribute to adult well-being”, says German.

Tillamook Creamery Goes Hormone-Free

Tillamook Creamery sells cheese nationwide, butter throughout the western U.S. and ice cream, yogurt and sour cream in most stores in the Pacific Northwest . It is one of the oldest and largest dairies in the country.

Recently Tillamook Creamery Association's board voted unanimously to require all 147 member dairy farmers to go rBGH-free. Consumer questions and complaints convinced the Tillamook Creamery Association to force all of its dairies to abandon the use of genetically engineered growth hormones in their cows.

Consumer groups started contacting Tillamook a year ago about rBGH and began a full-scale postcard, phone call and email campaign. Jim McMullen, Tillamook president, concluded, “When 8% of your customers are talking about that issue, that's substantial, and we need to listen.”

Three Mile Canyon dairy in Boardman , Oregon supplies a large amount of milk to Tillamook. It has also signed an agreement to go rBGH-free even though it is not formally part of Tillamook's co-op. At this point, the precise date of going completely rBGH-free is not known, but it may happen in the next few months.

Monsanto has been doing everything possible to derail the decision, and has reportedly sent one of its lawyers to Oregon to organize dissident Tillamook farmers who want to continue using rBGH. The lawyer has succeeded in getting 10% of the membership to request a general meeting of all 147 members to vote on overturning the board's decision. This meeting will probably be held at the end of this month.

Second Herd Retirement Initiative Removes Nearly 1 Billion Pounds of Milk

In January, Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) accepted bids from 363 farms that had offered to retire their dairy herds. An audit confirmed that there were 50,478 dairy cows being retired from those farms, all of which will be sold promptly by the participating farmers for conversion into beef. The cows being retired produced approximately 908 million pounds of milk on an annual basis, which represents a little more than one-half of 1% of the estimated 170 billion pounds of milk produced in the U.S. in 2004.

Under CWT's program, farmers bid to be paid for the volume of milk that their herds produced, and they also recover the market price for those herds when they are sold for beef. The average bid accepted in the second herd retirement program was $5.24/cwt, with no bid accepted above $7.63. The 363 bids accepted were selected from a total of 736 submitted. The 908 million pounds of milk removed is 4% higher than CWT's initial goal of 870 million pounds. In the first herd retirement program (Fall, 2003), CWT accepted bids from 299 farms that retired 33,000 cows, representing 608 million pounds of milk.

Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of National Milk Producers Federation, which manages CWT stated, “The dairy farmers and cooperatives that support CWT can be assured that we have a rigorous system in place to make certain that their money is being spent wisely and appropriately. This program is a win-win for all of America 's dairy producers. Producers who wished to retire their herds were able to do so through a bidding process that assured they received fair market value for their milk production capacity, while those dairy farmers who remain in business will benefit because of a better balance between supply and demand.”