Food Costs Increase and the “Smoke and Mirrors” of rbST-Free Milk Marketing Rolls On…and On…and On

Terry Etherton

Retail food prices at the supermarket increased in the first quarter of 2008, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation Marketbasket Survey. The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 basic grocery items in the first quarter of 2008 was $45.03, up about 8 percent or $3.42 from the fourth quarter of 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

Milk: Let the Buyer (the Environment and the Cow) Beware

John Fetrow VMD, MBA
Professor of Dairy Medicine
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Minnesota
1365 Gortner Ave.
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108

Terry D. Etherton, Ph.D.
Department Head & Distinguished Professor of Animal Nutrition
Department of Dairy & Animal Science
324 W.L. Henning Bldg
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802

Milk is probably the most pure, wholesome, safe, highly regulated, inspected, and most carefully handled food that any of us consume. Dairy products provide a wealth of nutrients, including protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals. Even the butterfat in milk contains substances that may reduce cancer risks and help prevent obesity. Read the rest of this entry »

Milk Market Moos – Thoughts from the Wise

Sherry Bunting
Farmshine February 8, 2008

Don’t ever apologize for what you do: be proud. What you do affects everyone from Main Street to Wall Street,”said Orion Samuelson to more than 600 dairy producers and agribusiness representatives, launching the 2008 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit at the Lancaster Host on Wednesday (Feb. 6). Read the rest of this entry »

AFACT Launches Website, Recruits Members

By SHERRY BUNTING
Special for Farmshine

LANCASTER, Pa. – “They’ve heard the lies, now it’s time they hear from the farmers,” said Pennsylvania dairyman Tom Krall during the second day of the Dairy Summit here on February 7. Krall-View Farm, Lebanon County, is home to a 100-cow milking herd.

Krall, along with DairyBusiness publisher Joel Hastings presented information about the new producer organization: American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT). Read the rest of this entry »

The Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board (PMMB) Must Protect Choice for Dairy Consumers and Economic Returns of Dairy Producers

Terry D. Etherton

Protect consumer choice:In the marketplace it is important that consumers have the right to buy milk produced by the most efficient, safe and sanitary methods of dairy farm management practices and production technologies that are available,and priced to reflect these efficiencies. Read the rest of this entry »

Orion Samuelson of WGN Radio on the Use of rbST

The following podcast features Orion Samuelson of WGN Radio discussing the use of recombinant bovine somatotropn (rbST).

Orion Samuelson is heard on WGN Radio, where he has served as Agribusiness Director since 1960. He and his associate, Max Armstrong, present 15 agricultural/business reports daily on WGN. They also host the hour-long Morning Show and Noon Show, both heard on Saturdays on WGN. Orion is also heard daily on more than 260 radio stations with his syndicated National Farm Report and on 110 stations with his syndicated Samuelson Sez. Orion and Max are seen weekly on rural channel RFD-TV, carried on Dish-TV and DirecTV on This Week in Agribusiness.

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WHYY Radio Interview on PDA’s Ruling Regarding Labeling of MilK

The following podcast is of an interview with Dr. Terry Etherton on WHYY Radio in Philadelphia. This interview took place on January 15, 2008.

Summary from WHYY: The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recently ruled that dairies that do not inject their cattle with synthetic growth hormone can no longer label their milk as hormone-free. The decision, which has been put on hold until the beginning of February, raises serious questions for consumers, dairy farmers, and retailers. We talk to TERRY ETHERTON of Penn State University.

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Labels Aren’t Big Enough To Tell The Truth

By TERRY D. ETHERTON, Ph.D.
My editorial reply to the Centre Daily Times, State College, PA
(Published in the January 21, 2008 issue of the Centre Daily Times)

Your editorial (Truth is spilled over milk, published on January 3, 2008) overlooked a lot of truths and passed on a few half truths as well.

The biggest overlooked truth is that the controversy over milk labeling has more to do with company profits than with consumer demand. The truth is that milk companies have forced farmers to stop using recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) so that the companies can imply through advertising that their milk is better than some other company’s milk. This disingenuous advertising — “hormone free,” “no artificial hormones,” etc. – is fully aimed at customers who cannot be expected to know all the facts about rbST. There is a bothersome fact that undermines this advertising strategy: All milk contains hormones —the same hormones in the same amounts, irrespective of whether the cow has been supplemented with rbST. This includes organic milk and milk from cows not supplemented with rbST. Even vitamin D, which is used to fortify milk, is a hormone. Read the rest of this entry »

Grading Science Journalism – A Case Study of Lousy Science Journalism

Terry D. Etherton

The Case Study

The following editorial on milk labeling, Truth is spilled over milk, was published in the January 3, 2008 issue of the Centre Daily Times (State College, Pennsylvania).

As an educator for almost 30 years, and having given countless quizzes and exams, I thought it would be informative for the readers of my blog for me to GRADE this editorial. Read the rest of this entry »

Pennsylvania Milk Labeling Law a Positive Step

Editorial from Hoard’s Dairyman
January 10, 2008 Issue

Kudos to Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff for his department’s announcement that it will not allow dairy retailers to market milk with so-called “absence labels” in the state. Wolff, a dairy farmer himself, said that his department reviewed 140 labels and found 16 of them false or misleading. This announcement covered labels promising milk to be free of certain things such as artificial hormones, antibiotics, or pesticides. Read the rest of this entry »

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