Midwest Dairy Association

April 2012 Highlights « Back

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Fuel Up to Play 60 in Missouri

The Dairy Optimization project to sell individually wrapped cheese at Lee’s Summit School District has been extended to a third high school in the district. Funds will be used to purchase a counter-top cooler, display crates and special signage. The program has already been a success in two high school buildings in the district, selling a combined total of nearly 3,000 units of cheese since the program’s start in December of 2011. More promotion activities are planned at each school in the coming months.

Several Missouri schools received Fuel Up to Play 60 funding this month, providing support for a variety of activities and tools, such as foodservice materials and equipment, nutrition and physical education materials, student and staff incentives, staff development and overall Fuel Up to Play 60 implementation.  Additionally, funds support expanding breakfast opportunities in schools, such as grab-n-go breakfast and breakfast in the classroom. Missouri schools receiving this most recent funding include:

  • Jefferson Elementary, Normandy School District, St. Louis County - $3,955;
  • Camdenton Middle School, Camdenton School District -- $1,450; and
  • Camdenton High School, Camdenton School District -- $1,250.

Reeds Springs School received a Fuel Up to Play 60 reward from Midwest Dairy for its “Back to School Back to Football” challenge, an NFL player visit from former St. Louis Rams player Grant Wistrom. He played football at the University of Nebraska and grew up in the Webb City area. Dairy producer Steve Chapman of Pierce City attended as well, speaking about the commitment dairy producers have for supporting Fuel Up to Play 60. Two local TV stations covered the event.

Your Health and Wellness program managers serving Missouri, Bridget Sheehan and Courtney Corbett, were invited to sit on the planning committee for the upcoming Missouri Coordinated School Health Conference scheduled for November, 2012. Planning meetings started in mid-March.

Midwest Dairy will participate in the Missouri Dietetic Association Conference in St. Louis on April 19. Midwest Dairy staff will work a booth in the trade show area and coordinate healthy snacks for breaks. We’ll also demonstrate the HOPSports unit (physical activity) and feature an NFL (Rams) player.

Other Missouri Updates

On May 30-31 in St. Louis, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's (NRECA) Cooperative Research Network (CRN) and the University of Missouri are bringing together researchers, manufacturers and utility and agricultural experts to share research results on the use of solid-state lighting (SSL) in livestock production. The one-and-a-half day forum is intended for utility staff, agricultural producers and researchers. The forum fee is $290. Preliminary research conducted by CRN, Western Farmers Electric Cooperative and the University of Oklahoma is very promising. The LED conversion resulted in a validated 55 percent energy savings, 30 percent increase in average illumination (footcandles), and early evidence of a 6 percent increase in milk yield from the cows on the LED side of a freestall barn. This forum will review potential benefits and risks with the new lighting technologies. More information is available on NRECA.coop.

Midwest Dairy will be working with members of the Missouri Farmers Care (MFC) Coalition organizing farm tours for the Missouri Restaurant Association on April 30. This effort started last year with an influencer event at a Cardinals game. The tours will include a dairy farm and beef farm, and will be a great opportunity to communicate our industry image messaging.

We spoke recently to the Dairy Science Club at the University of Missouri. The club is relatively new and has nearly 30 active students this year. I shared with them how the checkoff program operates and spoke about career opportunities in the dairy industry. I also offered assistance for a few of their outreach projects, including a day camp at the Foremost Dairy Farm for K-5 students this spring.

We also attended an event of the Kansas City Ag Business Council on March 22, where Kansas City Mayor Sly James was the keynote speaker. He recognized agriculture and its viable economic impact for the city, saying he supports the renovation of the west bottoms in Kansas City as well as the Kemper Arena area.

Midwest Dairy attended the 2012 Dairy Farmers of America Annual Meeting the week of March 19. It was a pleasure to visit with many of you and share various developments in the checkoff program.

Spring time is coming and that means school farm tours. Don’t forget to call the Midwest Dairy Producer Service Center at 877-360-FARM for all your material needs as well as great ideas to help make your promotion events a success.

Also, as we approach June Dairy Month you might be considering plans for an open house. This is an excellent opportunity to give back to your community and connect with your neighbors. Please contact me (816-873-0351 or rgrusenmeyer@midwestdairy.com) to see how Midwest Dairy can help make your event successful.