200 attended Missouri Dairy Forum

Scott Poock, University of Missouri Extension veterinarian for the Commercial Agriculture program, at left, visits with Kenny Lenz, Cooper County dairy farmer, during the recent Missouri Dairy Forum held at Port Arrowhead at the Lake of the Ozarks. Lenz is a member of the Missouri Dairy Association Board of Directors.

More than 200 dairy enthusiasts attended the annual Missouri Dairy Forum in January, said David Drennan, head of the Missouri Dairy Association, Chesterfield.

"The resort at Port Arrowhead provides a fine meeting place for the forum and fun for the whole family with an indoor swimming pool and nearby outlet malls," he said.

The forum brought together seven dairy groups in Missouri including the Missouri Dairy Association, Missouri Holstein Association, Missouri Guernsey Breeders Association, Missouri Brown Swiss Association, Missouri Jersey Cattle Club, Missouri Dairy Growth Council, and the Sho-Mo Dairy Heifer Growers Association.

These groups held their annual meetings and/or board meetings during the two-day event which also featured a dairy trade show with 16 exhibitors, Drennan said.

The attendees heard from a variety of dairy experts from out-of-state. Rick Short, of Central Life Sciences, Romance, Ark., covered "increased profits by effective fly control"; Mary Beth de Ondarza of West Chazy, N.Y., sponsored by Alltech, on "today's feed opportunities, threats, and solutions"; and a "2008 market outlook and marketing tools to capture profit" by Rick Kment of DTN, Omaha.

The Missouri Dairy Association also conducted its annual policy development session with voting delegates from all over the state, Drennan said.

The program ended with the Holstein and Guernsey annual meetings and the board meetings of the Brown Swiss and Jersey Cattle Club, he said. season.