Dairy Innovation

Dairy Innovation. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

Last week at the joint annual meeting of dairy-farmer funded promotion groups in San Diego, one focus was on Innovation - and the progress of a 3-year old effort to bring the dairy industry together to solve common challenges. The Innovation Center for U.S. dairy was established by dairy farmers in 2008, as a forum to bring the entire industry together to focus on priorities such as health and wellness and consumer confidence. Arizona dairy farmer Paul Rovey, who chairs Dairy Management Inc, which manages the dairy checkoff, says the innovation center is driving change.

ROVEY: The Innovation Center gives us a tremendous opportunity to work with our partner companies, to drive change in dairy consumption, to increase dairy consumption. And while those companies and the other companies that we partner with, they’ll win in that equation, -- but it’s also a tremendous win for dairy farmers because we move so much more dairy products and remove the barriers to the consumption of dairy.

More than 200 companies have joined with dairy farmers in the innovation center. Missouri dairy farmer and United Dairy Industry Association chairman Bill Siebenborn says it’s been exciting to see a unified effort for the industry.

SIEBENBORN: There are a number of issues, that the dairy industry faces, that when you get the leadership of the major companies in the industry in the room sitting at the same table, you can make a lot of headway on solving those problems, because it’s for the good of the industry, we all benefit from it.

The innovation center has helped address consumer mis-perceptions about lactose intolerance, and has worked to restore flavored milk in schools. Siebenborn says these efforts and many others are critical to the future for dairy.

SIEBENBORN: In years to come, dairy farmers may look back on the Innovation Center as the most important thing promotion has ever done for them.

All together about 1000 people from across the nation were in attendance at the Joint Annual Meeting of farmer-funded dairy promotion groups. That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.