04/19/07 Dairy wraps up national meeting in Washington

Washington Ag April 18, 2007 More than 200 dairy industry leaders met for two days this week in Stevenson, Washington for the 2007 National Dairy Leaders Conference. Topics at the conference ranged from dairy exports to nutrition marketing to value added milk. Paul Rovey an Arizona producer and Chairman of Dairy Marketing Incorporated, or DMI, which manages the national dairy check off, says the aim of the conference was not only to update dairy leaders but also to find more ways to sell more dairy. Rovey: "It's an opportunity for all of the dairy leaders from across the country, from all reaches of the country, to come together to discuss new ideas and meet new unmet demand that can be created. And so that brings back for all of us producers an opportunity to sell more dairy products, to sell more of our milk that we produce on our dairies, to be able to find new homes for it and new opportunities for a strong and stable market." DMI says one way the dairy check off is meeting unmet consumer demand is through product and packaging innovation such as fun-shapes for kid-friendly cheeses and milk in plastic, round re-sealable bottles. The seed for the next new idea may have been planted at the 2007 National Dairy Leaders Conference. I'm Bob Hoff.