Marjorie Stieve, Marketing Services Manager - 608.250.4284

(Madison, Wis.) – Vita Plus Corporation is pleased to announce the winners of the World Dairy Expo Secure Sweepstakes promotion. These winners include:

Viaduct Holsteins, LLC, David, Bangart, Greenwood, Wis.
Plymouth Dairy Farms, Scott Thoms, Le Mars, Iowa
James Duban, Diane Johnson, Lonsdale, Minn.
D&D Dairy, Dean Smith, Rushford, Minn.
DeWalls Dairy, Evan DeWall, Baileyville, Ill.

Each of these producers will receive a free case of Secure calf colostrum replacer, valued at $265. The Secure giveaway promotion began on Sept. 29 and ran through Oct. 9 in conjunction with a World Dairy Expo promotion. Five winners were determined Oct. 19 by a random drawing of entries received online and through the mail.

Vita Plus wishes to thank all the producers who visited the Vita Plus booth at the 2009 World Dairy Expo and participated in the Secure sweepstakes promotion.

Vita Plus Corporation is an employee-owned company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Vita Plus has been serving livestock producers since 1948. More than just a feed supplier, Vita Plus consultants offer the latest cutting-edge technology, nutrition and management information. For more information about the organization call 1-800-362-8334

Gary Sipiorski - 608.250.4267

294 herds were selected in the latest CWT buyout program. This represents 87,000 dairy cows and 3,200 heifers. These cows account for 1.8 million pounds of milk and averaged 20,800 pounds per cow.

The final numbers adding up to the 87,000 cows will be coming later. Here are some of the highlights.

• 73% of these herds are East of the Mississippi where 93 herds were accepted averaging 166 cows per herd for a total of 15,438 cows.
  
  Yet 70% of the cows are coming from the West and Southwest regions.
• The Southwest had 41 herds accepted with an average of 817 cows per herd and a total of 33,497 cows.
• The Western region had 37 successful bids accepted at an average size herd of 743 cows totaling 27,491 cows.
  
  The speculation is that lenders were encouraging some of the producers to bid.

Those with accepted bids will be notified by August 31, the cows will be purple tagged and sent to market in short order.

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Gary Sipiorski - 608.250.4267

On Friday July 31, 2009 Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Obama Administration was increasing the Dairy Product Price Support Program (DPPSP).

Due to the prolonged low milk price the USDA is extending a hand to help increase the milk price by elevating the purchase price of:

• Block Cheese from $1.13 to $1.31
• Barrel Cheese from $1.10 to $1.28
• Non Fat Dried Milk (NFDM) from 0.80 to 0.92

Many Midwest dairy producers are paid based on Barrel Cheese on the Class III market. This should result in a mailbox price of an additional 0.18 for cheese.

Doing the math: 0.18 x 10 (10 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese) = $1.80 x 90% (a general market discount from market price to milk mailbox price) = $1.62.

Results may look like this: average all U.S. July mailbox price was $11.30 versus August price of $1.62 higher with the increase in USDA cheese purchase the mailbox price would be $12.92. We do not know what the August Class III will be as the writing of this brief. This gives you some idea of the impact of the $1.28 Milk Price Support.

Some key points to remember:

This additional Milk Price Support increase is only temporary. It is for the months of August through October 31, 2009. My guess is that the USDA is hoping the market will recover by October.

This does take money from the MILC payment program. It is not real clear at this time how the mechanics work on the trade off but Congress is starting to mandate itself in new spending. If money is to be allocated it must have a neutral impact on the budget.

Also remember that cheese processors must repackage the cheese to government specifications. The question is with only a three month new window will cheese makers spend the time and money to repackage, if they do not the Class III can fall below the support price as it has in the past.

Results of additional government purchases:

• Cheese 75 million pounds purchased by the government
• NFDM 150 million pounds purchased by the government
• USDA says this program will increase the farm revenue by $243 million.

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(Madison, Wis.) – Annette Zwald of Hammond, Wis. and Laura Zeldenrust of Fremont, Mich. have been named Vita Plus Dairy Service Specialists and will join the dairy nutrition and consulting team in Michigan. 

Zwald is a 2009 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with majors in dairy science and life sciences communication.  She has an extensive background in the dairy industry and worked on her family farm since childhood.  She also worked as the membership assistant for the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin and as a sales and marketing intern for Elanco Animal Health.  On campus, Zwald was active in many student organizations, including the Sigma Alpha Sorority, Badger Dairy Club and the National Agri-Marketing Association.  In addition, Zwald participated in research projects with the UW-Madison Department of Dairy Science and served as a member of the UW-Madison Dairy Challenge Team which placed first at national competition.

Zeldenrust is a 2009 graduate of Michigan State University with a major in animal science.  She developed a diverse background in the dairy industry through various internship experiences during her college career.  Most recently, she interned with ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc. in dairy feed product sales.  Zeldenrust was an active member of the Michigan State Collegiate Dairy Judging Program and was named the All American individual at the World Dairy Expo competition.   She was also a member of the MSU Dairy Club, 4-H, Student Senate and the National Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge Team.

In their new positions, Zwald and Zeldenrust will assist dairy producers in Michigan as consultants and nutritionists.  They will aid in on-farm servicing of current and prospective clients, complete nutritional training modules and attend industry meetings and conferences.  These new employees will work closely with other members of the dairy team to add value to customer operations and promote Vita Plus products and services.

Vita Plus Corporation is an employee-owned company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Vita Plus has been serving livestock producers since 1948. More than just a feed supplier, Vita Plus consultants offer the latest cutting-edge technology, nutrition and management information. For more information about the organization call 1-800-362-8334 or go online at www.vitaplus.com.

(Loyal, Wis.) – Two local students were named recipients of the 2009 "Our Future is in Agriculture Program" scholarship.  This program, sponsored by Vita Plus Loyal and SoyPlus, awarded $1,000 in scholarship money to qualified and deserving students.  Abby Walters of Wausau and Brett Gregorich of Spencer will each receive $500 toward funding their pursuit of agricultural related majors at various universities. 

WALTERS' PASSION DRIVES HER TO PURSUE VETERINARY MEDICINE

Abby Walters, a senior at Wausau East High School, has the dream of becoming a large-animal veterinarian.  This dream is rooted in hard work from her family's dairy farm.  Milking, cleaning, feeding and caring for cows and young stock is all in a day’s work for Walters, but her day does not stop there.  She participated in the Agriculture Apprenticeship program offered through her high school, taking courses at Northcentral Technical College her senior year.  Walters is also active in her FFA chapter, serving as president and vice president, and participating on the dairy judging team.  Besides FFA, Walters is a member of National Honor Society and her volleyball team for the past nine years.  To work towards becoming at veterinarian, Walters will attend University of Wisconsin-River Falls for dairy science and pre-veterinary medicine.

GREGORICH WORKS TO CONTINUE THE FAMILY FARMING TRADITION

Becoming the third generation dairy farmer in his family is exactly what this Loyal High School senior is working towards.  Brett Gregorich has always been involved in the family operation, and enjoys working alongside his father and grandfather.  The operation, consisting of 85-head milking herd and nearly 500 acres, is responsible for fostering many skills and has been a large part of Gregorich’s life.  Off the farm, Gregorich is very involved in choir, receiving all-conference honors for three years, cross country, basketball, baseball and National Honor Society.  He is also a contributing member to the Loyal FFA, having served as vice president of community development.  This fall, Gregorich will attend Northcentral Technical College studying dairy science.

(Madison, Wis.) – Linda Behling has been named to the Vita Plus dairy nutrition and management fellowship. Behling is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in dairy science. In the upcoming year, she will work with Vita Plus as she pursues a Masters of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison dairy science department.

Behling grew up in Fox Lake, Wis. and was an active member of her local 4-H club and FFA chapter. During her collegiate career, Behling built her professional skills as a member of Sigma Alpha Professional Agriculture Sorority, Association of Women in Agriculture, Badger Dairy Club and the Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association. Through her three years of involvement with the UW-Madison Collegiate Dairy Judging Team, Behling earned top individual and team honors at several national dairy judging events, contributing to her comprehension of physical type appraisal and defended decision making skills.

Through this yearlong fellowship, Behling will work part-time with Vita Plus as she pursues her graduate studies. Her training will include product formulation and production, on-farm nutrition consulting, reproduction protocols and herd checks, cow comfort, and feed and forages management. She will also participate in an on-farm research project. The fellowship is funded and directed by Vita Plus.

(Madison, Wis.) – Vita Plus Corporation recently raised $6,500 in the Making a Difference Breast Cancer Raffle. Proceeds were donated to the Marshfield Clinic Breast Cancer Research Fund and its Women Living with Hope Support Group. The raffle was held in conjunction with the annual Vita Plus Chick Day event.

Marshfield Clinic is a multi-specialty medical practice that includes 41 centers around Wisconsin and serves more than three million patients. They are an aggressive research leader in cancer clinical trials of which the benefits and knowledge learned are shared nationwide. With advances in research, preventative care and awareness, the breast cancer survival rate has reached 89 percent. Because of this, Vita Plus Chick Day organizers were proud to partner with Marshfield Clinic to make a difference in the lives of millions of women.

At Vita Plus Chick Day on August 29, 100 women met at Halls Calf Ranch in Kewaunee, Wisconsin to learn about dairy herd health, financial relations, and farm management. Jenne' Fromm, national spokesperson for the Breast Cancer 3-Day Campaign, shared her experiences as a cancer survivor and encouraged attendees to be the best of who they were meant to be. Kim Bremmer, Vita Plus nutrition consultant, said, "Chick Day is a great way for today’s women agriculturists to network, share their experiences and increase their knowledge of today’s farming industry. It was great that we could also use this event to raise $6,500 for breast cancer research through our Making a Difference Breast Cancer Raffle. We’re proud to know that this event will have an important impact on women across our state and nation."

Vita Plus Making a Difference Raffle Winners were:

• Handmade Quilt – Annaliese Doornink, Baldwin, Wis.
• Chula Vista Resort Package – Cleo Paulman, DeForest, Wis.
• Spa Certificate and Two Night Stay – Phillip Ruzic, Greenwood, Wis.
• Overnight at Wilderness Hotel Package – Stan McGraw, Mineral Point, Wis.
• Badger Football Tickets and Overnight Stay – Mary Jo Otten, West Bend, Wis.
• Bonnie Mohr Print – Dennis Minks, Kennan, Wis.

(Madison, WI) – Gary Sipiorski, a long time Wisconsin dairy industry financial leader and enthusiast was named by Vita Plus to a newly created position of Dairy Development Manager. Sipiorski, who had been the President and CEO of Citizens State Bank of Loyal will join Vita Plus starting October 1. In his new role Sipiorski will be providing management and financial expertise along with other services focused on increasing the bottom line of producers while working alongside of the Vita Plus nutritional consultants. He will also be manager of ABC Consulting which is part of the Vita Plus organization.

Sipiorski had spent the last seventeen years at Citizens State Bank of Loyal, serving as President since 2002. In addition to his role with the bank he currently serves as an appointee on the Agricultural Advisory Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He is a Past Chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Growing Wisconsin Agriculture. He has served on the Board of Visitors of the University of Wisconsin Madison College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the University of Wisconsin - River Falls. He started his career in the dairy industry as a sales representative for a feed company. He is a regular contributor to major dairy industry publications and is a popular speaker and moderator at numerous industry events.

(Madison, WI) – Two new employees recently joined the Vita Plus Corporation: Jarrod Bakker of Dike, Iowa and Peter Coyne of Spring Valley, WI

Bakker Named Swine Consultant

Jarrod Bakker, Dike, Iowa, has been named Swine Consultant for Vita Plus. He is a 2006 graduate of Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science. Bakker has a diverse background in the swine industry. He worked at several swine production facilities, where he was responsible for everyday animal care, artificial insemination and semen collection, communication with growers and customers, and marketing efforts. As co-owner of Bakker Bros. Genetics, Bakker used his skills and experience to make business decisions as he grew his company from the local to the national level. In his role at Vita Plus, Bakker will work in Eastern Iowa where his responsibilities will include assisting in research studies, implementing nutrition and management programs on farms, and designing recommendations to fill customers' needs.

Coyne Named Dairy Field Service Specialist

Peter Coyne, Spring Valley, WI, has been named Dairy Field Service Specialist for Vita Plus. Coyne has an extensive background in the dairy industry and has managed or owned a dairy farm for the past 26 years. Most recently, he worked as the production manager of Jon-De Farms in Baldwin, Wis., where he was in charge of overseeing herd health issues, managing employees and trainees, and increasing efficiency and profitability through introduction of numerous farm and employee systems. At Vita Plus, Coyne will work in Western Wisconsin to provide consulting and training in nutrition, management and production to dairy clients, formulate feed rations, coordinate feed production, and network with key industry influencers. Coyne enjoys using his expertise to support his children and other youth by serving as a 4-H Adult Leader and dairy judging coach.