In the news as February 2025 wraps up:

Lee karen
Karen Lee
Managing Editor / Progressive Dairy

Commercialization efforts underway for HPAI vaccine for dairy, USDA provides additional investment

Elanco Animal Health Incorporated announced it has entered into an agreement with South Dakota-based Medgene to leverage the company’s innovative vaccine platform technology. The agreement includes commercialization of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) vaccine for use in dairy cattle.

Medgene reports the vaccine has met all requirements of the USDA’s platform technology guidelines and is in the final stages of review for conditional license approval.

The cross-species transmission of HPAI into nearly 1,000 dairy herds across the U.S. since March 2024, along with zoonotic transmission to people, shows that more interventions are quickly needed. This virus is prevalent and predicted to persist over time; thus a cattle vaccine will be critical to slow virus spread between birds and cattle.

The USDA previously approved Medgene’s vaccine platform technology in cattle, allowing the company to accelerate H5N1 vaccine development. Medgene has existing vaccine manufacturing supply ready to deploy with the ability to support the U.S. dairy herd.

Advertisement

In addition, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a $1 billion-dollar comprehensive strategy to curb HPAI, protect the U.S. poultry industry and lower egg prices.

The five-pronged strategy includes an additional $500 million for biosecurity measures in poultry, $400 million in financial relief for affected poultry farmers, and $100 million for vaccine research, action to reduce regulatory burdens and exploring temporary import options.

“We support the department’s initiatives to advance vaccine development and deployment that will help control, and ultimately eliminate, the virus in dairy cattle,” said National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) President and CEO Gregg Doud.

International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) President and CEO Michael Dykes, DVM, added that IDFA is grateful for the investment and continues to urge the quick development and approval for the use of safe, effective bovine vaccines to guard against current and future strains of avian influenza affecting U.S. dairy.

“It is essential that the federal government work with our industry to ensure a vaccination strategy is feasible and cost-effective for farmers while working with international trading partners to assure the use of vaccines does not limit or disrupt U.S. agricultural exports,” Dykes said.

Checkoff showcasing dairy innovation at natural products trade show

The dairy checkoff is returning to Natural Products Expo West to highlight the innovation and nutritional benefits of dairy to more than 65,000 industry professionals, investors and leaders from consumer-packaged goods (CPG) and retail companies.

Dairy farmers and Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) team members will showcase new dairy products and lead an educational session titled “What Women Really Want: Cracking the Code for Food and Beverages,” offering insights on how dairy can meet the modern health and wellness needs of women.

The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) will join DMI in presenting a cohesive “Innovate with U.S. Dairy” approach. The event, recognized as the country’s leading trade show for the natural, organic and healthy products industry, runs March 4-7 in Anaheim, California.

DMI attended Expo West for the first time last year and represented dairy in a space where the industry previously had little presence.

“In the past, plant-based products dominated Expo West and dairy had less presence,” said Norrie Wilson, who serves as an innovation and insights consultant for DMI. “Dairy made its mark last year, with interest in innovation, which is driving distribution and investment. Retailers, CPG companies and investors are starting to take a second look at dairy, and this is accelerating growth in the marketplace.”

The natural and organics market is valued at $317 billion, according to Nutrition Business Journal’s 2023 State of Natural report. Marla Buerk, executive vice president of innovation for DMI said a goal of the DMI team, which will include product and nutrition scientists as well as marketing experts, is to remind attendees of dairy’s natural attributes.

DMI’s booth will feature its successful partnership with General Mills in the development and launch of YoBark, a refrigerated snack that blends yogurt with Nature Valley granola in a convenient stand-up pouch and is available in retailers nationwide. DMI will also feature a company that makes low-carb, high-protein cheesecakes.

CMAB plans to highlight new products, including milk-based energy shots, cheeses, kefir and gelato.

Minnesota dairy farmer Alise Sjostrom will participate in DMI’s educational session and provide premium cheese samples from her on-farm creamery at the booth. Additional dairy farmers from DMI’s board of directors will be on-site to speak with attendees about their commitments to sustainable farming and animal care.

Emerging data begins to quantify value of beef-on-dairy

New data from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service is beginning to shed light on the impact of beef and dairy crossbred cattle on the beef supply chain. While limited in scope, the data collected to date suggests the growing number of beef-on-dairy animals is contributing to higher cattle prices for producers and delivering added value to feedlots and processors.

The USDA began tracking beef-on-dairy animals sold at public auctions in March 2024. According to an analysis outlined in a new CoBank Knowledge Exchange report, the slaughter auction prices for beef-on-dairy cattle were slightly higher than for beef cattle and significantly higher than for dairy cattle. The weight of beef-on-dairy animals fell between the ends of the beef and dairy cattle spectrum.

“The data also showed that beef-on-dairy cattle maintained the largest proportion of their value from feeder price to slaughter cattle auction price on a per-hundredweight basis,” said Abbi Prins, livestock analyst with CoBank. “That’s an important financial metric for feedlots. We’ll have to see if these patterns hold over time as additional data becomes available. But preliminarily, it reaffirms the value proposition beef-on-dairy brings to the wider beef sector.”

FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative board elects officers

District 3 Director John Rettler of Neosho, Wisconsin, was reelected president of the FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative’s board of directors following the cooperative’s 13th annual meeting held on Feb. 8.

District 6 Director Bob Dietzel of East Dubuque, Illinois, was elected vice-president; District 4 Director Wayne Gajewski was elected treasurer, and District 5 Director Stephanie Hughes of Pittsville, Wisconsin, was reelected secretary.

David Johnson of Daggett, Michigan, was newly elected to a three-year term, replacing Steve Brock who announced his retirement last year.

Reelected to three-year terms, on the 10-member board of directors included John Rettler and Stephanie Hughes.

Other board members include Mark Leichtfuss of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in District 2; Michelle Popp of Unity, Wisconsin, in District 7; Jackie Holub of Boyd, Wisconsin, in District 8; Kathy Bauer in District 9; and Nathan Wiese of Rosendale, Wisconsin, as Young Cooperator chair.

World’s first lab-made cow milk released

Brown Foods, based in Boston, Massachusetts, is the first company in the world to showcase lab-made whole cow milk. Dubbed UnReal Milk, this cow-free dairy product is designed to match the taste, texture and nutrition of conventional cow milk – while also being transformable into butter, cheese, ice cream and more.

This scientific breakthrough used a biotech-driven approach called mammalian cell culture to produce real milk. Unlike plant-based alternatives like oat or soy milk, UnReal Milk contains all essential proteins, fats and carbohydrates that make up 99% of traditional cow milk.

In addition to replicating cow milk’s natural qualities, the lab-made milk has an estimated 82% lower carbon footprint, uses 90% less water, and 95% less land usage as compared to conventional dairy.

For a behind-the-scenes look at how UnReal Milk is made, watch this exclusive video.