Arla Foods Ingredients signed a contract manufacturing agreement with Valley Queen. The South Dakota-based dairy processor will produce ingredients from the Nutrilac ProteinBoost product range. Privately owned and with a team of 440 employees, Valley Queen handles around three billion pounds of milk annually and produces 330 million pounds of cheese. Production of Nutrilac ProteinBoost is expected to begin at the company’s plant in Milbank, S.D., in winter 2025/2026, after new specialty equipment has been installed.

National Dairy Council (NDC) President Dr. Katie Brown talks about health and wellness, women’s health and more during Episode 50 of the “Let’s Talk Dairy” podcast. She explains the role of the NDC, the vital role dairy can play for consumers looking for benefits in weight management and heart health, and how the checkoff and nonprofit are embracing technology to help advance health and wellness.

Elanco Animal Health Inc. (ELAN) announced a new agreement with South Dakota-based Medgene to leverage the company's vaccine platform technology. The agreement includes commercialization of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) vaccine for use in dairy cattle. Since March 2024, nearly 1,000 dairy herds across the U.S. have been stricken with cross-species transmission, along with zoonotic transmission to people, demonstrating that more interventions are quickly needed. The vaccine is in the final stages of review for conditional license approval.