The Gifford’s Ice Cream processing plant is tucked into a hillside on Hathaway Street in Skowhegan, Maine. This unassuming little band box of a building gives no hint that inside, production workers are creating super premium ice cream that is sold in company-owned and independently owned scoop shops and by retailers from Maine to Maryland.

Cheese production levels remain high  but  milk production in the Northeast and Mid- Atlantic regions has leveled off,  according to today's Dairy Market News, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

At its annual meeting last week, the American Dairy Products Institute named Joseph A. O'Donnell as the 2012 Recipient of the Award of Merit. The Award of Merit was established in 1991 to recognize individuals who have made a significant difference in the processed dairy products industry.

Butter prices dipped under the $1.40 level; cheese production is robust and fluid milk processors are operating plants on extended schedules, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dairy industry leaders today called for the Senate Agriculture Committee to remove a new dairy program that is designed to control milk prices from the draft 2012 Farm Bill and instead focus on providing proven safety-net programs, such as revenue insurance, typically used for other commodities.