USSEC sponsored and participated in the 20^th National Dairy Congress held on October 21-22 in Costa Rica.  This event was organized by the Costa Rican National Dairy Cattle Association and was attended by more than 700 participants, including dairy technicians and producers, as well as dairy nutritionists and commercial staff of companies related to dairy production.  Producers from Panama, Nicaragua and other Central American countries also participated.
During the congress, there was a commercial exposition of various nutrition, genetics, and veterinary products, as well as the necessary machinery to have better, more efficient milk production.  Ninety commercial companies participated in this exposition.  The exhibited products included animal feeds, feed additives, and veterinary products, in addition to soybean products such as soybean meal (SBM) and full fat soybean meal (FFSBM) presented by a Costa Rican soybean crushing company.  In the area of dairy products, there was a cheese tasting workshop.
This Congress’s program consisted of two sections:  a production section which included conferences related to nutrition, cows’ health and management; and a section related to dairy production and milk quality products.  The second section included ten conferences on these topics and three other conferences related to the world and the Costa Rican dairy situation.  USSEC consultant Dr. Carlos Campabadal discussed nutrition, management and health problems that are affecting Costa Rican dairy production with dairy producers and assisted them in improving animal performance and farms´ profitability.