The state-supervised dairy board is backing away from claims that milk and other dairy products can help people lose weight after some experts said the claims were deceptive.

More than 1,000 dairy calves throughout the Midwest have died during the past two-three weeks as a result of heat stress, officials said Friday. Half of the more than two dozen herds of dairy cows struck by the heat stress deaths are in Wisconsin.

Long strenuous hours and rising operating costs can be blamed for fewer milk producers in Minnesota. The Star Tribune reports there are roughly 4,079 dairy farms in the state -- 356 fewer than in January 2011.

The drought has caused a shortage of flattened, dried cow manure – or cow chips – for the Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw and Festival, which attracts about 300 throwers and 40,000 spectators to Prairie du Sac, Wis, the Associated Press reports. "This is my 24th throw, and it's never been this difficult to find chips," one competitor said.

Minnesota State Lottery officials say they set a new sales record for the fiscal year -- which ran through June. Ticket sales topped out around $504 million.

The Badger State produced nearly 230 million pounds of cheese in June - a quarter of the nation's cheese production that month. California, the nation's leading milk producer, is second in cheese production with more than 180 million pounds.

The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board says dairy products can help people lose weight, but some nutrition experts dispute such claims, and a consumer protection lawyer says the board's claims qualify as "deceptive" under Wisconsin law.

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources says the state pumped 173.9 million barrels through September, compared 152.9 million barrels last year, the Associated Press reports. The state agency expects to surpass 200 million barrels in 2012.