U.S. Dairy Sales on the Rise

Amanda NolzDairy Business, Industry News

As reported in the Reliable Plant, U.S. dairy market sales continue to rise despite economy. According to a recent study, “The Dairy Industry Market Research Study 2009,” while dairy producers continue to struggle with a poor economy and high costs of production, dairy sales have increased by over 2% in 2009.

The new study, which discusses perspectives of 40 dairy processors, associations, and suppliers, aims to analyze the local dairy market dynamics and determine the outlook for the dairy industry in the future. Some of the key findings discussed in the report include:

·U.S. dairy industry anticipates production shift to West Coast, with industry consolidation creating a greater number of mega dairies

·71 percent of dairy processors likely to make capital expenditures for packaging equipment in the next 12 months despite economic downturn; additional 16 percent to make packaging line modifications that might require machinery investments

·Stronger dairy/vendor relationships expected: 90 percent of survey respondents rely upon machinery builder to train operators; 73 percent want suppliers to play more consultative role from concept stage to installation

·Primary and secondary packaging change drivers include considerations about the most economical and environmentally friendly materials, customer requirements and improving efficiency to address lower margins

90 Gallon Sundae Celebrates June Dairy Month

News EditorIce Cream, Promotion

sundae-2009The folks in Harrisburg, Pa. sure were lucky last Tuesday, when the state’s dairy farmers built a 90-gallon ice cream sundae on the Capitol Building steps! The sundae was built to celebrate June Dairy Month and is an annual salute to dairy farmers is sponsored by Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program and Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, who work together to build demand for dairy products. What a treat!

This year, the dairy industry marks the 72nd anniversary of honoring our nation’s hard-working dairy farmers. Dairy is the largest segment of Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry, generating more than $2.22 billion in economic activity. Pennsylvania’s 550,000 dairy cows produce 10.7 billion pounds of milk each year.

“Producing fresh, local, nutritious milk for my fellow Pennsylvanians is a great honor,” said Tim Kurtz, a Berks County dairy farmer who will speak on behalf of the state’s dairy farmers. “I get to work with cows, the land and my family every day, which makes dairy farming one of the best jobs around.”

In addition to Kurtz, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis C Wolff and Pennsylvania Dairy Princess LeeAnn Kapanick helped kick off the day’s festivities with opening comments.

Following the opening remarks, volunteers created the giant sundae using 90 gallons of Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream. The mountain of ice cream was covered with 10 gallons of chocolate fudge, 10 gallons of strawberries and 30 pounds of chopped pecans, all donated by Turkey Hill Dairy of Lancaster. The sundae was topped off with real whipped cream and a giant 12-inch ball of cherries.

According to Cindy Weimer, director of Industry Image and Relations for Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, this event reinforces the common goals shared by dairy farmers, milk processors and industry partners.

“June’s 30 days are a wonderful opportunity to salute the 8,200 Pennsylvania families who produce 5.8 percent of the nation’s total milk supply,” Weimer said. “This event is just one of many dairy checkoff programs designed to help increase the demand for and sales of milk and dairy products.”

Domino's Pizza & Midwest Dairy Association Team Up

Amanda NolzCheese, Dairy Business, Industry News

dominos Here’s a great promotion for June Dairy Month hot off the wire. Order yourself a Domino’s Pizza tonight and thank a dairy farmer!

Midwest Dairy Association, which helps to increase demand and sales for dairy products on behalf of dairy farmers in nine Midwest states, is partnering with Domino’s franchisees across the Midwest during June Dairy Month and through the summer months to reintroduce consumers to Domino’s new line of American Legends pizza, which are made with up to 40 percent more cheese.

Domestic cheese sales are important to dairy farmers. About 25 percent of total cheese is used on pizza, representing more than 25 billion pounds of annual milk production. According to USDA National Agricultural Statistic Service, 40 percent of the milk produced in Midwest Dairy’s nine-state territory goes into cheese production.

“Pizza sales are important, because they directly affect overall cheese sales,” says Jerry Messer, a North Dakota dairy farmer and chairman of Midwest Dairy Association. “It’s important to my fellow dairy producers and to me that we help reinvigorate the pizza category and increase sales for pizza products containing more cheese, and June Dairy Month is the perfect opportunity to get people excited about it.”

Study: Young Adults Not Drinking Enough Milk

Amanda NolzMilk, Nutrition

A study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior showed that teens and young adults are typically not getting an adequate amount of calcium in their diets, affecting bone mass density. From the looks of this study, it appears young people in their 20’s aren’t purchasing dairy products for various reasons. How can we change the trends and get a glass of milk in this generation?

848504901 Drawing data from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), a prospective, population-based study designed to examine determinants of dietary intake and weight status, the responses of over 1,500 young adults (45% male) were analyzed by investigators from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The mean age of participants was 15.9 years at baseline and 20.5 years at follow-up.

During the transition from middle adolescence (high school) to young adulthood (post-high school), females and males respectively reduced their daily calcium intakes by an average of 153 mg and 194 mg. Although 38% of females and 39% of males increased their intake of calcium over 5 years, the majority of the sample reduced their intake of calcium over 5 years. During middle adolescence, more than 72% of females and 55% of males had calcium intakes lower than the recommended level of 1,300 mg/day. Similarly, during young adulthood, 68% of females and 53% of males had calcium intakes lower than the recommended level of 1,000 mg/day.

Robotic Milkers Lets Farmers Leave Dairy

Amanda NolzAgribusiness, Training

This is certainly an interesting story about farmers who are tired of working hard and have come up with a solution to alleviate the labor intensive efforts put into a dairy farm. This article about an Iowa dairy family was published in the Chicago Tribune. Check it out!

Augie and Mike Baumann’s approach to milking their 240-head dairy cow herd is strictly hands-off. The father and son’s cows walk, unprompted, into a computer-controlled robotic milking station where the robotics install the udders and suction the milk. When finished, the cows walk back to their waterbeds and do what they do most of the time, which is take it easy.

Unlike humans, the robotic machine stands ready to milk 24/7. The farmer doesn’t need to be on duty at 5 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily for the tedious and back-straining job of installing the udder cups onto each cow. The cow decides when it wants to be milked.

Augie Baumann said that since he began using the robotic system in February, his milk production is about 10 percent greater per cow than with the hand-controlled mechanical milking parlors that have been in widespread use on dairy farms since the 1950s.

Because of that greater yield and the reduced necessity for hired help, Baumann said he could justify the $600,000 he spent for the four robotic milking stations, about one-third more than the cost of hand-controlled parlor milkers. Robotic milking requires a specially trained herd. The Baumanns bred their own Holsteins, then put them each through a two- or three-day training exercise to get them used to rising on their own and walking to the milking station.

Cabot Creamery Cooperative Serves Up Two Easy-to-Make Picnic-Ready

News EditorCheese

37453-hi-swashbucklingsalCabot Creamery is offering families great new recipes, perfect for your summer picnics – and a great way to get your 3-A-Day(TM) of Dairy! To add an element of fun to your outdoor picnic, try Swashbuckling Salad Swords with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce, or for a delicious side dish, whip-up Cabot Layered Broccoli Salad.

“We all hear a lot about the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables,” says Sara Wing, Registered Dietitian and Health Programs Manager for the 90-year-old, Vermont-based Cabot Creamery Cooperative, makers of the award-winning “world’s best cheddar.” “While veggies are
an integral part of a healthy diet, they’re not the only food groups we should focus on to eat healthy. Dairy products provide nine essential nutrients, like calcium, vitamin D, protein, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and potassium. That’s why the National Dairy Council recommends we eat three servings of dairy every day.

“According to a report by the U.S. Surgeon General,” Wing says, “half of all Americans older than 50 are at risk for fractures resulting from osteoporosis and low bone mass. That makes the Dairy Council’s message all the more important. With a nutrient-rich diet, including the recommended three servings of dairy every day, we can take steps to build stronger bones and help reduce our risk of osteoporosis.”

Dairyline Markets In Review

Chuck ZimmermanDairyline, Markets

DairylineDairy Markets Week in Review

The cash dairy markets in Chicago saw little change the second week of June Dairy Month but milk futures saw heavy losses across the board. The block cheese price closed Friday at $1.15 per pound, up a quarter-cent on the week, but 89 cents below a year ago, that’s when the blocks tumbled 12 cents, to $2.04.

The barrels finished the week at $1.0925, down three quarters of a cent and $1.0575 below a year ago. Sixteen cars of block were traded on the week and nine of barrel. The lagging, NASS-surveyed, U.S. average block price was up slightly, to $1.1426, and barrel averaged $1.1092, up 1.1 cent.

Butter closed Friday at $1.2275, down 2 1/2-cents on the week, and 25 cents below a year ago. Twenty seven cars were sold on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.2276, down 2.4 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged 83.84 cents, down a half-cent, and dry whey averaged 26.39 cents, up 1.9 cents on the week.
Cash Grade A nonfat dry milk closed at 90 cents per pound, down a quarter-cent on the week, while Extra Grade remained at 87.50 all week.

Price support purchases totaled 6.8 million pounds of nonfat dry milk. That raised the years cumulative total to 250.4 million. Uncle Sam has not sold the butter yet that was purchased earlier this year under the support program.

Provided courtesy of Dairyline.

Berry Named Evaluator

News EditorJersey Association

JerseylogoCongratulations to Mike Berry,from Oakland Township, Mich., for his new position as evaluator for the Linear Type Appraisal Program of the American Jersey Cattle Association.

Berry attended Skagit Valley College in Washington state, then transferred to Michigan State University where he completed the Dairy Management Technology Certificate program in 1995. A professional fitter in both Washington state and Michigan over the past 15 years, he has prepared cattle for shows, sales and photography, and also hired and managed crews to assist with those activities.

Berry has also worked as professional paramedic since 2006, after completing the EMT Paramedic Certificate program at Lansing Community College in Michigan. He earned academic honors in all semesters, and ACLS, PALS, PHTLS and CPR certifications.

The association has evaluated 31,327 cows through the first four months of 2009, 23% ahead of the same period in the record-setting year of 2008.

State schedules for the second half of 2009 have just been announced and are posted on the Appraisal Schedule page. Applications for appraisal services must be received 30 days prior to the start of the schedule.

Mystery of Inoculation

Cindy ZimmermanAudio, Feed, Forage Forum, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Podcast

Pioneer Hi-Bred Forage Forum PodcastInoculating silage is a standard practice, but have you wondered why or how it works? Pioneer Hi-Bred has the world’s largest collection of lactic acid bacteria, the beneficial organisms used in silage inoculants. Scott Dennis, Pioneer ruminant microbiologist, looks at why inoculates work. Dennis says the purpose of making silage is for year-round feed, and preserving nutrients aids in accomplishing that.

[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://zimmcomm.biz/pioneer/pioneer-podcast-56.mp3] Scott Dennis on Silage Inoculants (5:00 min MP3)

To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.

NAIDC elects board members, executive committee

News EditorGeneral

Dairy challengeThe North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (NAIDC) board of directors elected four new members on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. NAIDC was established in 2002 as a management contest to incorporate all phases of a specific dairy business. It strives to incorporate a higher-learning atmosphere with practical application to help prepare students for careers in the dairy industry. New board members are:

  • Owen Bewley, dairy technical specialist with Prince Agri Products and based in Susquehanna, Pa. He has been a volunteer for both the northeast regional and national Dairy Challenge events.
  • Marcia Endres, Associate Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul. She has coached Dairy Challenge teams for the university since the contest’s inception in 2002.
  • Coleen Jones, research associate with Penn State University and diversified ag producer based in Craigsville, Va. She has served on NAIDC program and public relations committees since 2003 and assisted at both the northeast and southern regional contests.
  • David R. Winston, Dairy Extension Specialist at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va. He is currently chair of the southern region Dairy Challenge planning committee and was an assistant coach for Virginia Tech’s teams from 2002 to 2004.

They succeed retiring directors Larry Muller, Penn State University, also immediate past-Chair of NAIDC; Miriam Weber-Nielsen, Michigan State University; JoDee Sattler, Hartland, Wis.; and Todd Kranz, Dublin, Ohio.

Members of the NAIDC Executive Committee for 2009-10 are Chair Barry Putnam, Genex, Ithaca, N.Y.; Vice Chair Luciene Ribiero, APC Inc., Visalia, Calif.; Finance Chair Rob Sheffer, Cargill Animal Nutrition, Albany, N.Y.; Program Chair Kas Ingawa, North Carolina State University and DRMS, Raleigh, N.C.; and Media and Public Relations Chair Cherie Bayer, American Jersey Cattle Association, Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

Continuing NAIDC board members include Devin Albrecht, Prairie State/Select Sires, Hampshire, Ill.; Bruce Clark of Northstar Cooperative, Coldwater, Mich.; Jean Conklin, Yankee Farm Credit and dairy producer, Haverhill, N.H.; Gary M. Hay, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Tami Tollenaar, Tollenaar Dairy, Elk Grove, Calif.; and Michael Van Amburgh, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.