Here’s the latest from Cooperatives Working Together:
Dairyline Markets In Review
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Block cheese closed Friday (May 12th) at $1.17 per pound, up a penny on the week, but 30 1/2-cents below a year ago. Barrel closed at $1.18, up 5 1/2 cents on the week, but 26 cents below a year ago. Four cars of block traded hands and five of barrel. Barrel hasn’t topped the blocks since August 2005. The NASS U.S. average block price hit $1.1502, down a penny. Barrel averaged $1.1387, up 0.4 cent.
Butter closed at $1.1775, up a quarter-cent on the week, but 23 1/2-cents below a year ago. Only one car was sold. NASS butter averaged $1.1621, up 1.2 cents.
Provided courtesy of Dairyline.
Accelerated Genetics Honored for Export Success
Accelerated Genetics was honored this week with a Governor’s Export Achievement Award from Wisconsin Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Judy Ziewacz. Bob Holterman, Vice President of Marketing at Accelerated Genetics accepted the honor on behalf of the firm, whose global genetics business has doubled in the past decade. With sales to 68 nations, 33% of 2005 revenues were generated overseas.
Holterman commented that as foreign nations grow their own domestic food production, demand for US genetics increases. The company has enjoyed a 37% increased in international demand in just the last year. Accelerated Genetics is a farmer-owned cooperative based in Baraboo and Westby, Wisconsin.
Correction – Select Sires Sexed Semen Conception
A few days ago I heralded Select Sires new lab for producing sexed semen. I misspoke when reporting the conception rates for this new technology: in virgin heifer, producers utilizing Select’s GenderSELECTed semen will find conception rates typically 75% of typical, not 75% less than normal as I previously reported. In other words, if you use the sexed semen and your normal conception rate is 60%, you can expect roughly 45% conception with the sexed semen product. The rest of the story is accurate. Thanks for Mel at Select for pointing out the error.
Dairy Farmer and World Champion Racer
Being a farmer today has its challenges. Being a farmer and a funny car driver simply magnifies those challenges. Mark Thomas is up to the challenge though. He is also one of the biggest proponents of ethanol you’re going to find anywhere.
Mark is a champion too, having one 5 national IHRA titles. He was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Ethanol Day. I had to wait in line to interview him as the kids and adults too stopped by for an autograph.
In my interview Mark talks about what he does for a living and how important he thinks public education about ethanol is to our country. You can to my interview with Mark here: 
Mark Thomas Interview (5 min MP3)
Cheese Prices Lead to Plant Closure
Saputo Inc. is shutting down its cheese making operations in Peru, Indiana as part of a company strategy to respond effectively to market volatility in the US cheese market. The plant will close this week, affecting 71 employees who will be given the opportunity to transfer to other company plants. The company expects costs associated with the shutdown to be minimal and the overall impact on the bottom line to be neutral.
Raw Milk May Kill You
That’s the message health professionals are delivering as many states contemplate potential legislation to allow the sale of unpasteurized dairy products. Advocates of the unprocessed dairy claim that raw milk can magically prevent asthma, tooth decay, diabetes, attention deficit disorder, osteoporosis and other ailments. On the other hand, the health community points out that you’ll most likely end up with salmonella, E. coli, listeria, and more.
Ohio’s House Agriculture Committee is hearing a bill this week that would allow licensed farmers to sell raw product straight to the consumer, with advocates for the bill filling the statehouse chambers Wednesday at the hearing. Passions run high on both sides of the debate, but the science appears to be stacked heavily in favor of food safety.
For over nine decades, the FDA, CDC, and AMA have recommended avoiding raw milk, praising the process of pasteurization, where milk is heated to 161 degrees for 15 seconds to kill harmful bacteria. Opponents to pasteurization claim the science is wrong, though they have little more than anecdotal evidence to back up those claims. At issue are the concepts of herd-sharing agreements, by which consumers buy shares of a dairy to exploit a loophole in state law that allows herd owners to consume the raw product.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture has recently cracked down on the so-called loophole, through which consumers are paying between $6 and $17 per gallon to pick up the raw milk from the farm. ODA’s attempts to protect public health have drawn the ire of many of the herd owners, who claim they are being unfairly targeted. Raw milk sales are currently permitted in 27 states.
Fescue Problems in the Plains
You may have an opportunity to turn fescue problems into strong pastures this season, according to the University of Missouri Extension. Beacuase of this year’s early onset of warm Spring weather, tall fescue fields have reared seed heads nearly a month ahead of normal. As you know, the fescue seeds carry high levels of toxicity that can reduce weight gains and lower milk production, so this news is troubling. But the story doesn’t end there.
Extension forage experts suggest that you can turn this situation to your favor by mowing your pastures now. If you do nothing, the toxins will poison your cattle. Mow now and you’ll have two months of Spring left for regrowth, which should, with proper management, lead to some great foraging. Because of the early growth, the mowing and ensuing regrowth will lead to a higher quality forage with improved nutritive value.
The reason the regrowth will improve your forage is that the seed only produces once per season, so mowing it will encourage additional leaf growth, nearly eliminating the toxins present in the seeds. Mow low enough to cut below the seed heads, and only mow if the field is fairly well developed in terms of seed head. If there are only a few seeds present, manage as normal.
My Wife Is Going to Kill Me…
…for posting this: Edy’s Slow Churned ice cream wants to give you free ice cream. LOTS of free ice cream.
Yesterday I bopped out to the mailbox hoping Walter (that’s our mailman) had brought something fun for me to open. Turns out the fun mail was in Lindsay’s (my wife) stack. She gets this letter from Edy’s ice cream. That was exciting in and of itself – when was the last time you got mail from an ice cream company? Then she read the letter and got REALLY excited.
What you may not know about my wife is that ice cream is the one thing that she loves more than me. Well, except for her neices. And our dog. And the cat. And her truck. Well, she really like ice cream. So she hands me this letter, and even I, though not as hopelessly in love with the rich creamy goodness as she, got excited. Allow me to quote:
In this era of high tech communications, isn’t it ironic that sometimes the hardest connections to make are folks just across the street? Think about it – when was the last time you asked your neighbor to borrow two eggs, a cup of sugar, or even their lawn mower?
I realized that out of a dozen houses on our street, I had met one occupant. One. Granted, we live close to a mile from our nearest neighbor, so buzzing by for some eggs isn’t likely to happen, but I just don’t know anyone on our road but the guy who sold us our Chocolate Lab, Tucker. Let me read on:
Edy’s Slow Churned asked Americans across the country how well they knew their neighbors… and here’s the scoop:
- More than half of Americans (55%) believe they are less familiar with their neighbors today than their parents were with their neighbors a generation ago.
- Six in ten Americans (59%) who aren’t friendly with their neighbors say it’s because they’re just too busy to create meaningful relationships.
So far, I fit in both majorities. I don’t have time to stop by for a meet and greet. Halls of capitalism to counquer, right?
Not surprisingly, research and community experts say that on average, students perform better, people live longer, and crime rates are lower when people who live int he same community have a basic familiarity with each other.
Sounds plausible. Now here’s where the letter gets REALLY good:
Looking for an introduction to your neighbors? Edy’s Slow Churned is dishing up a fun and sweetly old-fashioned way to “break the ice” with new and even long-time neighbors – ice cream block parties. Edy’s will award 1,500 neighborhoods a Slow Churned Neighborhood Salute this summer. Winning neighborhoods will receive a doorstep delivery of Edy’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream for up to 100 guests with all the fixings fo a fun, memorable and easy-to-organize party.
WOW! You can imagine the backflips that were done in our household. The first thing that popped into my mind was “this will make a great story for the World Dairy Diary!” The first thing that popped into her mind was “if he writes about this, our chances of winning will be greatly depressed… the fewer people who know about this, the better!” Naturally, I’m writing this while she’s in the shower so hopefully she won’t find out.
My salute to the folks at Edy’s. This is one of the funnest promotions I’ve ever heard of, and more importantly, I think it’s genius viral marketing. It got my attention, right? You can sign up your neighborhood by filling out a simple form. But the Vance household would strongly recommend not entering…
Merial to Expand IGENITY DNA Testing Partnership
Merial is growing the partnership formed last year with Select Sires to co-market the IGENITY brand DNA test. Adding field consultant Ron Long to the Merial company as a liason between Merial and Select Sires field representatives, the company will offer training sessions, on-farm consultations, and customer meetings across Select Sires’ 10 regional cooperatives.
Long comes to the project with 30 years experience at Select Sires both in building the Select Mating Service (SMS) and the Program for Genetic Advancement (PGA).
IGENITY DNA Tests are designed to give you profiles of your herd to best evaluate the genetic potential of your females. IGENITY MultiMARK offers comprehensive testing, including IGENITY DuraMAX, analyzing dairy form and productive life; IGENITY OptiYIELD and IGENITY ComponentMAKER, which help you select for optimized milk yield and composition; and IGENITY RealRED, to determine red coat color genes in Holsteins. IGENITY MultiMARK Plus offers these tests plus a test for Complex Vertebral Malformation (CVM). You provide a blood sample or nasal swab and recieve genotype results back via fax, e-mail, or hard copy.