They are the “king and cream” of dairy in Australia. King Island Dairy Black Label Double Brie and Bulla Double Thick Cream were recognized this week as the Grand Champions of Australia’s dairy industry awards, according to a release from Dairy Australia. Dairy Australia marketing chief Richard Lange said two Grand Champions were chosen from over 350 entries. “There were 18 champion classes and these two were the best of the best of those,” he said.
The products will now be entitled to display the prestigious gold medal on their packaging. Individual class winners will display a silver medal. The Australian Grand Dairy Awards are now in their seventh year. “They recognise excellence in dairy products and they have become a ‘hallmark’ for quality and innovation,” Lange said.
NW Dairy Farmers Turning Organic
Organic dairy production is booming in Washington state, as it is in many areas. According to an article in the Puget Sound Business Journal, the Washington Department of Agriculture received a record 20 applications for organic certification, with a similar number expected this year. We hear a lot from small processors who are looking for sources of organic milk locally,” said Katherine Whithey, organic dairy specialist for the state Department of Agriculture.
“That’s what’s happening now. These types of products are making it into the mainstream market” and are no longer just in “little hippie food stores” anymore, she said.
National sales of organic milk in 2005 jumped 24 percent in volume and 27 percent in value, to $499 million, according to figures released by Schaumburg, Ill.-based ACNielsen North America.
Most of the organic milk sold in Washington is produced by farmers who belong to the Northwest Dairy Association.
Mostly Negative Reactions to Bush Budget
Lots of negative reacts in the news to the Bush administration’s proposed FY’07 budget that includes cuts in dairy support programs and a tax on milk production.
This widely-syndicated Associated Press article, for example, reported quotes from industry and congressional representatives about the plan.
“They’re coming at producers’ income at three different ways,” said Chris Galen, a spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation. “None of these alone is good news, and the package together is really going to be a problem. At first blush, it will set off some alarm bells.”
“This budget undercuts the dairy safety net and places a tax on our dairy farmers,” said Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
A story in the Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle reports that lawmakers from dairy states vowed to fight the proposed tax, saying it would hurt small dairy farms such as those in upstate New York. Many of those farmers rely on a federal subsidy to survive when prices plummet.
In Ohio, the Dayton Daily News talked with local dairy producers who are upset over the proposals. “Time to call my congressman,” said Doug Krickenbarger, 45, another Preble County dairy farmer who milks 76 cows with his wife, Lisa, and son, Luke, in Lanier Twp. Krickenbarger figured the 3-cent assessment would cost the owner of a small dairy milking 40 to 50 cows $300 a year. “That’s a lot of money,” said Krickenbarger, who said his most recent milk check paid about $14 per hundredweight, barely enough to cover his expenses. “That’s insane. I can’t see that ever happening.”
In Vermont, the Burlington Free Press reports that the state’s congressional delegation will fight the proposed 3-cent-per-hundredweight tax. “While pressing for even more tax cuts to the wealthy, the president in his budget proposes a brand new tax increase on America’s dairy farmers,” said a joint statement by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., and Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “This is a morally bankrupt plan to tax hardworking dairy farmers who are already suffering from escalating fuel costs and declining prices for their milk,” the statement said. “The administration’s proposal to pay for more tax cuts for the wealthy on the backs of family dairy farmers is dead on arrival with us, and we will do all we can to make sure that Congress does not approve it.”
Meanwhile, the International Dairy Foods Association sent out a press release yesterday commending the President for his “pro-growth focus” in the budget. “We applaud the president’s leadership in calling for more restrained spending on dairy subsidy programs while managing for better results, investing in efforts to safeguard America’s food supply and providing full funding for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, which serves the nutritional requirements of our neediest citizens,” said IDFA Senior Vice President Chip Kunde. “The president’s budget fine-tunes dairy programs by simply making the current dairy safety net scheme more fiscally responsible,” concluded Kunde.
Dairy Farmers Take Budget Hit
The administration’s FY’07 budget proposal for USDA revealed at a press conference today by Ag Secretary Mike Johanns includes reductions in two dairy price support programs and a new tax on dairy production.
The $93 billion budget is $3 billion less than ’06, as Johanns cited the need for agriculture to do it’s part to reduce the deficit.
Dairy farmers will take a hit in the form of:
1. A five percent cut in all commodity program payments, including the Milk Income Loss Compensation program;
2. A change in the way USDA sets dairy price supports to minimize payments to farmers;
3. A new three cents per hundredweight dairy assessment to be paid by producers.
During the press conference, Johanns was asked by one reporter basically how he can justify making producers pay directly for deficit reduction. Johanns answer was, “We’ve got to deal with the deficit. And again, it is never an easy thing.” (listen to the complete Q&A regarding the dairy assessment)
Needless to say, dairy industry representatives and supporters are concerned about the budget proposal and plan to study it closely.
Here’s a link to all the info about USDA’s budget proposal.
Learn About the Callicrate Bander
Here is another interview with Mike Callicrate, owner of No-Bull Enterprises, this time talking about the Callicrate Bander which he developed. If you don’t know about the Callicrate Bander and it’s benefits, you should definitely take a few minutes to listen to Mike talk about why they developed it and how it has gone far beyond castration.
The interview with Mike is about 7 minutes long. You can listen to it here: Callicrate Bander Interview (3.27MB MP3 File)
The New CBB Chairman
This will be my last post from the Cattle Industry Convention. To sort of bring it full circle I interviewed the new Chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, Jay O’Brien, from Amarillo, TX. The gavel was passed to him this morning. Jay speaks about the new long range plan for the beef industry which was passed here this morning. I’m sure that it will have an impact on dairy producers as it is interpreted and implemented.
I interviewed Jay after the meeting to find out his priorities.
You can listen to my interview with Jay here:
O’Brien Interview (5:55 min. MP3 File)
Eating Supper With The Larsons
I was very fortunate to sit with some old friends from Florida last evening at the Cattlemen’s Beef Board Banquet. They are Woody and Grace Larson from Okeechobee, FL, my home state. I haven’t seen them since I moved to Missouri about 15 years ago.
We had a great time catching up on things. They’re pretty big supporters of my college alma mater. So I have to say, “Go Gators.”
Dairy Breeds Provide Quality Beef To Market
Dairy producers attending yesterday’s Dairy Producer Communications Forum at the Cattle Industry Convention heard some surprising news.
If there were any doubts about the value beef from dairy breeds bring to the market, they were dispelled by Dr. Gary Smith, department head of animal sciences at Colorado State University, at the Dairy Producer Communications Forum luncheon during the Cattle Industry Meeting. Smith, the keynote speaker, said he doubted enough high-quality beef could be supplied to restaurants such as Morton’s without beef from Holsteins. One reason beef from Holsteins consistently scores well in tenderness, quality and taste is that 90 percent of all Holstein sires are descendents of five Holstein bulls. Few breeds can tout such consistency, says Smith.
Smith has been closely involved with the beef checkoff-funded National Beef Quality Audit program that evaluates the quality of beef and helps identify measures beef producers can take to increase quality.
You can listen to my interview with Gary here: Gary Smith Interview (7:28 min. MP3 File)
Speech By Sec. of Ag Mike Johanns
Our U. S. Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, was on the program early today here at the Cattle Industry Convention. He spoke for about 25 minutes before taking some questions from the floor.
One of the things he focused on was an animal ID system. He said that he’s put about $100 million dollars into the budget for the development of a national system. He said the budget will be available to look at by next Monday when President Bush announces his proposed budget.
I recorded his comments for you. The audio feed for the press was a little “hot” but it’s very clear. You can listen here: Mike Johanns Speech (25 min. MP3 File)
Dairy Producer Input To Beef Checkoff
Dairy producers don’t always think of themselves as beef producers but since they’re paying the Beef Checkoff they might be interested to hear what it’s doing for them.
At the Cattle Industry Convention today the Dairy Producer Communications Committee met. It is chaired by Gary Sharp.
I interviewed Gary after the meeting. It was a lively one in which some very interesting information was presented by CSU Researcher, Gary Smith. I’ll have an interview with him later.
In my interview with Gary Sharp he talks about what the Beef Checkoff does to benefit dairy producers.
You can listen to my interview with Gary here: Gary Sharp Interview (4:19 Min. MP3 File)