Select Sires Makes Donation to Jersey

News EditorEducation, Industry News, Jersey Association

selectsiresSelect Sires Inc. has made a $1,750 donation to the American Jersey Cattle Association‘s (AJCA) scholarship funds to purchase the No. 7 giclée canvas print of “Wide Load Ahead.” The announcement was made at the opening of the Top of the World Jersey Sale held October 3, 2007 in conjunction with World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis.

Nearly $15,000 has been raised to date from sales of limited-edition lithograph and giclée prints of “Wide Load Ahead,” commissioned in 2006 by the AJCA for the exclusive benefit of the AJCA Scholarship Funds.

“Select Sires has consistently made investments in programs that encourage and support the education of young people preparing for careers in the dairy industry,” said David Thorbahn, General Manager of Select Sires Inc. “We have done this within our company by providing internship opportunities, and also by contributing to youth development efforts of organizations like the American Jersey Cattle Association. “Wide Load Ahead #7 will hang in our headquarters office as a daily reminder of our ongoing support for high-quality educational opportunities and also our commitment to grow with the Jersey breed as it continues to expand not only in North America but also across the globe.”

7 is the marketing code number assigned to Select Sires by the National Association of Animal Breeders, and thus included in the stud codes of Highland Magic Duncan, Soldierboy Boomer Sooner of CJF, and Mason Boomer Sooner Beretta, among only 10 bulls to have an issue of Jersey Journal dedicated to them, plus two other Premier Performance Sires of The All American Jersey Show, Duncan Chief and Lester Sambo.

Labor Issues Testimony

Cindy ZimmermanDairy Business, Government, Labor, The Milking Parlor

A California dairy producer testified last week before the House Agriculture Committee during a hearing called to review the labor needs of American agriculture.

Randy Mouw was one of 12 people who testified at the Committee’s hearing on Oct. 4 in Washington DC. He spoke on behalf of Western United Dairymen, Dairy Farmers of America, and National Milk Producers Federation.

“Immigration reform is a must for U.S. agriculture because I can tell you from my own experience that not one person who has walked on my dairy looking for work in the past five years is a person who was born in this country,” Mouw told the committee.

He outlined three key principles that must be included in a legislative solution for dairy producers.
1) an affordable and efficient guest worker program that ensures the continued availability of immigrant labor for all of agriculture, including dairies;
2) a provision that allows those currently employed or with recent employment history in the U.S. to earn the right to work here legally, regardless of their current legal status; and
3) a provision that specifies the responsibility for ultimate verification of the legal status of a worker lies with the government, not with employers.

Read Randy’s testimony on the House Ag Committee website.

Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Randy’s complete testimony here:
[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://zimmcomm.biz/wdd/milking-parlor-26.mp3]

To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions.

Harvest Lab Measures Moisture at Harvest

Cindy ZimmermanDairy Business, Equipment, Feed, The Milking Parlor, World Dairy Expo

Jim BuchsYou only thought we were done with stuff from World Dairy Expo.

I did an interview at expo with John Deere Hay and Forage Specialist Jim Buchs on how dairy producers can get added value for forage at harvest with Harvest Lab.

“We put a unit on our forage harvester that can measure the moisture as its going through the machine,” Buchs said. “With that information, we can calculate the true tonnage that we are harvesting.”

That information can be used to adjust the harvesting rate to the receiving rate at the bunker silo so you can adjust packing tractors or other required applications.

Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Jim here:
[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://zimmcomm.biz/wdd/milking-parlor-25.mp3]

To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions.

2007 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Our World Dairy Diary coverage of World Dairy Expo was sponsored by:
NutriDense Silage Charleston Orwig

Dairyline Markets In Review

Chuck ZimmermanDairyline, Markets

DairylineDairy Markets Week in Review
The second week of October saw more weakness in the cheese market. Block closed Friday at $1.8475, down 3 3/4-cents on the week, but still 64 1/2-cents above that week a year ago. Barrel closed at $1.8675, down 2 1/4-cents on the week, but also 64 1/2-cents above a year ago. Fourteen cars of block traded hands and eight of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price fell to $1.9488, down 6 cents. Barrel averaged $1.9513, down 6.7 cents.

Butter closed the week at $1.2850, down 3 1/4-cents, and 7 1/2-cents below a year ago. 17 cars were sold. NASS butter averaged $1.3299, down 2.4 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $2.0534, down 1.1 cent, and dry whey averaged 41.26 cents, also down 1.1 cent.
Provided courtesy of Dairyline.

Farmers Taking Control

News EditorIndustry News, Markets

Dairy farmers across the country are diversifying their operations to stay in the business.

Dairy farmer Troy DeRosier realized four years ago that, with a disabled son, he needed a more reliable source of income. Rather than get out of the business – where volatile prices are as much a way of life as getting up early to milk the cows – he diversified.

Besides raising 100 Holstein on his Crystal Ball Organic Dairy Farm at Osceola, he now bottles milk and makes butter, cheese curds, yogurts and other dairy products. He sells them in a store on his property, and delivers them to 100 homes and 40 retail stores. He also sells through a distributor in Madison, Milwaukee and elsewhere.

“We control the market all the way to the consumer,” he said. DeRosier is part of a small but growing trend in America’s Dairyland and elsewhere around the country in which milk is bottled – and cheeses and ice cream made – then sold steps from where the cows graze.

Only a handful of the so-called farmstead operations existed in the state 10 years ago, said Jeanne Carpenter, a spokeswoman for the state’s Dairy Business Innovation Center, but she said that has grown to 21 and at least a half dozen more are expected to begin operation by next year.

Such an approach enables farmers to set their prices, and earn higher profit margins, said Jeremy Foltz, a University of Wisconsin assistant professor of agricultural and applied economics.

The Osceola farmer said he bottles his milk in glass containers rather than plastic, sells it non-homogenized and pasteurizes it in vats to accomplish that. He sets his own price, avoiding the whimsy of the wildly unpredictable market.

Dairy economist Robert Cropp, a University of Wisconsin emeritus professor, said farmstead operations have been around for some time but the current trend seems to be stronger.

Among the reasons, he said, is consumer demand for locally and organically grown foods.

Boutique Farms Supply Chefs

News EditorIndustry News, Markets

More and more chefs are using local products from area farms to make their menu unique and special. Such a movement is a way for farmers to find a niche to sell their products.

For many restaurants, the answer is as simple as being vigilant. Mark Russell, owner of Scottsdale-based Oregano’s Pizza Bistro, participates in an automatic FDA advisory system. Although he vets his source for spinach, he was able to pull the produce from all eight of his Arizona restaurants within minutes of the E. coli alert last fall. For six days, his customers simply did without the leafy green.

In the high-end restaurant arena, however, the solution seems to be shunning large commercial purveyors and turning to boutique domestic farms, ranches and dairies. What began as a fad, following the burgeoning national trend toward “eating local” and seeking artisan foods, may actually be better for your health.

Last fall, Wright’s at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix changed to a new concept called American lodge cuisine, emphasizing fresh foods of America’s small-scale producers. Its menu now boasts porcini from Flagstaff, olive oil from Queen Creek, basil-fed snails from Cave Creek and tomatoes from Tucson.

Wright’s also unveiled its own garden, growing pink peppercorn next to the resort’s swimming-pool cabanas and harvesting kumquats, lemons and blood oranges from trees scattered on the property. An herb patch blooms directly outside the dining room, and Chef de Cuisine Matt Alleshouse makes raisins and sun-dried tomatoes. Read More

U.S. Dairy Exporter of the Year

Chuck ZimmermanDairy Business, Dairy Group, Export

USDECRising U.S. Dairy exports are being credited as one of the factors contributing to higher market prices this year. The U. S. Dairy Export Council and Dairyfield have named Darigold, Inc. the Dairy Exporter of the Year since they’ve been helping lead the way.

The Oscars and the Emmy’s represent the top awards in the entertainment world. But you may be surprised to know there’s a highly prestigious award in the U.S. dairy export world. Brian Baxter has the story. [audio:http://zimmcomm.biz/dairy/dairy-checkoff-export.mp3]

Cornell Researchers Find Most Efficient Diet

News EditorEducation, Health, Industry News, Nutrition, Research, University

Researchers at Cornell University have found that a diet that includes some dairy and meat is more efficient in terms of the amount of land used to produce it than a strict vegetarian diet.

Even though a moderate-fat plant-based diet with a little meat and dairy uses more land than the all-vegetarian diet it feeds more people because it uses more pasture land, which is widely available.

This deduction stems from the findings of their new study, which concludes that if everyone in New York state followed a low-fat vegetarian diet, the state could directly support almost 50 percent more people, or about 32 percent of its population, agriculturally. With today’s high-meat, high-dairy diet, the state is able to support directly only 22 percent of its population, say the researchers.

The study, published in the journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, is the first to examine the land requirements of complete diets. The researchers compared 42 diets with the same number of calories and a core of grains, fruits, vegetables and dairy products (using only foods that can be produced in New York state), but with varying amounts of meat (from none to 13.4 ounces daily) and fat (from 20 to 45 percent of calories) to determine each diet’s “agricultural land footprint.” They found a fivefold difference between the two extremes. Read More

Deans to Lay-off

News EditorAgribusiness, Industry News, Milk

Dean Foods, the nation’s largest milk processor, announced last week that it would cut 600 to 700 jobs, or roughly 2 percent of its workforce, to offset high input costs. “Rapidly increasing and record-high dairy commodity costs have created a very challenging operating environment, and 2007 results have been well short of our expectations,” says Dean CEO Gregg Engles. For more information

“Rapidly increasing and record high dairy commodity costs have created a very challenging operating environment and 2007 results have been well short of our expectations,” Chief Executive Officer Gregg Engles said. Shares of Dean Foods slipped almost 10% in Tuesday pre-market trading, but recovered to gain 12 cents, or 0.5%, to close at $26.41.

The Dallas-based company makes an assortment of food products, but its dairy division is the country’s largest processor and distributor of milk and dairy goods. As a major player in the dairy market, the company’s profit margin depends on low dairy prices.

In recent quarters, dairy commodity costs have reached all-time highs because of a number of factors. High fuel prices have incrementally increased the cost of transporting materials, while the rising cost of grain, which reflects the growing demand for corn and ethanol production, has made it more expensive to feed cows. Meanwhile, the global demand for non-fat dry milk powder is surging, as developing countries like China consume more milk.

“We face unprecedented cost challenges in our Dairy Group operations, including increased shrink costs and materially reduced profits from excess cream sales,” Chief Financial Officer Jack Callahan said. “At the same time, sales volumes in the Dairy Group have softened as consumers react to the record high prices.”

With dairy prices expected to stay sky high for the rest of the year, Dean Foods is far from reaching its initial sales targets. The company now expects to earn 15 cents a share in the third quarter — far below the previous range of 24 to 28 cents. In turn, Dean Foods now predicts it will earn $1.25 a share for the full year, which is also significantly below the previous range of between $1.52 and $1.58 a share.

The company said the dairy rut will continue to negatively impact earnings until the second half of 2008, when a growing milk supply is expected to ease dairy prices. For now, the company will focus on tightening its ship. It will immediately cut 600 to 700 jobs, or roughly 2% of the workforce. “Our decision is part of our multi-year productivity initiative which will help better position the company during this incredibly difficult period for Dean Foods,” CEO Engles said. “It is a tough decision, but it is a necessary action to improve our competitive position.”

Dean Foods’ dairy doldrums is certainly a disappointment, but it did not come as a complete surprise. Dairy costs have weighed on the company for multiple quarters. In August, the company said third quarter net income fell 1.7%, to $28.4 million, or 22 cents per share, from $28.9 million, or 21 cents per share, in the prior year’s corresponding period. The results missed Wall Street’s call by almost a dime; analysts were expecting 31 cents. In what has become a familiar refrain, Engles had said then that the company was struggling through a “difficult environment.”

Penn State Wins Dairy Judging

News EditorCompetition, Industry News, World Dairy Expo

Congratulations are in order for the Penn State dairy judging team for taking top honors in the 87th Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest at World Dairy Expo. The Cornell University team placed second overall, with Virginia Tech rounding out the top three. Twenty-three teams competed in this year’s contest.

Top Three Teams Overall
1. Penn State; 2533; coached by Dale Olver
Team members included Charlene Barlieb, Trisha Knight, David Wilson and Turner Swartz

2. Cornell University; 2510; coached by Galton and Winkelman
Team members included Dennis Miguel, Andrew Mason, Jenae Rinehart and Austin Copenhaver

3. Virginia Tech; 2475; coached by Barnes and Knowlton
Team members included Michael Bosley, Jill Craun, Sonja Galley and Aaron Horst

Overall Top 10 Individuals
1. Charlene Barlieb, 864, Penn State
2. Trisha Knight, 852, Penn State
3. Jenae Rinehart, 846, Cornell University
4. Andrew Mason, 845, Cornell University
5. Linda Behling, 842, UW Madison
6. Annie Sprecht, 836, Ohio State University
7. Sonja Galley, 832, Virginia Tech
8. John Kisst, 830, Cal Poly State University
9. Jill Craun, 828, Virginia Tech
10. John Mitchel, 828, University of Illinois