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If the definition of farm financial stress is the inability to meet debt service payments, including principal and interest, is there a chance you will be financially stressed in your operation in coming years, if you aren’t already?
Farm debt is building at a rapid rate, and that is raising questions about the potential for farm operations to face financial stress in the future.
Editor’s note: The following is reprinted from materials distributed by the National Dairy Producers Organization and outlines the newly formed group’s goals and intentions.
To: U.S. dairy producers
As U.S. dairy producers, business owners and multi-generational farmers in America, as well as members of the board of directors of the National Dairy Producers Organization Inc., we come to every dairy producer in America seeking your support of a national effort to organize the producer sector of the U.S. dairy industry.
Jerry Slominski (at right) is the senior vice president for legislative affairs and economy policy of the International Dairy Foods Association. Read his responses to Progressive Dairyman's questions about IDFA's research studies on supply management.
Q. How would you introduce yourself and your work? SLOMINSKI: My job is to run our legislative policy and lobbying operation. I have seven people who work for me, a couple lobbyists who go to Capitol Hill and two economic specialists. Our primary priority is dairy policy.
A new report analyzing the proposed Dairy Market Stabilization Program is a thorough lesson in dairy economics.
The purpose of the study, as sponsored by the International Dairy Foods Association, was to analyze the regional and farm-level impacts of the potential temporary supply management program if it had been in place from 2000 to 2009.
It also highlights the unknown and unpredictable economic aspects of its implementation.
Between the 14th and 16th centuries, the Aztec empire ruled central Mexico, building an impressive kingdom that continues to fascinate scholars more than 500 years later.
While it’s estimated that the Aztec nation grew to about 25 million people at the height of its domain, it’s often wondered how large the Aztec community would have grown had not so many been killed – not at the hands of its enemies, but at the hands of its own people.
This article was #2 in PDmag's Top 5 most-well read New Technology articles in 2011. to jump to the article.
Summary: Engineers at Promat Inc., based in Canada, used scientific real-time digital pressure point body-mapping technology to develop an advanced new gel mattress. The goal was to develop a mattress that provided the benefits of sand bedding without the challenges, explained General Manager Andy Jenkins.
Because this article was so popular, we asked Jenkins some follow-up questions:
Q: What type of interest have you received? How do you quantify that interest? A: The interest in the introduction of the Pasture Gel Mat has been outstanding. We are thrilled with the number of dairymen that have contacted us and our dealer network about the product. At this point we have only made these mats available to the North American market and we haven’t been able to keep up to the demand.
to jump to the article.
Summary: In this March 1st feature, Progressive Dairyman Editor Karen Lee described the efforts of Paul, Steve and Joe Fetzer to increase cow comfort on their 800-cow dairy. The brothers installed a new eight-row, cross-ventilated freestall barn in 2008 and have since seen an average milk production of 85 pounds per day.
Because this article was so popular, we asked Paul Fetzer a follow-up question:
Q: What have you done in the past year to increase cow comfort on your dairy?
A: We completed the remodel of our transition barn from mattresses to sand. The conversion allowed us to tear out all of the old stall decks and curbs. We increased stall length by 6 inches by pouring new curbs and deep-bedded with sand. This has greatly increased the comfort and traction for close-up and post-fresh animals.
Stockmanship guru Curt Pate and Texas A&M University beef specialist Ron Gill discuss stockmanship tips from their seminar at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association Convention and Trade Show in Denver, Colorado, on Feb. 4, 2011.
Stray voltage, or “leakage current” as we prefer to call it, is an issue becoming more prevalent in the dairy industry.
As our industry utilizes more electronic equipment that increases the efficiency of our operations and reduces operating costs, such as variable speed drives (VSDs), electronic ballast lighting, variable speed fans and ventilation, we are actually increasing the sources of possible stray voltage.
Faulty wiring, defective equipment, bad connections and electrical arcs are also sources that may cause stray voltage on a facility at any time.
Within any confined dairy or cattle operation, ectoparasites such as house, stable, face and horn flies pose a significant threat to overall cow health, comfort and performance, and the economic losses to the operator can be severe if not proactively and aggressively addressed.
The primary goals in reducing fly populations, specifically on dairy farms, are to increase cow comfort (thus maximizing milk production) and reduce the potential spread of disease pathogens.
