The livestock industry is taking a direct hit from this summer’s drought and that will impact consumers’ wallets next year, says a University of Missouri agricultural economist. “I expect to see food inflation, but it will take time,” said Scott Brown, research assistant professor in the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR). “The short term effects will be fairly muted for the remainder of 2012, but we’re going to see food price increases in 2013 and maybe into 2014 because of this drought.”

World Dairy Expo has unveiled a new dairy cattle entry system that is now available to exhibitors wishing to make entries to this year’s show. The new program utilizes the latest online registration technology while maintaining an easy-to-use and exhibitor-friendly system. Click here to access the online entry system and the 2012 Premium Book and all accompanying forms on the Dairy Cattle Show & Sales page.

Cooperative Resources International (CRI) of Shawano, Wisconsin, and Reproducción Animal S.A. de C.V. (RASA) of Tlalnepantla, Mexico, have agreed in principal on the sale of RASA to CRI. Management staff from both organizations are finalizing business plans with an expected transition date of Jan. 1, 2013. RASA has had a long working relationship with CRI. The organization has been the exclusive distributor of CRI bovine genetics throughout Mexico for the past 40 years.

Last week, USDA officials released their latest agricultural supply and demand and crop production estimates. In the August World Agricultural Supply and Demand (WASDE) report, USDA forecasted an average U.S. corn yield of 123.4 bushels per acre – 22.6 fewer bushels than July’s estimate and 23.8 bushels below last year. The corn harvested acreage estimate was 87.4 million acres, 3.4 million acres more than last year. The reduction in yields resulted in a total U.S. corn production forecast of 10.8 billion bushels, the smallest since 2006.

In a significant victory for dairy farmers involved in a national class action lawsuit accusing DairyAmerica, Inc., and California Dairies, Inc., of artificially depressing the price of milk products, a federal appeals court last week reversed a lower court’s dismissal of the case. The case – Gerald Carlin v. DairyAmerica and California Dairies, Inc. – claims that the nation’s largest marketer of nonfat dry milk and the California-based milk processing firm inflated their own profits at the expense of America’s dairy farmers by misreporting critical data used by the government to set raw milk prices. The dairy farmer plaintiffs seek compensation for the millions of dollars lost due to this alleged price manipulation.

Scott Bennett Grand Ronde, Oregon Territory Development Specialist CRV

Researchers in the Milk Quality Improvement Program at Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have identified the predominant spore-forming bacteria in milk and their unique enzyme activity, knowledge that can now be used to protect the quality and shelf life of dairy products. The study – published in the March issue of Applied Environmental Microbiology by the lab of Wiedmann and Kathryn Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – identified the predominant strains of spore-forming bacteria, which can foul milk and other food products.

Congress finished its summer session and legislators have returned to their home districts and states for the month of August. They will take this time to travel their districts, talk to constituents and prepare for the November election. In light of the severe drought across the country, the Farm Bill is one of the hot topics that will likely be discussed.

More than six months after acquiring Island Dairy and renaming it Big Island Dairy, Steve Whitesides says he is in the process of more than doubling the amount of milk cows to 2,000 at the 2,000-acre property about 30 miles outside of Hilo. This will boost production at the largest commercial fluid milk dairy in the state to 15,000 gallons a day.

This week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that USDA will utilize nearly $16 million in financial and technical assistance to immediately help crop and livestock producers in 19 states cope with the adverse impacts of the historic drought. In addition, USDA will initiate a transfer of $14 million in unobligated program funds into the Emergency Conservation Program. These funds can be used to assist in moving water to livestock in need and rehabilitating lands severely impacted by the drought. Together these efforts should provide nearly $30 million to producers struggling with drought conditions.