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Good news is hard to come by in 2020, which is why the agriculture community shouldn’t overlook the latest Gallup poll. Last month, farming and agriculture earned the highest rating for Americans' views of U.S. business and industry sectors, with the grocery and restaurant industries trailing not far behind. Farming and agriculture was already one of the top-rated industries, but its rise to the number one spot is likely the result of the pandemic’s spotlight on the food sector’s importance. Now, the challenge for the agriculture community is to keep a positive rating with American consumers.
Dairy producers and genetic enthusiasts are invited to participate in the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) industry meeting on Nov. 2, which will focus on feed efficiency, genetic selection and impacts on sustainability. Meeting participants will have an early opportunity to understand the collaborative data collection, genetic methodology and expected results for the new trait, Feed Saved, being launched by CDCB with Dec. 1 genetic evaluations.
The USDA’s October World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Crop Production reports were released Oct. 9. Slightly higher milk production was forecast for both 2020 and 2021, with the outlooks for milk prices also improved somewhat. Those milk price gains, however, will likely be offset by higher projected feed costs.
The USDA will begin accepting applications for the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, for 2021 enrollment. Sign-up will run through Dec. 11, 2020. Earlier this summer, the starting date for 2021 DMC enrollment was announced as Oct. 12. However, Monday, Oct. 12 is a federal holiday.
August was another strong month for U.S. dairy exports, sustaining double-digit growth in both volume and value compared with a year ago. That helped push the overall August ag trade balance into positive numbers for just the second month in 2020. Here’s an update on the U.S. ag export categories tracked by Progressive Dairy and a summary of other trade news.
The transition period (three weeks before to three weeks after calving) is one of those times when cows need a little extra attention. Cows make the transition from a non-lactating pregnant state to a lactating non-pregnant state during transition period.
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