We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
On a warm, clear day in Fallon, Nevada, recently, members of the press were treated to a tour of the new Dairy Farmers of America milk processing plant.
Built on almost 32 acres, the plant began operation on April 5, 2014, and is currently processing an average of 1.5 million pounds of raw milk per day, though it is equipped to process two million pounds of raw milk daily.
For anyone who has seen or attended the Alltech 30th International Symposium, to say it has a theatrical feel is an understatement; complete with elaborate stage settings, bright lights and continual slide presentations all around, it’s worth the trip to see the sheer production of the event.
Misunderstanding the changing workforce in this country could be as damaging to your dairy as low milk prices. Below are some comments I hear; please check the ones you think are true:
A number of milk prices are published each month. They include: Class I, II, III and IV; Class I Mover; butterfat, protein and other solids; quota and overbase; producer price differential; and blend.
All of these prices are important and contribute to determining the price dairy farmers receive for their milk production. But at the end of the month, the most important price to a dairy farmer is the mailbox price. This is the milk price paid to dairy farmers for their milk production after all deductions.
When Joey Vasconcellos visits a dairy in California’s San Joaquin Valley, he isn’t there to milk the cows. By the time he arrives, the animals have already been moved.
The barns stand empty, the cement floors barren and the metal fabrications quiet without the echo of noise from within. His job – along with his dad, Jerry, and brother Jared – is to deconstruct the facility.
Editor’s note: A similar article originally appeared in Progressive Dairyman’s sister publication – Progressive Cattleman – in the January 2014 issue.
Imagine a future where a dairy farmer can use an autonomous drone to fly out to a pasture miles from the homestead to check on his replacement heifers.
Idaho passed a new state law this year that would make it a misdemeanor crime to interfere with agriculture production by entering a private facility without permission; obtaining its records by force, threat, misrepresentation or trespass; videotaping without consent or due process; or intentionally causing physical damage or injury to the farm, its animals or equipment.
Think back to the last cow you sent to market. If you peeled back her hide, what would you find? Bruising? Injection site lesions? Tissue damage?
Would you be proud to say that cow came from your dairy?
People who know Arizona dairyman Paul Rovey know he loves to photograph his worldwide travels. However, they may not know he also has pictures of every one of his cows – seriously, all of them.
Several years ago, Rovey instated an industry-first protocol to photograph all cull cows prior to them leaving his dairy. Rovey now keeps the digital photos for at least three months and sometimes up to a year.
A massive beef recall linked to the processing of cull dairy cows at a California slaughterhouse appears to be an isolated case in which the federal meat inspection system failed, industry participants say.
Earlier this year, the USDA issued a recall of nearly nine million pounds of beef produced at the Rancho Feeding Corp. plant in Petaluma, California. The recall amounted to a full year’s worth of production at the plant that was later shut down.
RSS
