On April 14, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Nebraska), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight and Credit, held a public hearing to review credit conditions in rural America. A number of institutions provide credit to our nation’s farmers, ranchers and rural constituents. Members of the subcommittee heard from two panels of witnesses that provided insight into the availability of credit for producers and the potential risks. Here are excerpts of testimony presented during the hearing:

Why is peak milk important? • Increased milk yield. The vast majority of dairies generate the vast majority of their incomes through milk sales. The correlation between peak milk yield and actual 305-day milk production is highly positive. Each additional pound of peak milk should translate into an additional 200-280 lbs of milk in mature cows and 300+ lbs in first-calf heifers across the entire lactation. Conservatively, each one-pound increase in herd average peak milk production should generate at least 20,000 lbs more milk per 100 cows per year.

The fresh cows on any dairy are the most profitable cows in the herd as they reach their peak milk production. But this is often the time in which they are experiencing the most stress due to the hormonal changes associated with calving and the excessive demands of milk production. Proper nutrition both pre-calving and post-calving will aid in the prevention of overstressing the immune system. A healthy immune system will help in preventing mastitis. Mastitis is considered to be the most costly disease affecting the dairy industry. One study concluded that 1/3 of all dairy cows will experience mastitis in at least one quarter. Lost milk production was estimated to be over 800 pounds of milk during a lactation.

We’ve all heard the stories … a producer ends up dumping a tank of milk because the “hot milk” was refused. No one likes to think about milk cooling until they have a problem and, let’s face it, the equipment necessary for good milk cooling isn’t cheap. Ignoring your milk cooling equipment, thereby risking milk quality, can be a producer’s downfall. As the average dairy size continues to grow, much of today’s milk cooling remains outdated and inefficient. With increasing restrictions on energy consumption nationwide, as well as the rebates available for refrigeration system replacements or retrofits in some areas, it’s an issue every producer and service professional should educate themselves on.

Imagine watching your cows’ herd health decline while the somatic cell count continued to rise. Now picture bringing in a wide array of dairy industry professionals, only to have them all pointing toward a different solution that never seemed to solve the problem completely. This was a reality for more than 11 years for Joan Hohag and her husband, Dean, on their 175-cow operation in Waverly, Minnesota. The problems started escalating in 1999, when they put in a new facility. Minnesota requires an equipotential plane, which is installed in a concrete floor, connected to the electrical grounding system and supposed to reduce stray voltage.

Representatives of the U.S. dairy industry announced an agreement to work jointly with a national energy research laboratory to advance the science and best management practices of renewable energy, environmental stewardship and life cycle analysis of dairy systems and processes. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, the Dairy Research Institute and Idaho’s Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) are working to develop a national research program focused on enhancing the economic viability of dairy farms and rural communities.

American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT) has joined the Alliance to Feed the Future to help tell the story of modern farming from the heart of the family farmer. AFACT is comprised of farm families from across the country that seek to help all participants in the food chain to understand the benefits of technology used to produce affordable food with minimal impact on the environment. Misperceptions about how food is produced on modern farms are common, and AFACT farmers want consumers to have access to fact-based information that provides peace of mind about how today’s food is produced.

Holstein Association USA’s Star of the Breed award recognizes a cow that would be many Registered Holstein breeders’ “dream;” a cow that can compete with the best both in the showring and with her milk production. The 2010 Star of the Breed is Scarlet-Summer RB Gwendelyn, bred and owned by Scarlet Summer Holsteins of Muncy, Pennsylvania. Scarlet Summer Holsteins is comprised of Jarrod and Marsha Burleigh, and their two children, Alex, 7, and Madison, 4. Both graduates of Delaware Valley College, Jarrod is a nutritionist with ADM, and Marsha works at the farm full-time.