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Since we last updated the profit margin outlook for dairy producers in 2011 back in January, things have continued to improve with forward margins strengthening through the remainder of the year into early 2012.
What was projected as a breakeven to slightly positive forward margin at best during the second half of the year is now decisively in the black as increasing milk values have more than offset the impact of higher feed costs that dairies will have to absorb on their herds.
Editor’s note: Marc Laribee from Graceway Farms in Lowville, New York, submitted the following letter in response to the recent arrest of John Barney, a dairy producer in Upstate New York, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in late March.
Recently, MPC and California Dairy Campaign co-hosted an industry meeting in Visalia to delve into National Milk Producers Federation’s “Foundation for the Future” (FFTF).
The meeting attracted about 160 people, a vast majority of whom were dairy farmers. It was moderated by CDC Executive Director Kevin Abernathy, and was broken into five main parts:
1. An opening statement from MPC President Syp Vander Dussen.
“The milk pricing system is really complicated,” said Sherry Bunting, corresponding secretary of the Dairy Policy Action Coalition (DPAC). “The more complicated it is, the easier it is to hide a lot of things.
Producers flat out just don’t have a basic trust in the system that’s pricing their milk.”
At my house, Art does the grocery shopping! “Art is well- trained,” you say ... well, maybe I am. But as one of the few “farm boys” left residing in my town these days, I find the grocery market to be a source of information. It stokes my imagination.
Mostly, I see real, fresh fruits and vegetables conveniently bundled with energy-intensive packaging. I see evidence of energy-intensive produce storage systems, energy-intensive sanitation systems and energy-intensive transportation systems.
I see neatly packaged ready-to-eat cereals and baked goods. I like what I see.
Click here to read an update to this article, "What's new(er) in colostrum research?"
The importance of colostrum feeding is well understood by dairy producers and calf raisers. New research is further refining our understanding of the value of colostrum feeding.
Developments in technology are providing new and better tools to manage and implement a colostrum-feeding program. Here is a sampling of some of the new research to help better manage this critical part of the calf’s life.
“Great herdsmen rely upon more than just their skill and experience; they depend upon their attitude …to do things right all the time.” This is the theme of an article I wrote for your herdsman in the May 2011 issue of El Lechero.
While you give lots of responsibilities to your herdsman, making decisions may be the most difficult part of his job. If he is a “good cowman,” then helping him decide if, when and how to treat sick cows requires that you provide guidelines, training and support for him.
Dairy producers, calf raisers and allied industry came together last month to focus on the future of the dairy industry – the calves.
“This is where it starts,” said Douglas Braun, DVM, senior veterinarian at Pfizer Animal Health Dairy Veterinary Operations. “The farm’s future for the next year is in the fresh cow. For the next three to five years, it’s in the newborn calf.”
Braun performed a wet lab in getting calves off to the right start at the Dairy Calf and Heifer Conference in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
He stated, “We are still losing 8 percent of calves before we have a chance to wean them.”
One of the necessary elements of cattle production is vaccination against common diseases. In order to be effective, vaccines must be cared for appropriately. The Code of Federal Regulations states that “biological products shall be protected at all times against improper storage and handling.
There has been a good deal of confusing information concerning the causative agent in bovine pinkeye over the past few years. Quality veterinary medical diagnostic laboratories around the country have reported the isolation of Branhamella ovis or Moraxella ovis from clinical cases of pinkeye patients.
M. ovis is a spherical-shaped (coccoid) organism as opposed to the typical short “rod-shaped” Moraxella bovis.
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