Posted: February 5, 2009 at 8:33 pm
By News Editor
A good wrap-up of the stimulus package for agriculture from Drovers.
U.S. economic issues are garnering all the attention in Washington, D.C. The House Democrats passed a stimulus package last week, and the Senate is considering it this week.
In the House version, agriculture programs, including nutrition assistance, rural development and conservation, would receive about $27 billion, or about 3.3 percent, of the House-approved $825 billion economic stimulus package. That’s according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
Republicans are criticizing the House stimulus bill because they argue it funds too many dubious programs and projects. Senate Republicans appear to be headed down that same path. President Obama wants a final bill on his desk by mid-month.
Among the agricultural programs in the package, nutrition-assistance programs account for $21 billion. Rural development programs would receive $5.1 billion, including $2.8 billion to deploy broadband technology in rural areas and $1.5 billion for rural water and waste disposal projects. USDA’s infrastructure would benefit from facilities maintenance and computer improvements totaling nearly $500 million. Conservation and watershed programs would receive $400 million.
Posted: February 4, 2009 at 11:33 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
The recent turn in dairy commodity prices have producers looking for tactics to boost their bottom lines. Jim Smith, Pioneer livestock information manager, discusses some management practices to maximize production and lower input costs. Smith says to group the herd according to production capabilities and feed those animals accordingly, focusing on the most profitable animals in an operation. Smith also recommends continuous evaluation of nutrients and ingredients being fed.
pioneer-podcast-47-wdd.mp3
Jim Smith on Feed Efficiences (5:00 min MP3)
To see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
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Posted: February 4, 2009 at 9:15 pm
By News Editor
Speaking of Agri-Mark, the cooperative announced a few weeks ago that they are asking their dairymen to go rbST-free by August 2009.
For all intents and purposes, the New England dairy industry will be “rbST-free” by the end of summer 2009. Facing the threat of losing markets for its highly successful Cabot brand of cheeses, cooperative owner Agri-Mark has told its member farmers that if they want to continue using bovine somatotropin to boost production their milk will have to go to a cheese plant in northern New York State at a cost to them of up to $2 per hundredweight to cover the trucking.
“Cabot sales were at risk, and we were going to lose markets if we continued to accept milk from rbST-treated cows at our Middlebury and Cabot (Vt.) cheese plants and our West Springfield (Mass.) butter and powder plant,” says Bob Wellington, senior vice president of Agri-Mark, the largest producer cooperative in New England.
The two primary marketers of farm milk in New England, Agri-Mark and Dairy Marketing Services/Dairy Farmers of America, have wrestled with assembling and marketing two separate streams of farm milk, one from farms using rbST and one from farms that shun the technology.
Agri-Mark’s board of directors has set Aug. 1 as the cutoff for any rbST milk coming into its system, a decision which essentially is the deadline for both its member farms and all the rest of the New England and eastern New York farms shipping into the New England market.
That’s because Agri-Mark operates the only major manufacturing plants that serve to balance the region’s milk supply, Cabot, Middlebury and West Springfield. Milk beyond the needs of fluid processors, ice cream plants and a handful of small cheese enterprises has to find a home somewhere, and Agri-Mark is the only entity that can economically handle it.
He adds that Agri-Mark waited as long as it could to close the door on rbST, but the pressures coming back from consumers and retailers forced the cooperative to protect its Cabot brand.
Posted: February 4, 2009 at 9:04 pm
By News Editor
The folks over at Cabot Cheese have a great blog you should check out. As expected, they are blogging all about cheese, but the dairy farmers that make up the cooperative are also featured. Say Cheese!
Posted: February 3, 2009 at 10:21 pm
By News Editor
Local elected officials and dairy producers are urged to attend an educational seminar focusing on “Agriculture’s Changing Face – Meeting Environmental and Community Needs.”
This valuable one-day forum will be held Thursday, February 19 at the Holiday Inn in Fond du Lac from 8:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. This is the perfect opportunity to reach out and participate in constructive dialogue between dairy producers, elected officials and our local communities. Attendees will have the chance to sit shoulder-to-shoulder and learn about issues impacting agriculture and discuss options to create a positive future.
“Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin continues expanding its efforts to reach out and stimulate constructive dialogue between dairy producers and their local communities,” said Shelly Mayer, PDPW Executive Director. “The purpose of this seminar is to create productive discussions, dissolve barriers and build bridges between producers, our communities’ officials and units of state government.”
This seminar is the result of the Agriculture Community Engagement (ACE) program. ACE is a three-way partnership between PDPW, Wisconsin Towns Association (WTA) and Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA). The purpose of ACE is to educate, inform and open communications on issues that are important to our communities.
Attendees will hear from a variety of experts who will provide a wide array of valuable information and foster a great understanding of dairy’s impact in Wisconsin and the industry’s bright future. The day will kick off with an update on Wisconsin’s working lands from David Jelinski from Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Attendees will also learn from a session about growing in harmony with our land and water, presented by Dennis Frame, UW Discovery Farms Co-Director and Eric Cooley,
UW Discovery Outreach Specialist.
Pete Giacomini, AgSource Cooperative Chief Operating Officer, will share a view of dairy beyond the farm gate and the impact of dairy on our culture, land, economy, education system and our communities. Participants will then explore animal health as Dr. Robert Ehlenfeldt, State Veterinarian with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, will provide insight into the unbreakable link between animal health and community wellness.
Topping off the day is a panel of Wisconsin dairy producers. John Ruedinger from Van Dyne and Russel Strutz from Two Rivers who will share their views of the industry and plans for their businesses. This session allows for true “ACE” style interaction where we can learn from one another and look for opportunities to help our communities grow by dissolving barriers and building bridges.
Posted: February 2, 2009 at 8:06 pm
By News Editor
The journal Nutrition Reviews recently released a review of research that found a positive link between high calcium intake and improved body composition and weight maintenance.
The study concluded that high calcium intake may affect body composition through some combination of reducing body fat mass while maintaining lean body mass, reducing weight gain and increasing weight loss on calorie-restricted diets.
Despite these results and other studies, Americans are not consuming enough calcium. Nearly nine out of 10 women and six out of 10 men do not meet their daily calcium recommendations. Consuming three servings of nutrient-rich, low-fat and fat-free milk, cheese or yogurt a day provides 90 percent of the recommended calcium requirements.
“The calcium and eight other essential nutrients that dairy products provide are critical for an overall healthy diet,” said Ann Marie Krautheim, a registered dietitian and senior vice president of nutrition affairs for National Dairy Council®, the nutrition research arm of the dairy checkoff program. “This review of research concludes that dairy may also help to maintain an overall healthy weight – another great reason to consume three servings of low-fat or fat-free nutrient rich dairy foods a day.”
Science-based nutrition research serves as the foundation for producer-funded efforts to help build demand for and sales of U.S. dairy products by further advancing dairy’s role as part of a healthy diet. In addition to working with health professional partners, checkoff staffs also are communicating the study results to national and local health-focused media to reach other thought leaders and health professionals.
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