Here’s another story about dairymen and allied industries coming together to discuss the current milk market, and their concerns about it. Farmers in Ohio met to discuss the market effects of imports, marketing organizations and supply and demand, while a panel of experts spanning California to New York presented their plan for a new system of marketing milk.
Past U.S. Holstein Association President Doug Maddox said the fallout in dairy prices goes deeper than the current generation. He farms in California, where he operates RuAnn Dairy, one of the world’s largest registered dairy farms.
“This crisis that we’re in right now and how we solve it is as much about who and what controls our future, and our dairy industry, as it is about the prices and the current situation,” Maddox said. “Either the dairy farmers are going to control the industry and manage our supply and set our prices, or the processors and the large companies.”
Maddox said a dairy farmer is typically losing $3-$4 a day per cow, or $100 per cow per month. Farm equity is being turned into bank loans, and farmers are exiting the industry altogether, by choice or by force, and a few have exited by suicide, he said.
The meeting was organized by Ohio Farmers Union and a host of local sponsors in hopes of gathering more producer perspectives and educating farmers and consumers about the dairy industry.
New York dairy farmer John Bunting discussed the impact to the market of dairy processors and marketing cooperatives, as well as imported milk protein concentrate.
The country imported about 16 million pounds of milk protein concentrates in 2008, according to information Bunting compiled from the U.S. International Trade Commission. That’s up from 2007 imports of 14 million pounds, and 2006 imports of about 12 million pounds.
Milk protein concentrate is the industry term used to describe a form of processed, dried milk used in foods such as processed cheese products, macaroni and cheese, protein bars, nutritional drinks, candy bars and cookies.
Bunting is one of a growing number of dairy farmers who say imports are partly to blame for their struggles.
But not everyone agrees.
Maddox said imports are a factor but the industry is ultimately experiencing woes because of an imbalance of supply and demand.
“You can blame all the other things, but it all gets back to supply and demand; it’s economics 101,” Maddox said.
He is an advocate for the Dairy Price Stabilization program, a newly formed effort to stabilize the market through a mandatory, self-funded growth-control program.
The current milk price has spurred many dairy farmers into action, getting them more involved in how their milk is marketed. A group of dairymen from western N.Y. and several even from Pennsylvania, met to discuss the Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009 last week, at a dairy rally held in N.Y.
A group of more than 150 dairy farmers, their family members, a handful of local officials, farmer union leaders and Congressman Eric Massa, D-29, addressed the audience and talked about the act. The proposed legislation, brought forward by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa, and Sen. Robert Casey Jr., D-Pa., would change the amount farmers are paid for milk to the national average cost of production, eliminate reference to the Chicago Mercantile exchange in determining milk prices paid to dairy farmers and encourage new dairy farmers to produce milk by allowing them to be exempt from inventory management costs in their first year, among other things.
“This will provide a floor under the price of milk that will keep a majority of our dairy farmers in business, give them an opportunity to pay their bills and have an extremely modest level of income,” said Larry Breech, president of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union.
Breech said there is tremendous amount of opposition to the legislation, but it insists that dairy farmers all of the country will begin closing if some governmental action is not taken.
“Dairy co-ops have miserably failed to represent their members and that’s why we are at the pint we are at now,” he said.
“Right now dairy farmers have seen a 47 percent drop in the prices they were getting last year and we have to get them some short-term relief immediately,” said Arden Tewksbury, manager of the Progressive Agriculture Organization.
“There are many farms that are going to be closing soon. People argue the number is as high as 25 or 35 percent,” he said.
Dairy farmers at the rally said they are getting as low as $10 to $12 a hundredweight, an amount they say doesn’t even cover operation costs.
A study by Cornell University estimated that farmers need to be paid at least $17 per hundredweight to cover production expenses.
“Because we have married ourselves to a free trade system that gives everything away and does not protect our consumers the international market collapsed and here we are sitting on huge surpluses,” Massa said. “By the way, you saw the price of milk at the producer drop by 50 percent, but we never saw the price of milk in retail drop that much. Now, somebody is making a hell of a lot of money, and candidly, it is not much different then we saw in the petroleum industry. The price of crude went from, what was it, $140? To $50 a barrel and yet the prices at the pump did not drop that same ratio.”
The cash dairy market is somewhat in limbo as it anticipates whether government will try to affect it some more. Cheese prices reversed six weeks of gains the last week of August. The blocks closed Friday at $1.3675 per pound, down 2 1/4-cents on the week, and 33 1/2-cents below a year ago. Barrel closed at $1.34, down 3 cents on the week, and 29 1/4- cents below a year ago. The blocks had gained 30 cents in those six weeks and barrel gained 28 cents.
Thirty cars of block traded hands on the week and 25 of barrel. The latest NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price hit $1.2927, up 7.1 cents on the week. Barrel averaged $1.3163, up 5.7 cents.
Butter closed Friday at $1.17, unchanged on the week and halted four weeks of losses, but is 44 1/4-cents below a year ago. Nineteen cars sold on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.1931, down 1 1/2-cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged 88 cents, up 1.2 cents, and dry whey averaged 28.82 cents, up a penny.
Price support purchases for the week totaled 2 million pounds of nonfat dry milk, raising the cumulative total to 279.2 million. Uncle Sam accepted DEIP bids on 11 million pounds of nonfat dry milk for export this week, 275,575 pounds of butter, and 169,754 pounds of Cheddar cheese.
Posted: August 30, 2009 at 9:40 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
In the largest dairy producing area of the top dairy state, it was no surprise that dairy was the number one topic addressed during a visit by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to Modesto, California last week on his Rural Tour.
Vilsack was joined at the event by California Congressman Dennis Cardoza, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan and California Secretary of Agriculture, A. G. Kawamura. Together they listened to the concerns of nearly 400 frustrated dairy producers imploring for help to stem the losses that threaten their livelihood.
“I’d like to thank you for all you’ve done so far, but it isn’t enough,” said Linda Lopes, president of the California Dairy Women. “We need the support price to be higher, we need it to be extended longer, and we need it to be floored. Because right now all of us are surviving on our equity and if this price doesn’t come up and stay up for a long time, the next time there won’t be any equity to borrow against and that will be the end of the dairy industry in California.”
Vilsack outlined what USDA has done so far to help producers, including export subsidies, increased federal purchases for nutrition programs and raising the support price for dairy products. The secretary said he wants to do more but he has to wait until Congress is back in session. “The problem is that we are now facing the beginning of a new fiscal year,” Vilsack said. “It’s not a simple thing to do what you have asked me to do. I want to do it, I want to help. We are going to try and work through the process.”
Vilsack also talked about the formation of a 15 member dairy industry advisory committee to help come up with solutions to the industry crisis, “to try to figure out what will be better than what we have today.”
Listen to some of the comments and questions from the California Rural Tour in this Milking Parlor podcast sponsored by Fort Dodge Animal Health:
Here is our next installment in a series of online Dairy Producer Short Courses from our sponsor, Fort Dodge Animal Health.
Our topic this week is BVD: AVOIDING PERSISTENT INFECTION.
Never had a PI in your dairy? Good to hear, says Mark van der List, DVM, Fort Dodge Animal Health senior veterinary consultant. You’ve probably never had a house fi re either, yet that shouldn’t convince you to drop your homeowner’s insurance. Here’s how to stay PI-free.
IF YOU CAN SAY your herd is free of persistent BVD infection, you should be congratulated — but cautious. Uncontrolled BVD costs:
■ Reproductive losses such as early embryonic death, abortions, birth defects and congenitally infected calves — those infected in the womb — which are more likely to succumb to calfhood diseases.
■ Increased rates of mastitis, metritis, pneumonia and other diseases caused by suppression of the immune system.
■ Reduced calf and heifer performance, leading to higher death loss and greater risk of early culling.
Ongoing vaccination using a vaccine labeled to prevent PIs, like PYRAMID 5 or 10, is an essential part of the control program. Vaccinating 30 days before breeding optimizes the cow’s immunity during the critical 30 to 120 days of gestation when the risk for PI development is greatest.
Share your good luck wishes to Secretary Wolff here, in the comments section.
Gov. Ed Rendell said Friday that Dennis Wolff’s last day would be Sept. 12, and the governor will be nominating Russell Redding to take over the department.
Redding is a Gettysburg native who’s worked in the Agriculture Department since 1995. He’s run its day-to-day operations as executive deputy secretary since 2003.
Rendell says Wolff’s accomplishments include the PA Preferred initiative, the centers of beef and dairy excellence, efforts to improve food safety and a program that helps farmers deal with “illegal and burdensome” local ordinances.
Enthusiastic producers and herds people from across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa are invited to the Young Producers (YP) Summit – ‘Innovate, Integrate, Motivate,’ to be held December 5-6, 2009, at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Tomah, Wis. The YP Summit is part of the Accelerated Genetics Young Producer Program.
Seminars for this year’s YP Summit include presentations by state-of-the-art speakers with extensive backgrounds including Michele Payn-Knoper, with Cause Matters Corp., speaking about “Celebrating Agriculture and Championing Agriculture and Dairy;” Dan Schreiner, Product Specialist for Accelerated Genetics, with a talk on “Importance of Complete Calf Care;” and Nigel Cook, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, who will speak to attendees on “Designing Welfare Friendly Housing for Dairy Cows;” along with a panel of dairy producers. Additionally, there will be a new event, the ‘Cream of the Crop Ball.’ Everyone is encouraged to trade in their barn clothes for their best clothes and dancing shoes for Saturday night’s dinner and dance.
On top of all of the educational seminars, networking, and fun, interested producers and herds people will also have the opportunity to run for the Young Producer Committee. This dynamic committee helps organize and lead the yearly Young Producer activities. Committee members can serve two 3-year terms and are expected to attend two annual planning meetings.
To register for the 2009 YP Summit – ‘Innovate, Integrate, Motivate,’ or for more information on this or other upcoming Young Producer events, contact Kari Stanek at 1-800-451-9276 ext. 222, or kstanek@accelgen.com. The deadline for registration is November 9, 2009.
This year’s State Fair butter sculpture celebrates the old-time milk delivery system — the milk man. But with a twist: The “milk man” is actually a cow taking on the character of the hardy soul was up at the crack of dawn each day to deliver milk, cream and butter right to the doorsteps of his customers in cities and towns throughout Central New York, New York state and the country.
The sculpture shows the old-fashioned milk truck driven by a cow — providing the name for the sculpture, “Cow Power.” But it goes one step further, showing how cows not only make the milk, but they help generate energy that can power local communities through the use of methane digesters.
The digesters use cow manure to make methane gas that then generates electricity. Connie Patterson of Patterson Farms in Aurelius, Cayuga County, was one of the first in the state to put a digester on a farm. She uses it to generate all the electricity for her farm.
Be sure to stop into the Dairy Products Building at the State Fair to check out the sculpture.
Congratulations to Elizabeth Olson, Hutchinson, Minn. for her new title as the 56th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Elizabeth was crowned in an evening ceremony at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on August 26. This marks the first time two people have been named Princess Kay from the same family; Olson’s sister Sarah was crowned Princess Kay in 2002. Her other sister, Lana, was a finalist in 2005.
As Princess Kay, Olson, who represents McLeod County, will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for Minnesota’s nearly 4,700 dairy farmers. Elizabeth is the daughter of Loren and Laura Olson of Hutchinson, and is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, majoring in animal science and minoring in applied economics.
Twelve county dairy princesses competed for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way title. Sarah Brauen of Foley, representing Benton County, and Emily Lahr of Sauk Centre, representing Stearns County, were selected as runners-up. Jessica Oelfke of Hamburg, representing Sibley County, was named Miss Congeniality. Scholarships were awarded to Olson, Brauen and Lahr.
One of Olson’s first duties as Princess Kay will be to sit in a rotating cooler for nearly eight hours on the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair to have her likeness sculpted in a 90-pound block of butter. Each of the 11 other finalists will have her likeness carved in butter during the fair, as well. Throughout her yearlong reign as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Olson will make public appearances helping consumers make a connection with Minnesota dairy farm families who are dedicated to producing wholesome milk while caring for their animals and natural resources.
Princess Kay candidates are judged on their general knowledge of the dairy industry, communication skills, personality and enthusiasm for dairy promotion. The Midwest Dairy Association sponsors the Princess Kay program with funds provided by dairy farmers.
Posted: August 27, 2009 at 9:37 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
This edition of the Milking Parlor podcast focuses on what is being done on the national level to address the current dairy industry crisis. From congressional actions to USDA to the dairy industry itself, we hear from Congressman John Boccieri, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, University of Wisconsin Ag Economist Dr. Bruce Jones and National Milk Producers Federation president Jerry Kozak.
Thanks to Fort Dodge Animal Health for sponsorship of this regular monthly podcast for dairy industry professionals. We encourage your feedback, comments and questions to provide input for future editions of the program.
Have you heard of the Rural Tour? Sponsored by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Rural Tour’s mission is an effort to engage in a more robust dialog with folks living in rural America.
You can also follow the Rural Tour on Twitter or on Facebook – get engaged now! A letter posted by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack explains more:
Today, our communities, big and small, are struggling. And the challenges ahead are even greater.
Government does not have all the answers but it can help share innovative ideas and problem-solving techniques from communities with the rest of the country.
Building a foundation for success and prosperity for the new, 21st century economy will take a collective and collaborative effort with all of us talking, debating and solving, together.
President Obama asked me to lead this effort. So far we have held more than a dozen forums with Secretaries from the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, as well as local elected officials from the areas to which we travelled.
We won’t make it to every town in America but that does not mean we do not want to hear from you. On this website you will find information about where we have been and are going, as well as ways you can communicate your ideas to us and others visiting this site. Call, email, write, videotape, photograph, you name it. We want to hear from you.
Written nominations must be received on or before September 28, and should be sent to Judith Lindsay, secretary to Brandon Willis, Deputy Administrator, Farm Service Agency, Farm Programs, USDA Room 3612-S, Stop 0501, Washington, D.C. 20250-0501; faxed to (202) 720-4726; or e-mailed to: judith.lindsay@wdc.usda.gov.
Once appointed, the committee will review the issues of farm milk price volatility, and dairy farmer profitability. The committee will also offer suggestions and ideas on how USDA can best address these issues to meet the dairy industry’s needs. USDA is establishing the committee under the authority of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972.
“The Obama Administration is committed to working with all sectors of the dairy industry to develop changes to the dairy pricing system to avoid the boom and bust cycle behind the crisis facing many dairy farmers this year,” said Vilsack. “The input provided by the members of this committee will play an important role in building a more stable market for dairy producers for years to come.”
The Secretary of Agriculture will appoint up to 15 representatives of the dairy industry to serve in an advisory capacity on the Committee. Representatives will include: producers and producer organizations, processors and processor organizations, handlers, consumers, academia, retailers, and state agencies involved in organic and non-organic dairy at the local, regional, national and international levels.
The cow manure digester, located at the 10,000-cow Bettencourt Dairy near Jerome, Idaho, is expected to start operating at the end of the month, according to the commission’ approval notice.
It will provide 2.13 megawatts of electricity to Idaho Power. (A single megawatt can supply hundreds of households.)
The Associated Press said the digester and generator facility cost Cargill $8.5 million. Wayzata-based Cargill is looking at building similar power plants in Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, California, Texas, New York and Indiana.
According to the Idaho utilities commission, Cargill and Idaho Power plan to enter into a long-term energy sales agreement after the project has “operated for a reasonable amount of time.”
Attention cheese lovers! This fall, the state of Wisconsin is hosting the first Wisconsin Original Cheese Festival, where “cheese-heads” will have the opportunity to tour cheese factories, attend seminars, and taste over 100 different Wisconsin made cheeses! Book your tickets now for the November 6-7 event!
“Wisconsin is becoming nationally recognized as a mecca for original artisan, farmstead and specialty cheeses,” Jeanne Carpenter, executive director of Wisconsin Cheese Originals, said in a statement. “The festival will be the perfect venue to learn more about and taste these cheeses.”
The festival opens Friday night, Nov. 6, with a gala reception at Monona Terrace, where cheese lovers will be able to talk (and munch) cheese with the makers.
The full-course Saturday starts with either a bus tour of Green County cheese factories, including Chalet Cheese, the only limburger cheese factory in America, or a guided tour of the farmers market on Capitol Square.
The afternoon courses literally are courses in the art of fine cheesemaking, eating and pairing with wine and beer.
The festival ends on a gastronomic note as six local restaurants host cheesemakers and their cheeses in unique three-course dinners.
“The festival will be a premier destination for cheese enthusiasts and food buyers from across the nation,” Carpenter said.
There’s been a lot of talk in dairy industry circles lately regarding the effect on imported MPCs to the farm milk price. Last week, Dairy Today’s editor, Jim Dickrell, tackled this issue, with some surprising insights. Read on to learn more aboiut MPCs.
MPCs Aren’t Dairy’s Biggest Problem
By Jim Dickrell
At the risk of being labeled the anti-Christ, I’m here to report that dairy imports—most notably milk protein concentrates (MPCs)—are not the reason U.S. domestic milk prices are where they are.
And, by the way, I’m not the only one reporting this bit of non-news. USDA, the National Milk Producers Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Federation all acknowledged as much in congressional testimony this past month.
For starters, I’d like to report a few numbers on dairy imports that were released by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service last week. Through June, imports of MPCs were down a collective 12% from the same six-month period in 2008. In fact, MPC imports have not been this low for five years, and six of the last seven.
Casein imports, both casein and caseinates, are down a whopping 38% through June. They haven’t been this low this decade. Admittedly, cheese imports are up slightly—1.2%. But that, in part, is due to the fact that cheese imports last year were at their lowest level this decade.
Taken together, MPCs, caseins, cheese and butterfat imports are down 12.7% January through June compared to last year.
And the other amazing thing is that the total tonnage of these imports has very little variation year-to-year since 2001—regardless of whether U.S. milk prices are $10 or $20. There’s a certain level of demand for these products—year in, year out. If they were price-sensitive, you’d think you’d see ebbs and flows with our wildly swinging milk prices.
Mark Stephenson, a Cornell University dairy economist, did some analysis on MPCs this past spring and came to this conclusion: “[Dairy] imports vary quite a bit month-to-month but they are not trending upward in any significant fashion—particularly as a percentage of U.S. production of milk.
“A case could be made that they ‘displace’ or ‘augment’ about 0.8% of U.S. milk production,” Stephenson says. “The milk that is displaced by MPC imports in the United States is the amount of milk from about 70,000 cows.”
Michigan State University has opened an experimental dairy with the latest technology, including two robotic milking machines made by Maassluis, Netherlands-based Lely Group. Robot milking operations have long been in use in Europe but spread only slowly in the U.S. Part of the new dairy is also pastured-based paddocks. Financing for the 94-cow dairy at MSU’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station came from a $3.5 million 2007 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, along with university funds.
The best news? The dairy is open to the public! About 1,200 people toured the dairy Wednesday, when it was opened to the public for the first time. Along with the self-milking system, visitors saw such cow-friendly features as in-pen water beds, rotary back scratchers and automatic manure scrapers. To save energy, the barn has curtains along its side walls that are raised or lowered to control the temperature. It also was designed to make maximum use of natural light, cutting the electric bill.
“The robotic milking machine will measure the cow’s body weight, eating behavior, milking time per quarter, total and quarter milk yield and milk quality. The farmer gets a lot of information that can be used to make management decisions. Cows … come and go as they choose,” said Mat Haan, operations manager at the Michigan State dairy. “If a cow decides she wants to milk at two o’clock in the morning, she can, as opposed to the farmer bringing the whole herd together and working them through the parlor in one big group.”
The dairy is trying out practices and technology that could “help keep small and midrange family dairy farms in business,” Haan said. “It’s not going to happen at 1,000 or 2,000 animal operations.”
Equipment like the self-milking system can help reduce farmers’ labor costs, which is important when milk prices are low, as they have been in the past year.
A new study by Cornell University shows that dairy cows using the DeLaval Swinging Cow Brush (SCB) register higher milk production and lower clinical mastitis cases. The SCB is a grooming device that allows a cow to brush and scratch herself at her leisure!
The study compared different groups of cows housed in pens using the Swinging Cow Brush to the similar reference groups kept in identical pens under the exact same conditions but without the SCB. The research team concluded that second lactation cows using the SCB showed a significant and increasing difference in daily milk production of up to +1kg per day.
“The Swinging Cow Brush provided a favorite pass time for the cows in this herd. It was fun to watch their interaction with this grooming device. The added benefit of increased production and reduced clinical mastitis makes me think that every farmer should utilize the Cow Brush to make the cows and themselves a bit happier” said Ynte H. Schukken, Professor of Herd Health at Cornell University.
Installation of the SCB resulted in an immediate increase in cow grooming behavior. Farm workers noticed instantly the frequent, intense use of the brushes and the eagerness of the cows to use them, according to the Cornell research team. A second major finding was the significant drop in clinical mastitis cases (over 30%) among second and older lactation cows housed in pens with a SCB present.
“Animal Welfare is a top priority for DeLaval. We are delighted to market a product that makes it possible to improve health, comfort and welfare for the animal while notably boosting profit for the farmer,” said Tim Nicolai, DeLaval Vice President Product Area Milk Quality & Farm Supplies.
According to DeLaval the investment made on SCB can be covered several times over by the profits made through increased milk production and the cost savings achieved through mastitis prevention. Additionally, the SCB keeps cows clean, active, calm and more balanced.
The program, which will become available in the fall of 2009, is voluntary and available to all producers. NMPF is managing the production and dissemination of technical animal care manuals, producer education and training, on-farm evaluation, and third-party verification. DMI is assisting with producer and industry outreach, and market chain and consumer relations.
At the heart of the program is NMPF’s revised “Caring for Dairy Animals” manual, which details best management practices for a variety of animal care issues, including animal health, facilities and housing, animal nutrition, equipment and milking procedures, and transportation and handling. The content of the manual is consistent with the principles and guidelines of the National Dairy Animal Well-Being Initiative, which was introduced in 2008. NMPF is working with dairy animal care experts to assure that the document reflects current practices, animal health concerns, innovations and advances in technology.
Training and informational DVDs will be made available to producers, co-ops and others interested in dairy animal care. A National Dairy FARM Program Web site will include producer education and training. Once producers have completed the educational component, the next step is an on-farm evaluation by a trained veterinarian, extension agent or co-op field staff member, Kozak said. The producer then receives a status report and, if necessary, an action plan for improvement.
“To protect the integrity of Dairy FARM, we are also developing a third-party verification program,” said Jerry Kozak, president and chief executive officer of NMPF. “We want quantifiable, objective verification that the dairy industry is providing appropriate care for animals. It’s important to remember that the goal of verification is to validate the program, not judge individual producers.”
On-farm evaluations will begin in 2010 and third-party verification will start in 2011. Co-ops and processors may choose to participate in the program to bring consistency to dairy animal care nationwide. Additional Dairy FARM modules designed to assure the quality, safety and wholesomeness of dairy products will be introduced in the future.
NMPF has assembled an advisory panel to provide guidance on Dairy FARM. The panel is comprised of dairy experts and industry professionals representing many facets of the industry. Members include Stan Andre, California Milk Advisory Board; Marguerite Copel, Dean Foods; John Frey, Pennsylvania Center for Dairy Excellence; Virginia Littlefield, Safeway Inc.; John Kennedy, Kraft Foods; Shelly Mayer, Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin; Dr. M. Gatz Riddell, American Association of Bovine Practitioners; Allen Sayler, International Dairy Foods Association; and Lynne Schmoe, Washington Dairy Products Commission.
These stories are kind of hard to hear, but I imagine there are many dairy farmers that can relate to this scenario. This article was written by Dennis Pollock for the Western Farm Press. Here is an excerpt…
FRED MACHADO, Easton, Calif., 77 years old, spent more than a six decades milking cows, but the dairy he started in 1950 now stands silent, a casualty of an almost unprecedented depression for California dairymen.
On that table is a decorative, wooden likeness of a cow that holds a floral display. In time, such decorations – wooden cows over his fireplace mantle, cow bookends in his office, another cow holder for flowers outside – will be the only cows in Machado’s life for the first time in nearly 70 years.
Machado still has 500 heifers, but he’ll sell them, too. His milking days, which started in the Azores when he was 8 years old, are over. His milking parlor is empty and still now, and his corrals are mostly empty. Machado and family members concede the decision to close their dairy operation and sell the animals was a wrenching one. But they saw it as necessary because they were losing $70,000 a month by keeping it in operation.
“It was a family decision,” Machado says. “It was not what we wanted to do, but it was the best thing for us to do. It feels kind of empty, but we’ll get by.
“We didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. There were two choices – mortgage our land to stay in a losing business or get out and save the farm.”
Wisconsin Ag Connection recently published an article about these winning dairy judgers. Congratulations to these enthusiastic, young dairy farmers. Here is an excerpt from the article…
Eleven senior teams and 11 senior individuals along with 10 junior teams and 10 junior individuals competed at the Wisconsin State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest held recently at the Polk County Fairgrounds in St. Croix Falls. Each contestant judged 10 classes consisting of Holsteins, Guernseys, Jerseys, and Ayrshires. The juniors answered 20 type analysis questions and the seniors gave oral reasons on four classes.
Dodge County’s senior team took home top honors at the Wisconsin State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest earning a trip to compete at the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest held at World Dairy Expo. Dodge County team members are: Brett Hildebrandt who placed second overall, Seth Nehls who earned third place, Kyle Natzke who placed fifth, and Shawn Nehls who placed seventh overall. They are coached by Linda Behling and Shelly Bohn. Dodge County had a final score of 1970 points.
The top four individuals not on a team advancing to the World Dairy Expo Contest or the All-American Contest will represent Wisconsin in Louisville, KY at the North American International Livestock Exposition 4-H Dairy Judging Contest. This team will consist of: Hayden Hauschild from Pierce County who was the high individual in oral reasons and high individual overall, Danae Bauer from Waupaca County who took fourth, Austen Schmidt from Fond du Lac county who placed sixth, and Abbey Wethal from Dane County who placed ninth overall.
Here’s another story about dairymen and allied industries coming together to discuss the current milk market, and their concerns about it. Farmers in Ohio met to discuss the market effects of imports, marketing organizations and supply and demand, while a panel of experts spanning California to New York presented their plan for a new system of marketing milk.
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Vilsack was joined at the event by California Congressman Dennis Cardoza, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan and California Secretary of Agriculture, A. G. Kawamura. Together they listened to the concerns of nearly 400 frustrated dairy producers imploring for help to stem the losses that threaten their livelihood.
Here is our next installment in a series of online Dairy Producer Short Courses from our sponsor, 
Enthusiastic producers and herds people from across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa are invited to the Young Producers (YP) Summit – ‘Innovate, Integrate, Motivate,’ to be held December 5-6, 2009, at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Tomah, Wis. The YP Summit is part of the 
The 2009 
Congratulations to Elizabeth Olson, Hutchinson, Minn. for her new title as the 56th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Elizabeth was crowned in an evening ceremony at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on August 26. This marks the first time two people have been named Princess Kay from the same family; Olson’s sister Sarah was crowned Princess Kay in 2002. Her other sister, Lana, was a finalist in 2005.
Twelve county dairy princesses competed for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way title. Sarah Brauen of Foley, representing Benton County, and Emily Lahr of Sauk Centre, representing Stearns County, were selected as runners-up. Jessica Oelfke of Hamburg, representing Sibley County, was named Miss Congeniality. Scholarships were awarded to Olson, Brauen and Lahr.
This edition of the Milking Parlor podcast focuses on what is being done on the national level to address the current dairy industry crisis. From congressional actions to USDA to the dairy industry itself, we hear from Congressman John Boccieri, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, University of Wisconsin Ag Economist Dr. Bruce Jones and National Milk Producers Federation president Jerry Kozak.
Have you heard of the 
Do you know of a dairy man or woman who would make a good nomination for the new 
Attention cheese lovers! This fall, the state of Wisconsin is hosting the first 
There’s been a lot of talk in dairy industry circles lately regarding the effect on imported MPCs to the farm milk price. Last week, 
A new study by 
Dairy producers take pride in providing high-quality care to their animals, and 