Tom Quaife
Dairy farmers are the stars in these ads
A dairy cooperative in western New York is putting farmers in front of consumers in a “Return to Values” advertising campaign. The ads tap into the local food movement that is sweeping the country.
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USDA lowers its milk price forecast again
Friday morning, the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its estimates for milk prices — again.
This time, the USDA predicts the Class III price for 2012 will range from $16.35 to $16.95 per hundredweight, down from the range of $16.70 to $17.40 predicted in last month’s report.
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Commentary: Take the threat of agroterrorism seriously
It’s been hard to watch the political haggling that is taking place over the proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kan. The Obama Administration wants to reassess the cost and scope of the project and Congress has been slow to approve funding.
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Iowa sends volley across animal activists’ bow
A new law in Iowa that prohibits fraudulent activity by animal-rights activists on livestock farms may serve as a template for other states.
According to Iowa State Senator Joe Seng, states such as Nebraska, Indiana, Ohio and Utah may be interested.
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Spate of fatal skid-steer accidents
At least four people have died since Feb. 11 from farm accidents involving skid-steer loaders. .
The first incident, which occurred on a New York dairy farm, involved a 20-year-old farm worker who turned out to be an illegal immigrant.
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3 percent of dairies produce half of milk supply
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has come out with a report that shows just how rapidly consolidation is occurring within the dairy industry.
According to the “Farms, Land in Farms, and Livestock Operations, 2011 Summary,” more than half of the U.S. milk supply was produced last year on farms with 1,000 or more cows. This is the first time the 50 percent threshold has been exceeded by 1,000-plus dairies.
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Is Wednesday’s gloomy milk-feed ratio even worth considering?
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a particularly gloomy milk-feed profitability ratio.
USDA’s report reflects high feed costs and falling milk prices. The preliminary ratio for February, cited as 1.58, is down 0.14 points from January and reminiscent of the dairy recession of 2009.
Bad news aside, some people question whether the milk-feed ratio is even worth considering.
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Leap Day: An extra 17.1 million gallons of milk consumed!
Anyone born today will have to wait another four years for a birthday.
According to folklore, Leap Year is a good time for women to propose marriage to men.
Another perspective — albeit a little less romantic — is to assess the amount of resources that people consume in one extra day.
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Rags to riches (and back again?)
New numbers from the accounting firm Genske, Mulder & Co. show the dramatic turnaround that dairy farms experienced from 2009 to 2011.
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Blaze that killed more than 60 cows ruled accidental
There is no definitive cause of a fire that killed more than 60 cows last week on a southwest Michigan dairy.
“We had the state fire marshall out there and he couldn’t get a cause on it; there was so much damage,” a spokesman for the Buchanan Township Fire Department told Dairy Herd Network. “So, we ruled it undetermined, accidental.”
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How far will some people go for alfalfa hay?
Last year’s drought in the south central U.S. wreaked havoc on dairy producers like Doug Idsinga, of Portales, N.M. Among other things, it is causing him and others to go an incredibly long distance to secure alfalfa hay.
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