Jim Dickrell

Jim Dickrell is the editor Dairy Herd Management and is based in Monticello, Minn. He has 27 years of publication experience, and also operated his family’s Wisconsin family dairy farm for three years following graduation from the University of Wisconsin—River Falls. He also holds a Masters Degree from Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn.

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Dry soils tie up potassium in between clay layers, making it unavailable to growing crops.
The Milk Pregnancy Test has the added convenience of not having to lock up cows separately, draw blood and submit samples.
That’s important, because based on current futures prices, MILC payments would be triggered this spring, ranging from 56¢/cwt in March to 19¢/cwt in June.
In Wisconsin trials, snaplage yields ranged from 6 to 7 tons/a with starch content ranging from about 60% to 66%.
Returns depend on financing, increased milk.
Dairy lobbyists say Republican House members need to be able to debate farm bill and dairy policy.
Select Sires has identified five genetically different lines of Holstein sires that can then be used to slow inbreeding.
‘On the low end, we could have faced a judgment of several hundred million dollars, and on the high end, more than $1 billion.’ --DFA CEO Rick Smith
Based on year-end futures prices, it appears MILC payments could be coming each month from February through July 2013.
The National Milk Producers Federation will again submit a proposal to the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments in April to lower the U.S. standard to 400,000 cells/ml.
While sales of lower fat and skim milk sales have increased dramatically over this time period, whole milk sales have dropped in half.
Traders are buying out-of-the-money call options from 1¢ to 30¢ that could make them $10/cwt.
USDA also announced that the December parity price for milk was $52/cwt, down a dime from November.
Total dairy cow numbers were actually down 20,000 head from a year ago, but up 7,000 over the last month.
The TPP trade talks involve Pacific Rim nations including the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.