Milk Price Outlook and Results of Missouri Grass-Fed Dairy Project Topics of Dairy Grazers Event

Southwest Missouri Dairy Grazers will meet for the final time in 2018 at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Dec. 8 at the Missouri State University Fruit Experiment Station in Mountain Grove. Ted Probert, dairy specialist with MU Extension, hosts the meeting.

Joe Horner, MU Extension state dairy specialist headquartered in Columbia, will be in attendance and will address several topics at the meeting.

The initial round of data from the MU dairy team's grass-fed dairy project is now available and will be a topic of discussion. This project involves the testing of milk from several dairy herds in Missouri. Management on these farm ranges from all grass-fed to full feeding systems.

"The project is designed to compare the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content of milk produced under varying management and nutritional programs. Several local producers, including some in our southwest Missouri grazing group, are participating in the project," said Probert.

The underlying objective of the project is to assess the potential for supplying value-added markets for grass-fed milk.

Secondly, Horner plans to discuss the milk price outlook for 2018. He will present new dairy budget projections for 2018.

Directions to the MSU Fruit Station: Take the Hwy 95 exit off of Hwy 60 in Mountain Grove. Go north on Hwy 95 about a quarter of a mile to Red Springs Road. Turn right on Red Springs and the station is on your right. The group will meet in Faurot Hall.

For more information, contact either of the MU Extension dairy specialists in southwest Missouri: Ted Probert in Wright County, (417) 547-7500 or by email at probertt@missouri.edu, or Reagan Bluel in Barry County, (417) 847-3161 or by email at BluelRJ@missouri.edu.