DairyBusiness

First Pioneer Farm Credit has redeemed $6.3 million of allocated retained earnings (ARE) to its customer-owners. The money is a portion of the patronage dividend paid in early 2004 and invested in the cooperative for the past five years, explained Bill Lipinski, president and CEO of the financial cooperative.
“For the past five years, this ARE capital added to our strong financial position, which allowed us to obtain funds at attractive rates in global money markets. For our customers, this means access to credit at a fair price,” Lipinski said.  

   Wisconsin dairy processors invested $1.24 billon over the last five years, according to a USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) survey taken in January and February.
Natural cheese plants accounted for 65% of the total, with companies producing less than 5 million pounds spending more than half of that.
   The plants said they plan to invest another $781 million  in coming years, mostly to upgrade utilities and waste treatment. Nearly 60% said they’ll increase the amount of dairy products they manufacture by up to 25% over the next five years; one-fifth said they’ll grow by more than 25%.
     Processors in the survey said they’ll spend most of their development and marketing funds on developing new products and adding value to their current products.
    Raw milk plants said that finding capital financing, waste treatment regulations, and costs of energy and health insurance were factors most likely to limit profitability. Other plants, which process ingredients such as cream, whey or natural cheese into other dairy products, said energy and health insurance costs would be their limiting factors.

By Susan Harlow, editor

Eastern DairyBusiness

    How much stress does manure hauling equipment put on rural roads? Professional nutrient management applicator organizations in five Midwest states are working with departments of transportation to find out. In a three-year, $750,000 study, equipment is being tested on pavement at the Minnesota Road Research facility in Montecello, Minn. Ryan DeBroux, Luxemburg, Wis., president of the Professional Nutrient Applicator Association of Wisconsin, said his profession wants to be ahead of the game. “There’s a lot of misconception out there,” he said. “We want to be proactive before towns get nervous and try to change the rules.”
    DeBroux said manure applicators stress to their customers that their equipment’s flotation tires and multiple axles don’t compact soils. Yet municipalities and states fail to give them credit for that.
     Professional nutrient management organizations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio and Michigan have contributed to the project. Departments of transportation in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois are collaborating, as well as these agribusinesses that have donated money and/or equipment: Husky Farm Equipment, Houle, John Deere, Agco Corp., Case IH, Firestone, Titan Tire Corp. and Michelin.

     Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Extension, Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health and Pfizer Animal Health are partnering to design a program to eradicate bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) eradication Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
      In the five-year, voluntary program, researchers will record herd health, reproductive efficiency and the marketability of BVD-free cattle to demonstrate the increased value of these animals to potential buyers. It will also provide the industry with management strategies such as disease prevention protocols.

The videos are posted and voting can now begin in the Alpharma Student Video Contest. Anyone can visit the Web site—www.meetwhatyoueat.com—to view the videos and cast a ballot. Voting ends on Dec. 19, 2008 with the producers of the video with the most votes receiving a $5,000 cash prize.

“Although we’re thrilled with the number of videos that we’ve received from ag students across the country, we’re even more excited about the quality of the videos and the messages that are delivered,” said Jeff Mellinger, Global Leader, Sales & Marketing for Alpharma Inc., Animal Health. “It exemplifies the great passion our youth have for agriculture, and the great talents they possess. It paints a bright future for agriculture leadership in this country for years to come.”

The contest began earlier this fall as ag students from across the country were asked to compile short video clips on anything related to food production. Students received a $25 gift card for each video accepted, up to 10. More than 150 clips were uploaded to the contest Web site. In the second phase of the contest, students were asked to compile these clips, along with their own footage, to complete a video telling a story about how food is produced.

Video titles and submitting universities are as follows:

·         Today’s Agriculture – University of Florida

·         Beef: Our Priority – University of Arizona

·         Myth or Fact!? – Ohio Northern University

·         Antibiotics in the Dairy Industry – University of Tennessee

The winning video will be posted on YouTube and other social networking sites where visitors will be able to see the video and have a better understanding of how food is produced, as well as the care that is given to farm animals.

“The objective of this program is twofold—first, we wanted to get ag students thinking about how they can communicate in a positive way how food is produced. Second, we wanted to provide an opportunity to educate consumers about how food is produced,” said Mellinger. “We think that these videos, and the program as a whole, will achieve these goals.”

Alpharma Inc., Animal Health is a leading manufacturer and marketer of animal health feed additives to the cattle, poultry and swine industries worldwide. Alpharma is committed to providing feed products that foster health and welfare in livestock animals. This not only helps livestock producers in their operations, but also lets consumers feel confident about the meat products they buy.

The Midwest Agribusiness Trade Research and Information Center (MATRIC) at Iowa State University has published a book on using distillers grains, a co-product of biofuels production, as a feedstuff for livestock and poultry. The book is only available online at www.matric.iastate.edu/DGbook and is free for downloading.

The book, “Using Distillers Grains in the U.S. and International Livestock and Poultry Industries,” was edited by Bruce Babcock, Dermot Hayes and John Lawrence, all professors of economics at Iowa State University. The editors invited internationally renowned experts in animal science, economics, trade, and transportation and logistics from Iowa State and six other universities to share their knowledge and the latest research about distillers grains.

Chapters cover nutrition and live animal performance of beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine and poultry when fed various distillers grain products. Storage, shelf life and transportation issues are included, as are new technologies on the horizon and challenges remaining in the use of distillers grains. Two chapters discuss the trade value of U.S. distiller grains in small and large international markets.

A chapter on ingredient value and cost includes an online calculator program. Livestock and poultry producers can use the calculator to determine their best-cost diet in the context of current market supply and demand and balanced nutrient content for a specific animal species. Feed distributors can use the calculator to determine appropriate pricing of a feed ingredient.

“This book is a comprehensive, solid resource on all aspects of distillers grains feeding, handling and marketing,” said Lucy Norton, managing director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. “Distillers grains are a valuable source of protein and energy that can be an economical addition to feed rations. Providing Iowa’s livestock producers with these guidelines and tools will enhance the feeding of ethanol co-products.”

MATRIC is an affiliate of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University. MATRIC funds interdisciplinary research projects in agribusiness and trade.

The second edition of Party-Directed Mediation: Helping Others Resolve Differences is now on-line

The second edition of Party-Directed Mediation: Helping Others Resolve Differences is now on-line. This book explains two mediation models in depth. The first model is used to deal with conflicts among peers; the second, disputes between superiors and subordinates.

Party Directed Mediation: Helping Others Resolve Differences is an effort to present practical, sound, research-based ideas hopefully leading to the improved management of deep-seated interpersonal conflict. While many of the concepts were originally developed through research in agriculture and agri-business firms, the methods (Party-Directed Mediation and Negotiated Performance Appraisal) have since drawn the interest of a wide range of people throughout the world. The methods used require more time than traditional mediation, but are particularly well suited to volunteer mediators, intercultural conflicts when issues of saving face are important, and other conflicts in which emotional factors are high. 

This approach is especially geared to help parties who will continue to live or work together after the mediator goes home, and need to learn interpersonal negotiation skills for handling future differences.

The full URL is http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7conflict/ or alternatively, try http://tinyurl.com/3kzu5

The hard copy of the book will go on sale for $12.50 per book the last week of December. Orders may be placed at https://ucce.ucdavis.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=443&back=none or try http://tinyurl.com/yt6t

For more information on conflict management contact the book’s author, Gregorio Billikopf, at gebillikopf@ucdavis.edu or (209) 525-6800. 

The National Milk Producers Federation elected Randy Mooney as its new chairman during its 2008 Annual meeting, Oct. 30, in Nashville, TN.

Mooney had been serving as assistant secretary of the NMPF board of directors prior to the Oct. 30 election. He, his wife Jan and a partner operate a 250-cow dairy in Rogersville, Mo., where he has farmed since 1979. Mooney also has a beef cattle operation. Mooney serves on the corporate board of Dairy Farmers of America as vice chairman of that cooperative.

“We will soon have a new President and a host of both old and new challenges in the dairy business,” Mooney said, adding that he “looks forward to working across the industry with producers from across the country to address those challenges and create new opportunities for America’s dairy producer community.”

Mooney replaces outgoing chairman Charles Beckendorf, who stepped down as NMPF board chairman at the meeting. He will remain on the board until March 2009.

The rest of NMPF’s board officers include: Clyde Rutherford of Dairylea Cooperative, First Vice Chairman; Cornell Kasbergen of Land O’Lakes, Second Vice Chairman; Rod DeJong of Northwest Dairy Association, Third Vice Chairman; Dave Fuhrmann of Foremost Farms USA, Secretary; Ken Nobis of Michigan Milk Producers Association, Treasurer; Paul Toft of Associated Milk Producers Inc., Assistant Secretary; and Mike McCloskey of Select Milk Producers Inc., Assistant Treasurer.

Fuhrmann and McCloskey are newly elected to their respective officer positions.

Outgoing NMPF Board members include Ed Brooks of Foremost Farms USA, Mark Furth of Associated Milk Producers Inc., Don Peterson of Swiss Valley Farms, and the late Ray Veldhuis of Dairy Farmers of America.

Veldhuis was commemorated with an Honorary NMPF Director plaque during the meeting, as was Joseph Probst of Prairie Farms Dairy.

For more on the annual meeting, including speeches, visit www.nmpf.org/annual_meeting.

Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA) announced the addition of two dairy industry veterans to its staff.

• Keith Gomes will serve as chief operating officer of DFA’s Dairy Food Products division.

Gomes has more than 20 years of production and business management experience in the dairy industry. Most recently, he served since 1999 as the senior vice president and chief operating officer of California Dairies Inc.

In his role at DFA, Gomes will be responsible for the strategic planning and implementation of plant expansions, future plant locations and production associated with dairy ingredients. Gomes also will support existing facilities with a focus on continuous improvement of high quality, low-cost production. He and his family will reside in Visalia, Calif.

• Alan Bernon will serve as senior advisor and president–Affiliate Division. 

Most recently, he served as president of Dean Foods Dairy Group. Bernon began his dairy career in 1976 when he joined his brother, Peter, in the family business, Garelick Farms, in Franklin, Mass. In 1997, the Bernons sold the Garelick Companies to Suiza Foods. In 2001, Suiza acquired Dean Foods and the company’s name. 

Following the sale of Garelick to Suiza, Bernon joined the Dean Foods board of directors, while also assuming responsibility for Dean’s Northeast region as its chief operating officer. Bernon played a key role in identifying, acquiring and integrating Dean’s expanded operations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Bernon became president of Dean Foods Dairy Group in January 2006. 

In his tenure at Dean Foods, Bernon is credited with increasing sales in the company’s Northeast region from $300 million in 1997 to approximately $1.5 billion in 2003. 

In this role, he will help provide oversight to DFA’s varied investments and joint ventures. In addition, he will help guide and support any future merger, acquisition and joint venture opportunities for the national milk marketing cooperative. 

Bernon and his family will continue to reside in Dallas, Texas. 

Dairy Producers Can Increase Milk Production While Reducing Mastitis, Number of Treatments, Antibiotic Costs and Milk Discard
Mastitis treatment protocols are supported by results of a new three-year, multi-university study, which showed a striking 91% of detected intramammary infections (IMI) were caused by gram-positive pathogens, including both environmental and contagious organisms. A small number of IMI infections were caused by gram-negative pathogens, including E. coli.

The findings, presented at this year’s National Mastitis Council annual meeting, bring new clarity to the value of aggressively treating gram-positive infections with proven antibiotics, while leaving gram-negative infections to self-cure without treatment.

“Mastitis remains the most costly disease and the most common reason antibiotics are used on U.S. dairy farms,” says Dave Juda, director of marketing – livestock and equine, Fort Dodge Animal Health. “Early intervention strategies focused on gram-positive infections can provide significant savings to dairy producers by reducing antibiotic costs, reducing the number of mastitis treatments and reducing milk discard.”

Clinical and subclinical IMI infections can be effectively treated with a broad-spectrum antibiotic with high efficacy against gram-positive pathogens, such as Fort Dodge Animal Health’s ToDAY^® (cephapirin sodium) and ToMORROW^® (cephapirin benzathine). 

ToDAY provides a bacteriological cure rate of more than 80%, at the labeled dose for gram-positive infections with just one day of treatment. Unlike many other antibiotics, ToDAY and ToMORROW are labeled to control penicillin-resistant strains of Staph. Aureus, which comprises 43% of contagious mastitis pathogens. The OPTI-SERT partial insertion tip has been shown to reduce new mastitis infections by up to 50%.
 
Fort Dodge Animal Health is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of animal health products for dairy, beef, swine, ovine, poultry, equine and companion animal industries. Key dairy products include ToDAY, ToMORROW, Dry-Clox^® (cloxacillin benzathine), Triangle^® Vaccines, PYRAMID^® Vaccines, Presponse^® Vaccines, Cydectin^® Pour-On and Cydectin^® Injectable.