DairyBusiness

An (almost) daily recap of dairy information:

April 20, 2009

NAIS: Vilsack holds roundtable

Since the concept of a National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was initiated, it has drawn a lot of debate over cost, impact on small farmers, privacy and confidentiality and liability. Opinions vary from a calls for establishing a mandatory program to total opposition to the plan. USDA held a roundtable discussion on April 15 to take input, and is in the process of scheduling a listening tour to take additional comment. To view transcripts of the roundtable discussion, visit www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome and click on “Vilsack Seeks Dialogue with Producers and Stakeholders on National Animal Identification System.”

A rush for ‘rbST-free’

Did dairy processors rush in their demand for milk produced from cows not supplemented with recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST)? A research report concludes the shift to rbST-free milk was an overly quick response to a problem that seemed bigger than it was in reality. Study findings suggest that although only 8% to 12% of consumers were concerned enough about rbST to change purchasing or consumption behaviors, milk-processing companies instead opted to forgo giving consumers a choice, and adopted rbST-free policies – without adequate analytical assessment – for fear of losing retail accounts to competitors who had already made such a move. In addition, according to the report, most industry executives who were interviewed said that given the same situation, they would not make the same decision again. For more information, visit http://dairywebmall.com/dbcpress/?p=2445.

Beef-state lawmakers vow to fight EPA plan

Senators from several leading cattle-producing states have co-sponsored a bill to block an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions – including emissions from cattle – as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The legislation would prevent the regulation from adversely affecting livestock producers by amending the Clean Air Act to preclude regulation of naturally occurring livestock emissions, including methane and carbon dioxide. For more information, visit http://dairywebmall.com/dbcpress/?p=2456.

Today’s markets

All CME spot prices for dairy products were unchanged on Monday.  Class III milk futures were down for May and June, but were up (less than 10¢/cwt.) for July 2009-March 2010 contracts. Corn, soybean and soybean meal futures prices were all lower. For today’s market activities on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade, visit http://www.dairybusiness.com/dairybusiness_markets.php. 

Tuesday on DairyLine

CME cash dairy markets showed little reaction to what could have been perceived as a bullish milk production report from USDA last  Friday. The market might have anticipated the the downturn in milk production, but University of Wisconsin-Madison dairy economist Brian Gould said the neutral response was still surprising, given this was the first decline in production since June 2004. The milk production decline was primarily due to lower production per cow, but Gould believes next month’s revisions will show a larger drop in cow numbers. Read more details or listen to the conversation with DairyLine’s Lee Mielke at www.dairyline.com.