DairyBusiness

‘Milk Bowl’ tradition begins between CVC and BCHS

Student athletes from Central Valley Christian High School, in Visalia, participated in the first annual MILK BOWL competition with rival Bakersfield Christian High School.

All fall sports, which included cross county, volleyball, girl’s tennis and the football teams competed on a warm Saturday, Sept. 19.

The idea for the Milk Bowl match up between the two schools was initiated by Ryan Tos, CVCHS athletic director. Both schools are heavily supported by local dairy businesses and families so the event highlighting the dairy industry and featuring a milk can trophy was only fitting. The day’s events were patterned after similar rival competitions in the state. Events were staggered throughout the day so spectators could enjoy all of the sports. The plan is to continue this tradition next year for the various seasons of sports.

CVC teams came home with the first MILK BOWL Trophy.  CVC won events in girls and boys cross country, freshmen, JV, and varsity volleyball, and varsity football, accumulating a total of 20 points.  Bakersfield finished with 6 points, winning girls tennis and J.V. football.  All teams enjoyed ice cold chocolate milk after their sporting events, Tos reported.

10 ways to make the most of your manure

Whether you have enough manure to fertilize all fields or not, here are some good ideas to consider this fall:

1) Conduct a corn season post-mortem. Take stalk samples for the late-season stalk nitrate test from second- or higher-year corn fields to assess nitrogen (N) management this season.

2) Take soil samples this fall (before manure application) to see where phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are needed most. Then, prioritize fields that need N and are low to medium in P, K to take advantage of all three macronutrients in manure.

3) Analyze pH. Too much corn is grown on low pH soils. Don’t use fertilizer to compensate for a poor liming program.

4) Run the Illinois Soil Nitrate Test (ISNT), which will tell if some corn fields do not need any additional N. Fields with a long history of manure applications are potential candidates.

5) Focus on third- and fourth-year corn fields. They are most likely to need the highest N rates. If a soil test shows they need P and K too, they are excellent targets for manure.

6) Plant fall cover crops after corn silage harvest to protect soil and scavenge nutrients.

7) Decide what hay fields will be plowed for corn next year. Depending on the stand, the first year of corn may not require any N beyond 10-30 lbs./acre starter.

Manage manure in storage to take advantage of the ammonia-N. Spring incorporating or injecting manure before corn planting essentially doubles the N credit to that crop, halving the rate of manure required and allowing you to cover more acres or sell some to a neighbor. Fall incorporation does not offer this N conservation benefit.

9) Manure testing. Are you making major fertility decisions with only one or two manure samples per year from a manure storage? Take more samples and build a nutrient analysis database to track what happens from top to bottom and season to season with your manure.

10) Not convinced? Try some test strips in your fields to see for yourself.

For more information on these topics, see the Cornell Agronomy Factsheet Series at http://nmsp.css.cornell.edu/factsheets.

MSWF&T Moves office from Walnut to Brea

Moore Stephens Wurth Frazer & Torbet, LLP, has moved their accounts payable/receivable department to a new location – 135 S. State College Boulevard, Suite 300, Brea, Calif. 92821.

The CPA firm, which handles a significant number of dairy industry clients, will no longer maintain a P.O. Box for accounts payable/receivable. All accounts payable/receivable will now be sent to the new Brea office.

In addition, MSWF&T will continue to maintain its Visalia and Orange offices.

California dairy science team places second

MONTREAL – A team of California Polytechnic State Univeresity Dairy Science students placed second in the American Dairy Science Association’s Student Activity Division Quiz Bowl at the organization’s joint meeting with the American Society of Animal Science and Canadian Animal Science, held in Montreal.

The team from Cal Poly – including members Travis Kamper, Annie Azivedo, David Jones and Kayla Machado – went through the double-elimination round without losing, including beating a team from Penn State University. However, the Cal Poly narrowly lost to the Penn State team in the final round.

Dairy Science professors Ed Jaster and Leanne Berning coached the team.

CMAB awards two summer internships

MODESTO, Calif. – Lauren Reid of Fresno and Kate Rector of Hilmar, were selected for the six-week Career Internship Program sponsored by the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB).

Reid, 21, is a junior at California State University, Fresno and will graduate in May 2010 with a B.S. in Dairy Science. Reid has been an active member of the CSU Fresno Dairy Club and the National Dairy Challenge Team, where she received a Gold Award at the regional level. Her future plans include attending graduate school and managing her family’s dairy farm.

Rector, 22, is a junior at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo and will graduate in June 2010 with a B.S. in Dairy Science and Agriculture Business and a minor in Agricultural Communications. Rector currently serves as head milker and safety coordinator for the Cal Poly Dairy and plans to pursue a career in marketing and promotions for the dairy industry.