Dairy Profit Wednesday, July 28
An (almost) daily recap of dairy information:
July 28, 2010
Price reporting bills would add electronic dairy reporting
Bills introduced in both the Senate and House reauthorize daily mandatory livestock price reporting for five years. But probably of even greater interest to dairy producers, the bills instruct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an electronic price reporting system for dairy products, within one year. Senate Ag Committee chair Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) introduced the Senate version; House Ag Committee chair Colin Peterson (D-Minn.) was joined by 19 others in introducing the House version (H. R. 5852). The current law expires Sept. 30, 2010.
Arizona illegal immigrant law blocked
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton blocked key provisions of an Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants from taking effect on Thursday, citing the likelihood the controversial state law will interfere with the federal government’s authority to set immigration policy. In 36-page ruling issued Wednesday, Bolton granted much of the U.S. Justice Department’s request for a preliminary injunction against the Arizona legislation. Bolton said the most widely publicized provision in the law – a requirement the police determine the immigration status of people they arrest or question – was certain to result in improper, protracted detention of foreigners and U.S. citizens alike. To read more from Politico.com, click here. To read the federal court decision, click here.
RFA weekly update
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said ethanol production totaled 816,000 barrels per day (b/d), or more than 34.2 million gallons daily, for the week ending July 23, down from 836,000 b/d for the previous week. As a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production represented 8.47%, down from 8.86% the previous week.
On feed and coproducts side, RFA calculates daily ethanol industry demand for corn was 12.373 million bushels. In addition to fuel ethanol, that corn also produced more than 92,000 metric tons of livestock feed, including more than 81,000 metric tons of distillers grains.
MARKETS:
Barrels slip a quarter-cent
Closing on Wednesday, July 28:
Cheddar barrels – down 0.25¢, to $1.5575/lb.
Cheddar blocks – unchanged, at $1.6025/lb.
Butter – unchanged, at $1.80/lb.
Extra Grade nonfat dry milk – unchanged, at $1.2250/lb.
Grade A nonfat dry milk – unchanged, at $1.21/lb.
Class III milk futures – monthly Class III contract prices were mostly lower through August 2011.
DAIRYLINE RADIO:
Wednesday: Beef Council
The California Beef Council (CBC) is making social media a new priority, according to Shannon Kelley, PR coordinator. Speaking in Wednesday’s “Beef Board Update,” Kelley said the goal is to “get their story heard,” respond to misinformation, and highlight checkoff-funded tools available to members.
Thursday: NMPF
In April, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) wrote the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), asking it to crack down on what NMPF calls the “misbranding of non-dairy products that use terms like milk, cheese, or yogurt.” This week, NMPF responded to requests by FDA for public input on what types of information should be allowed on the front of packages, including labels and shelf tags when consumers encounter these products in stores.
“We’ve used this as another opportunity to remind (FDA) they really should disallow the use of terms like soy milk, rice yogurt, and so on,” according to NMPF’s Chris Galen said. “Because those are often things that consumers look at first, and the only things they look at when they make a purchasing decision.”
To read their remarks, visit www.dairyline.com under “Today’s Dairy News.” Or, listen to the conversation with DairyLine’s Lee Mielke by clicking on “DairyLine Daily Broadcast.”
Check for daily DPW news updates at www.dairybusiness.com. For a sample copy of Dairy Profit Weekly, or subscription information, visit www.dairyprofit.com or phone: 800-334-1904, ext. 244.
Dave Natzke, Editor