Indiana Professional Dairy Producers
Indiana Professional Dairy Producers E-Newsletter
July 29, 2011     www.IndianaDairy.org              Issue 18

"An organized voice for Hoosier Dairy Farmers"

 

Mission Statement
To promote a profitable, positive, professional image of
dairy producers while providing educational opportunities
for interchange of ideas and to speak as a proactive voice
for Indiana dairy producers.   

Aimee Cow and Calf

In This Issue
Wagler Ice Cream Social
Livestock Disposal Options
USFRA
Support IPDP
Education at Kentuckiana
Pivotal Time in Dairy
Full Time Immigrant Labor
Animal Care Standards Approved!
Extreme Heat Assistance
Parke County Dairy Tour
State Fair Volunteering
ISA Farm Tours in French Lick
ISDA Photo Contest Winners
 

Platinum

Sponsors 

Click on any logo to reach company website

Indiana Corn Marketing Council Logo

Byron Seeds

Indiana Farm Bureau

PSRB Logo

MPSI Logo
winnersdrinkmilk.com

Indiana Soybean Alliance

Country Ice Cream Social

on the Wagler Farm

Kids with ice cream 

 

Brown County Dairy Family, the Waglers, would like to invite you to enjoy a country ice cream social complete with dairy farm tours, kids activities, and of course lots of ice cream!  There is no cost, but please bring a canned food donation for the local food pantry.

 

Date: Saturday, August 6, 2011

Time: 5:00 pm till 8:30 pm EDT 

Location: Wagler Family Dairy Farm 7085 Homestead Road Morgantown, IN 46160

Directions: From Nashville, follow St. Rd. 135 North through Bean Blossom. Turn RIGHT onto Spearsville Rd, the first road after the Fire Station. After 1.2 miles on Spearsville Rd., turn LEFT onto Homestead Rd. (a dead end road). The farm is 0.4 miles on your RIGHT. Follow the signs for parking.

Questions: Call Sarah at 812-371-8250


Gold Sponsors

 

ZFS Official 

 

DeLaval Logo 

BI Logo


Kaeb Sales Logo

Kalmbach Logo
More Options Available for Disposal of Livestock Carcasses
BOAH BOAH has approved six carcass disposal methods for animal remains: burial, incineration, composting, rendering, exotic animal feeding, and anaerobic and chemical digestion. (NOTE: These guidelines do not apply to small animal species, such as fish, reptiles, dogs, cats and small game. Wildlife, i.e., creatures not under someone's care, as well as dead livestock being transported by the owner to a rendering plant or a diagnostic facility are also exempt.)

Read more. 

2011 IPDP Board
of Directors

IPDP 
Indiana Professional Dairy Producers

IPDP Executive Board

 

Executive Director

Doug Leman 

317-695-8228

 

President

LuAnn Troxel

Hanna 

219-508-3433


Vice President
Ron Fuhrmann
Hoagland
260-438-4940

Secretary
Kelly Heckaman
Kosciusko
574-527-3445    

 

Correspondence 

Tamilee Nennich Ph.D. 

Purdue University
765-494-4823  

 

Treasurer
Mike Schutz Ph.D
765- 494-9478  

 

Dave Forgey 

Logansport

574-652-2461 


Click on a name above to email an Executive Board Member

Board Members

 Joe Hibshman
Syracuse

Sarah Wagler
Morgantown

Ben Rothert
Seymour

Henk Sevenhuysen
Goodland 


Steve Obert

Fort Branch

 

Brian Huber

St. Paul

 

 

Industry 

 

Liz Kelsay

ICMC/ISA 

 

Dr. Ken McGuffey
McGuffey Dairy Consulting

 

Todd Janzen, JD

PSRB, LLP

 

 


Silver Sponsors

Click on the logo to visit any sponsor website

 

Castongia's

 

Fair Oaks Farms Logo

 

Prairie Farms

Alltech

Pfizer

Cargill

FCS New Logo

ForemostFarms

Dairy Farmers of America

Have you heard about the
US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance?
USFRA 
US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA)is a newly formed alliance consisting of a wide range of prominent farmer- and rancher-led organizations and agricultural partners. This marks the first time agricultural groups at the national, regional and state levels have collaborated to lead the dialogue and answer Americans' questions about how we raise our food - while being stewards of the environment, responsibly caring for our animals and maintaining strong businesses and communities.
Learn more.



Click

on the Archive button to access previous issues of our 

E-Updates

and important information for your dairy operation, industry issues and trends.


 
RESOURCE CENTER


Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy
Innovation Center
"WORKING TOGETHER FROM FARM TO FRIDGE"

 Click on each
logo to learn more.

NMPF Resource Manual
Residue Prevention

Visit the Residue Prevention Page at NMPF by clicking the photo above.


 Purdue

 

Check out the resources available to you on the Purdue University Dairy Extension site. Topics on nutrition, business
management, animal health and many more topics related to our dairy industry and animal care.


National Milk Logo
Download or view the latest Dairy Market Report for June, 2011

from  

 National Milk Producers Federation



Support IPDP  

IPDP

We appreciate our industry supporters. They make it possible for IPDP to support the dairy industry in many ways. If your organization would like to be a corporate sponsor of IPDP, download an information sheet here.

Individual membership in IPDP is $20. Encourage your dairy farming friends to join IPDP! Also, anyone who is not a dairy producer but would still like to support IPDP can join as an associate member. Download a membership/associate brochure here.   

 

Greetings!

Welcome! IPDP members now represent over 104,000 cows or 61% of the cows in Indiana. We continue to add new producer members and new sponsors. We really depend on our sponsors and encourage you to check out their websites, and let them know you appreciate them also.

 

It would be an understatement to say that this has been a year of weather extremes. Hopefully, we have some opportunities coming up that might help you take your mind off the weather if only for a short time. In just a few short days we will be joining our friends, neighbors and many we have never met before for the Kentuckiana. If you haven't signed up yet, you need to stop procrastinating! If at the last minute you find out you can come, we will gladly welcome you. We are getting excited as the date approaches. The farms are ready, along with the milk and the ice cream. Now we need you!  

 

After being on this tour I'm thinking you will also want to join us for the summer tour Aug. 31st at Rockville--another day of food, fun, fellowship, and the opportunity to pick up an idea that you can take home with you. Read below to download the brochure and you can just call me to let me know how many you are bringing. For this and any dairy reason, I can be reached at 317-695-8228.

 

We have a new sponsor that wants your dairy plastic. I remember what a pain it was to get rid of our silage bag/cover plastic on our farm. Stay tuned for details in the next e-update. This is a free service you're going to want to learn more about! Start saving your plastic. With this outlet, you won't have to burn it or put it in a landfill!

 

On the personal side of things, our family is growing. We welcomed our new granddaughter, Ruthy Belle, on July 15th and our next grandchild is scheduled to arrive during the Kentuckiana. We have so much to be thankful for. I am looking forward to seeing many of you next week. Be careful and God bless!    


Doug Leman
IPDP Executive Director

 Timely Topics Featured During Evening Education Program of the  
Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange
at Don Hall's in Fort Wayne on Aug. 2.

We are looking forward to the 4th Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange next week on August 2 & 3 in the Fort Wayne general area. A busload of dairy friends from Kentucky will be joining us, and we hope you will, too. After visiting 3 dairy farms on Tuesday afternoon, the tour comes to Don Hall's Guesthouse for an evening dinner and program, scheduled to begin around 6 PM. The educational side of this event will include three timely topics to help us be more effective managers on our dairy farms:

Dr. Jack McCallister Better Decisions - Better Management - Better Use of Information

Dr. George Heersche Getting cows pregnant on time. What I have learned in 40 years

Dr. Joe Taraba Managing Heat Stress in Dairy Facilities

If you haven't yet registered for this event, there is still time, but not much. The cost for the entire 2-day event is only $25 for IPDP members ($45 for non-members), which includes snacks and drinks during the tours, bus ride on Tuesday (if there's room available), dinner at Don Hall's on Tuesday evening and a ribeye sandwich lunch at Shaum's on Wednesday. All the info is available on our website  www.IndianaDairy.org but if you wish to register or have questions, call Doug Leman at 317-695-8228.

Dress comfortably. Disposable boots will be provided at each farm we visit.

 

Opinion: A Pivotal Time in Dairy History

by Dave Forgey

Opinions are the author's and do not necessarily  

reflect the opinions of IPDP 

contact Dave at 765-652-2461  

 

    We have an opportunity to break away from the past history of government regulation in the dairy industry.

Over the past ten or more years, dairy

Dave Forgey
Dave Forgey

products have been found to have very high quality components that are valued by many industries and the consumers who use them.

    That value has increased especially in the food industry as we continue to find new ways to utilize our dairy components in food products that have high nutrition, good flavor and long shelf life. The unique thing about these products is that our own US food processors want these products and the growing economies of the world want them as well. Our well-established US dairy infrastructure could provide them if we moved quickly to become a consistent player in marketing these products. We need to encourage development and marketing through programs that reward processors who make the effort to do this.

   Unfortunately, the history of our government's involvement, and their guarantees provided to the processors (both co-op and proprietary) for balancing the supply of dairy products, is now holding us back from becoming a consistent player in world markets for these new products.

   It appears that all major dairy producer organizations believe these government programs need to be eliminated. The issue becomes, do dairy producers remain regulation-bound in any new programs developed? The program being proposed by our collective cooperative organization, National Milk Producers Federation, suggests it should become the producers' responsibility to solve these issues by being "All for One and One for All". That does not make good business sense for an industry that has so much potential for development.

   Should I be required to reduce production because a less efficient producer is operating at a negative margin? If I then overproduce my supply limit and choose not to dump it down the drain should � of the value of that overproduction go into the US Treasury while the processor that makes product from that overproduction still gets their profit margin?

   The inefficient producers or their cooperative organizations should not be supported by producers that find new and more efficient ways to produce and market their products in this growing new age. Being able to grow and expand when the market demands your products and allowing the inefficient to fail when margins and markets tighten is the only way to grow a stronger dairy industry.

 

Full Time Immigrant Labor Issues

Immigration IPDP is working with other ag organizations in Indiana to hold 4 regional meetings throughout Indiana in September to bring information together on full time immigrant labor issues. Please call Doug Leman at 317-695-8228 if this is a pertinent issue for your operation.

 

Animal Care Standards Approved
by Sarah Wagler

Sarah Wagler is a member of the IPDP board
 of directors, as well as the dairy representative on the Indiana State Board of Animal Health. We asked Sarah to tell us about Thursday's historic meeting.

 

Sarah Wagler
Sarah Wagler with state veterinarian Dr. Bret Marsh and livestock program manager at IN Dept. of Ag John Nagle

Thursday, July 28, 2011 is a date for the history books.  This is the day that the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) voted to adopt LSA #11-88, Standards of Care for Livestock and Poultry.  As I was driving to the meeting, I had no idea what to expect. Would we find opposition or support?  As the floor opened for public comment, it was what I had hoped: overwhelming support!  It was such a wonderful sight to see the Ag community join together and demonstrate their true support of a common goal.  Now more than ever, livestock groups need to band together and they are rising to the call!  The Standards of Care for Livestock and Poultry focus on five guiding principles:  food and water, shelter, animal disease, injury and treatment, animal stewardship, and handling and transportation.  They directly point at ensuring quality of life and serve as a firm foundation for animal care in Indiana.  They are easily understood and provide the flexibility needed to match the vast array of livestock enterprises in our great state.  I encourage each of you to review the newly adopted Standards of Care.

 

 USDA-FSA

Assistance Available to Livestock Owners Due to Extreme Heat  

 

Indianapolis, July 25, 2011- Julia A. Wickard, State Executive Director of USDA's Farm Service Agency in Indiana reminds livestock and poultry producers throughout Indiana that FSA programs may be available to assist them. Many are dealing with inclement weather, which is causing serious harm to livestock due to extreme heat conditions over the last few weeks. "The hot, humid conditions that are widespread across Indiana may be beneficial for the development of crops; however, those conditions may have been adverse to Hoosier livestock and poultry producers," said Wickard. "We need producers to document the number and kind of livestock that have died as a direct result of these recent heat conditions and timely notify their local FSA office of these losses." Read more.  

Dairy Farm and Industry Summer Tour

Byron Seeds and Elanco Animal Health 

Parke County, Indiana

Wed. August 31st

Covered Bridge

Please join us for day of combining a dairy farm and industry tours of Byron Seeds' headquarters and Elanco's Clinton plant where Rumensin is manufactured. The tour details are below. Everyone is welcome. The event is free to IPDP members and $20 for non-members. Reservations are requested for planning purposes.   

 

Tour Details   

All Times are Eastern Daylight Time 

9:00am Registration at Byron Seeds

9:45am Tour Byron Seeds

10:45am Bus Departs Byron Seeds

11:00am Tour Mike Jones' Springbrook Farms

12:00pm Bus Departs Jones Farm

12:30pm Lunch at Elanco plant, Clinton, IN

1:15pm Elanco Plant Tour

2:00pm Educational Session

3:00pm Bus Departs Elanco

3:30pm Visit Covered Bridge

4:00pm Bus Returns to Byron Seeds and Safe Trip Home 

This tour is free for IPDP members. Non-IPDP members may attend for $20. Contact Doug Leman (317-695-8228) to register or ask questions. Directions, location information and more are available here to download a tour brochure. 

 

Newborn Calf
Calf Raisers Resource

Calf Notes is your source for pertinent, non-commercial and unbiased information on raising young dairy calves. Click here  to view a library of young calf raising topics authored by Dr. Jim Quigley. 

Indiana State Fair Logo 

State Fair Volunteer Opportunity
How'd you like to get a free IPDP shirt, a delicious ribeye steak sandwich and a day pass to the Indiana State Fair? All of these freebies can be yours if you would be willing to volunteer some time filling IPDP volunteer slots at the Indiana Beef Council ribeye tent. Some of our slots are filled now, but we can still use some help on the following dates:
Wednesday, August 17 from 5-10:30 PM
Thursday, August 18 from 1-5:30 PM
Please contact Dave Forgey at 574-652-2461 if you are interested in volunteering! We hope to see you at the fair! Click the logo above to visit the official Indiana State Fair website!

 

Indiana Soybean Alliance
Indiana Soybean Alliance Hosts Farm Tours August 23-24 in French Lick 

 

Has anyone ever asked you about why sows are in gestation stalls; if milk has antibiotics in it; or other questions about the way we raise livestock today?

 

This two-day trip, based out of French Lick, Indiana, will allow you to experience modern Indiana livestock operations first hand.  

   

The goal of the farm tours is that you come away with a better understanding of the livestock and agriculture industry here in Indiana and be able to share what you learn with others. Space will be limited. More details are available here.  

 

   

 

Truth Detector:

The US IS a Growth Market for Dairy

 

by Tom Gallagher, CEO, Dairy Management, Inc.

 

I want to dispel the myth that the U.S. is not a growth market for dairy. Exports are very important to future growth, but so is the large untapped potential of domestic sales. Look at the domestic per capita consumption data below. Since the checkoff began nearly thirty years ago, things have really changed!

 

US Dairy Growth Chart  

Time and time again, the industry has shown if we give the consumer what they want, how they want it, and where they want it, we will see new, incremental sales. A few examples:

1.      Consider the various usages of cheese in multiple day parts at restaurants: breakfast burritos, burgers, lunch pizzas, cheese fries and other items. Checkoff staff is working every day with these restaurants to develop new cheese-friendly menu items.

2.      How about the tremendous change in cheese sold on pizza through product reinvention and marketing? Two billion pounds of additional milk per year alone in this effort.

3.      Look at specialty beverages such as coffee-flavored dairy drinks, smoothies and many other products at fast food restaurants. We started that change with McDonald's, and others followed at no cost to dairy farmers.

4.      Study the results of new-style yogurts such as Greek yogurt, which typically uses more milk than traditional yogurts, and what that has done to a category that had begun to slow down.

5.      Think of the more than 750 million units of milk sold in round resealable bottles at fast food outlets each year, versus the fraction sold in the old gable-top package.

 

These examples represent billions and billions of pounds of self-sustaining domestic growth.

Indiana State Department of Ag Photo Contest Winners Announced
ISDA Photo Winner
View some beautiful winning agriculture photography on the Indiana State Department of Ag's website here. These photos will be on display at the upper level of the Normandy Barn throughout the Indiana State Fair.

 

Upcoming Events
2011

AUGUST
August 2-3, Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange, Northeastern, IN;Great opportunity to network with dairy farmers and industry and visit farms in the Fort Wayne general area. This is not a regional event--this is an everyone event. Event designed to bring dairy producers and industry professionals together to learn more about the many facets of the dairy industry. Contact: Tamilee Nennich (765-494-4823) or Mike Schutz (765-494-9478). Download Brochure.
August 5-22, Indiana State Fair, Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, IN

August 10 Cheese Sculpture Unveiling at Indiana State Fair at 12 noon
August 13, Indiana 4-H Young Dairy Producer Contest and 4-H Junior Dairy Skillathon
August 17 IPDP Board Meeting at Indiana State Fair Administration Building 11-3 PM.
August 31 IPDP Summer Dairy Tour in Rockville/Clinton area of Byron Seeds and Elanco's Clinton Plant. Download Brochure. 

October 4-8 World Dairy Expo 

 

 

Contacting Your Indiana Legislator IN State Courthouse

This is a great time to get to know your Indiana legislators. Invite them to your farm. Show them what you are doing. Many of them don't know too much about the dairy industry, and this is a great time to tell them. Click here to get contact information and more.