Indiana Professional Dairy Producers
Indiana Professional Dairy Producers E-Newsletter
August 26, 2011     www.IndianaDairy.org              Issue 20

"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.   

Holsteins at Beer Dairy

In This Issue
Support IPDP
Year of Dairy Cows
Parke County Dairy Tour
The Green Express
Handling High Commodity Prices
IPDP Board Meeting Industry Updates
Farm Windbreaks
Viptera Update
Full Time Immigrant Labor
Lugar and Stuzman on Farm Policy
Dairy Jobs Hard to Fill
 

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

Gold Sponsors

 

ZFS Official 

 

DeLaval Logo 

BI Logo


Kaeb Sales Logo

Kalmbach Logo
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

 

Rubbersidewalks  

Michigan Milk Producers Logo  

Castongia's

 

Fair Oaks Farms Logo 

 

Prairie Farms

Alltech

Pfizer

Cargill

FCS New Logo

ForemostFarms

Dairy Farmers of America

Visit Our Bronze Level Sponsors

Bronze Level
Click on above button!

 




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 July, 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!

It's hard to believe that silage making time is already upon us; it seems as though the fields were just being planted and now the choppers are starting to roll. Please take the time to think about safety issues and make them a part of your daily routine.

 

The Indiana State Fair was a new experience for me this year as I was able to attend many important meetings that affect the Indiana dairy industry. Unfortunately, this fair will be long remembered for the tragedy that occurred August 13. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those families who lost loved ones and those who suffered injuries. We also remember those in charge of the fair, having to move forward with very heavy hearts, they did a wonderful job.

 

I was at Senator Lugar and Congressman Stutzman's listening session for the 2012 Farm Bill in Fort Wayne. Now is your chance to make a difference in dairy policy. We have tried to supply you with the different options so that you can make an informed choice. You will find legislator contact information in this newsletter. Let them know what YOU think!

 

Contact me if you are interested in the full time immigration labor meetings. Also, there are still spots available for our Rockville tour coming up on Aug. 31st. I look forward to being able to see some of you as I get out on the road in the coming weeks. You can call me at 317-695-8228 or contact me by email at  [email protected].  Be safe and God bless.


Doug Leman
IPDP Executive Director

2012 State Fair will be
Year of Dairy Cows!

Osza Press Announcement

 

On the last day of the State Fair, it was announced that the 2012 Indiana State Fair will be the Year of Dairy Cows. Deb Osza, with Milk Promotion Services of Indiana, explained why they decided to partner with the State Fair, "This will allow us to share the messages we want to share with consumers in a bigger way than we could do on our own." The dairy industry has always had a highly visible presence at the Fair, but Osza promises next year it will be even bigger. Read more.

Are you coming to Rockville on Wednesday, August 31?  

covered bridge 3

Please join us for a day (9AM-4PM) 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.   

 

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. 

 

The Green Express
Export Opportunity from LaPorte County
Dave Forgey, Opinion
Green Express

At IPDP's Aug. 17 board meeting, ISDA spokesperson John Nagel shared the potential for a CSX train on a dedicated line to travel from the old Kingsbury Munitions depot in LaPorte County to the Port of Manatee near Tampa Florida. This would hold container freight that when leaving Kingsbury would be certified to move into world export.

I am not aware that there are now any exportable dairy products being produced in the LaPorte County area. However, DFA has a powder plant in Goshen, and MMPA has a brand new plant in Michigan. Continental Coop is reportedly building a new plant in Michigan, Foremost Farms has cheese and whey powder plant just into Wisconsin, and there is a Canadian-owned cheese processor in Shipshewanna.

The flip side of this coin is that the train will also bring containers up from Manatee to Kingsbury that won't likely be empty. They will bring marketable products from the Manatee Port into the Chicago land area which is the second largest marketing area in the US.

While the only products John mentioned were produce from the Florida markets, one must believe that that containers won't just be coming from Florida but also potentially from the Caribbean area, including South America and Mexico.

Fonterra, the New Zealand Cooperative, is developing dairies in Brazil along with a joint venture with Nestle. They are a few years off from having a world impact, but the potential is there.

IPDP requested that Deb Osza contact Tom Suber of US Dairy Export Council to see what the potential markets were in the Caribbean area. Dairy producers need to develop a commission that works intensely with ISDA, CSX and USDEC to find products that have market appeal in that region. Once identified we need to work together to establish a marketing plan to get those products to the Kingsbury site and consider investing in processing for products that might not be available in our area.

Dairy supply management policies could reduce US market potential while South America ships containers on the Green Express into Kingsbury and the US's second largest marketing area.

Free Dairy Management Webinar Opportunity:

Handling High Commodity Prices

September 14, 2011, 1 pm EDT

Dr. Normand St.Pierre

   

St.PierreDr. St.Pierre will discuss how to control feed costs using various methods. These methods include: getting the full value of forage crops, purchasing ingredients that are favorably priced, inventory management, producing things that you are being paid for, managing the herd structure, cow grouping, and feed additives.

 

Webinar info, click here.

 

 
Industry Updates from
IPDP Board Meeting on August 17
IPDPIPDP Board of Directors held a meeting at the Indiana State Fair on August 17th. All of the IPDP meetings include updates from our relevant state agencies, including Indiana Board of Animal Health (BOAH), Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) and others. For a summary of those updates, please click here. Special thanks to Tamilee Nennich for compiling this report.

 

Consider Windbreaks on your Dairy;

Neighbors Smell with Their Eyes!

Windbreak

NRSC National Agroforestry Center

While windbreaks assist with odor mitigation, they also act as a visual screen around a livestock facility, as well as assisting with energy conservation.  Remember, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago!

 

Windbreak establishment may be eligible for financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  If interested in this conservation practice, livestock producers should contact their local NRCS office.

 

Information on planning and establishing windbreaks around livestock facilities can be found here. 

   
Corn Growers Update on Marketing Restrictions of Viptera
Corn National Corn Growers has urged corn producers to be aware of an emerging issue regarding Vitpera. Beginning in July 2011, several grain exporters posted signs restricting

delivery (Consolidated Grain and Barge, Bunge North America) and others are
asking for notification prior to the delivery of grain containing VipteraT. This policy was adopted by these companies in response to potentially new major importers entering the marketplace that have not approved this trait for import.

For complete information, visit a special website that NCGA has set up for this situation here. 

IPDP Participating in Immigrant Labor
Meetings 9/19, 9/26
Immigration

 

Immigration news is once again a big issue as the Obama Administration announces changes in their enforcement policies. How do these issues affect Indiana dairy farms that employ full time immigrant labor? Many livestock producers have expressed concerns about how to determine if someone's documentation is accurate or how to protect their farm in the event someone questions their workers' status.

 

Just last fall, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents audited a livestock farm in Indiana and determined that a significant number of employees were illegal and would have to be fired if they could not prove legal status.  If you were contacted by an ICE agent, would you know how to respond?  Would the paperwork on your employees be in order?  Would your I-9 forms be completed correctly? Should you use e-verify?  What would you do if you received a no-match letter from the federal government about one of your employees?  If this concerns you, come to one of our four regional meetings located at Greensburg, Huntingburg, Lafayette, or Wabash on 9/19 or 9/26.  To find out what location and date please call Doug Leman at 317-695-8228 to sign up and get the information.

Lugar and Stutzman Discuss Farm Policy
Lugar Stutzman

Senator Richard Lugar and Congressman Marlin Stutzman are the only Indiana legislators that serve on the Ag Committee in their respective houses. They gathered in Fort Wayne on August 25th to provide a listening session to area farmers on the 2012 Farm Bill. They agreed on most of the questions that were asked via moderator Beth Bechdol, Ice Miller.

In his opening statement, Senator Lugar mentioned that he was strongly opposed to any plan to control supply to increase the value of farm products. Both favor the elimination of direct farm payments but Senator Lugar cited the challenges that cotton, rice and sugar farmers have with that policy. Rep. Stutzman believes that it is important to take a step back and re-evaluate how we treat different crops and focus on free markets. He is opposed to direct payments and prefers a phase out period to eliminate direct and counter cyclical farm payments. He would like to see farmers given flexibility to raise the crops that an individual farmer determines are best for their particular operation. Both Lugar and Stuzman support strong crop and livestock insurance programs as a farm safety net instead of guaranteed government payments.

 

When asked about dairy policy, both Senator Lugar and Rep. Stutzman admitted they weren't fully knowledgeable about it but as a principle, they believe in supply and demand driven farm economics.

 

This presents a significant opportunity for Indiana dairy farmers to contact legislators who will have an impact on dairy policy in the 2012 Farm Bill. If you have opinions about this subject, please contact Senator Lugar's Farm Bill Contact, Megan Provost, at 202-224-4814 and Rep. Stutzman's Chief of Staff, John Hammond, at 202-225-4436.

 

Dairy Jobs Still Hard to Fill

Shannon Linderoth, Associate Editor  Dairy Herd Mgmt 

 

dairy farm worker
National unemployment figures may be stuck at more than 9 percent, but that doesn't mean employers have 14 million prospective workers beating down their doors. In fact, finding good employees remains a challenge, especially on dairies and other ag-related operations where "dirty jobs" are often difficult to fill. Read more.
Upcoming Events
2011

AUGUST

August 31 IPDP Summer Dairy Tour in Rockville/Clinton area of Byron Seeds and Elanco's Clinton Plant. Download Brochure.  

 

SEPTEMBER 

September 1 Forage Management Workshop, Purdue 8:30-4:30 Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education (ACRE) download event brochure.    

September 9 Cat. 14 Commercial Applicator Training 2 locations: New Carlisle Library and Elkhart County Fairgrounds 9 AM EDT, details here.  

September 10 Premier Plus Jersey Sale, Berne, Indiana Details here. 

September 14 DAIReXNET (national extension) free webinar 1-2 PM EDT Handling High Commodity Prices featuring  Dr. Normand St. Pierre Webinar Information. 

September 19 Immigrant Labor Meetings, contact Doug Leman 317-695-8228 

September 26

Immigrant Labor Meetings, contact Doug Leman 317-695-8228 

 

OCTOBER 

October 4-8 World Dairy Expo

 

NOVEMBER 

November 18, 2011

IPDP's 2nd Partners in Success Luncheon at Corn/Soybean Offices in Indianapolis 11-2 

 

 

Contacting Your Legislators

It can be a wonderful asset to your farming operation if you know your legislators at the local, state and fIndiana Statehouseederal levels. Nationally there are around 54,000 dairy farmers (out of 307 million total US population). In Indiana, there are just under 1300 Grade A dairy farms (6.4 million people in Indiana). Our legislators need to be educated about dairy issues, and they are looking to you to deliver. If you don't know them personally, why not take the time to introduce yourself? We live in very interesting times, and you have a message that our legislators need to hear. Click here to get contact information and more on your Indiana legislators. For US legislators, click here.