Indiana Professional Dairy Producers
Indiana Professional Dairy Producers E-Newsletter
   March 12, 2012     www.IndianaDairy.org              Issue 31

"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.   

Triplets
Triplet Calves Born March 3 at Troxel Dairy Farm


In This Issue
Resource Center
Contact your Legislators
Dairy Producer of the Year
Young Dairy Producer of the Year
Silage and Air Quality-Mitloehner
Regional Meetings
Milk Quality Conference April 10-11
Legal Advice
Dickrell and Dairy Policy
Printable E-Newsletter
Heckaman Recognized
Opinion: Time for Coops to Lead
Support IPDP
Got Pictures?
 

Platinum

Sponsors 

Click on any logo to reach company website

Hubbard Feeds Logo

Indiana Corn Marketing Council Logo


Byron Seeds

Indiana Farm Bureau

PSRB Logo

MPSI Logo
winnersdrinkmilk.com

Indiana Soybean Alliance
Gold Sponsors

Stewart-Peterson  

Milk Specialties Global  

ZFS Official 

 

DeLaval Logo  

BI Logo


Kaeb Sales Logo

Kalmbach Logo

2011 IPDP Board
of Directors
IPDP 
Indiana Professional Dairy Producers

IPDP Executive Board

Click on a name below to email an Executive Board Member

Executive Director

Doug Leman 

317-695-8228

 

President

LuAnn Troxel

219-508-3433


Secretary
Kelly Heckaman     

Correspondence 

Tamilee Nennich Ph.D. 

Purdue University  

 

Treasurer
Mike Schutz Ph.D
765- 494-9478  

 

Dave Forgey 

574-652-2461 


Board Members
 Joe Hibshman
Sarah Wagler
Julie Bommer
Henk Sevenhuysen
Steve Obert

Ranell Rexing 

Brian Huber

  

Industry 

Liz Kelsay

Dr. Ken McGuffey
Todd Janzen, JD

 


Silver Sponsors

Click on the logo to visit sponsor's website

 

Prince Agri Logo  

   Diamond V

      

ABS Global Logo  

   

Koetter & SmithArm & Hammer Logo 

 MacAllister     

Michigan Milk Producers Logo  

Castongia's


Specialty Hybrids  

 

Dairy Farmers of America

Rubbersidewalks
.
Prairie Farms

Alltech

Fair Oaks Farms Logo

Pfizer

Cargill

FCS New Logo

ForemostFarms

Visit Our Bronze Sponsors 

Bronze Level
Click on above button!

 

IPDP Corporate Sponsors
IPDPThere is a growing list of companies that recognize IPDP's value to Indiana's dairy industry. Please visit our list of companies that have become Corporate Sponsors for only $100. If you know of a company that may have an interest in supporting IPDP at some level, please download a brochure here.

 

RESOURCE CENTER


Calf Notes and Links
Newborn Calf 

 LGM Dairy Education Info
LGM Dairy

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  

 

Click to read the February 2012

 Dairy Market Report.  

 

 

Contacting Your Legislators

 March 9th was the last day of the 2012 session of the Indiana General Assembly. To read an Indiana Farm Bureau summary of the ag-related bills that have been presented to Gov. Daniels, click here.

We are fortunate to live in a country where we can have access to those who make our laws. Even so, we have to take action and make those calls or send those emails in order to let our opinions be heard. 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 and agIndiana Statehouseencies, click  here.



Click

on the Archive button to access previous issues of our 

E-Updates

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


 
Greetings!

It was great to see so many of you at our annual meeting during the Livestock Forage & Grain Forum. We definitely needed a larger room for our meeting as I know of some who didn't attend because the room was so full! We want to thank Ron Fuhrmann and Ben Rothert for their years of service to the IPDP board and we welcome Ranell Rexing and Julie Bommer as new board members. It was a real honor to give producer of the year awards to such deserving young ladies, as you can read below.

 

Congratulations to Kelly Heckaman, who received an Outstanding Service and Leadership award for her countless IPDP service hours since its inception and continuing on! We also thank our presenters during the breakout sessions for bringing us great information!

 

We give a special welcome to our new regular and associate members. We also welcome two new Bronze sponsors: Orion Agricultural Division, a full-service lighting company, and Dairy Today, a great resource for up-to-minute dairy information. Please click the logos of our great sponsors. They have placed a significant investment in us, so consider their products and services as you can.

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in southern Indiana and several other states hit by recent tornadoes. We know some of you had some very close calls.

 

My contact information is [email protected] or call 317-695-8228. Be safe, and God bless. 

  

Doug Leman,
IPDP Executive Director  

Leontien Oostdijck-VandeLaar
and Four Leaf Clover Dairy is Indiana's 2012 Outstanding Dairy Producer!
2012 Dairy Producer of the Year Leontien
Leontien Oostdijck-VandeLaar and IPDP Pres. Troxel
Photo credit: Andy Hughes, Farmer's Exchange
It was such a privilege to award the 2012 Outstanding Dairy Producer Award to Leontien VandeLaar and her Four Leaf Clover Dairy. Leontien is well-known to many in Indiana because of her tireless efforts to share her farm online with her farm webpage/blog Four Leaf Clover Tales as well as on Facebook and Twitter. In operation since November of 2007, Four Leaf Clover Dairy is Indiana's first direct-load dairy farm. There are no bulk tanks at this Geneva, Indiana farm, which is home to about 2000 Holstein cows. Leontien participated in the Somatic Cell producer panel at the 2011 Livestock Forage & Grain dairy breakout session, and Four Leaf Clover Dairy was one of the featured host farms at the 2011 Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange. Many of you have toured this well-managed dairy farm. Four Leaf Clover focuses on Quality. That's quality for People, Animals and Milk. Leontien farms with her parents, her brother and her husband, Baastian. Congratulations, Leontien, on your well-deserved award!
MacKinnon Named 2012 Outstanding Young Dairy Producer
Kelly MacKinnon
Kelly MacKinnon (right) 2012 Outstanding Young Dairy Farmer, Thorntown, Indiana
Kelly MacKinnon, a dairy farmer from Boone County, is the 2012 Outstanding Young Dairy Producer! Kelly loves the dairy farming lifestyle that allows her to remain close to family, animals, and the land. She farms in Thorntown, IN with her parents, Charles & Margaret Carter. They milk approximately 120 cows, mostly Holsteins, with a couple of Brown Swiss thrown in for some color. Kelly most enjoys making the genetic decisions on the farm. She also manages the post-weaned heifer herd, supervises the hired labor, and milks daily.

Kelly is heavily involved in the 4-H program in Boone County, sitting on the Extension Board, helping lead the Dairy Project, and coaching the 4-H Dairy Judging Team. One of the most inspiring programs that Kelly co-facilitates is the leasing option that is part of the 4-H Dairy Project. This program allows kids from non-farm backgrounds to work with and show a dairy heifer at the county fair. It has proven to be a fantastic way to introduce kids and their parents to all that Indiana agriculture offers.

 

In addition, Kelly has really enjoyed interacting with the public, on behalf of the dairy industry, through a couple of brief TV appearances (arranged by MPSI) during June "Dairy Month". Kelly is also on the ISDA Board, a member of the Indiana and the National Holstein Associations, and volunteers in her church. Kelly is married to Caleb, a crop and hay farmer. They have a daughter and are expecting their second child in June.

Mitloehner Presents Silage and Air Quality, More Challenging than Manure
Mitloehner at 2012 Annual Meeting

Dr. Mitloehner is a UC Davis professor and air-quality specialist. Earlier in the day, he discussed the inaccuracies of the often quoted UN FAO report "Livestock's Long Shadow". We really appreciate Dr. Mitloehner's work in looking into some of the fabrications concerning livestock and the environment. You will want to read the above report! (click on "inaccuracies")

During the dairy breakout session following the IPDP annual meeting at the recent Livestock Forage & Grain Forum, Dr. Frank Mitloehner presented some very interesting data. Dr. Mitloehner showed where he has researched significant environmental challenges with air emissions and silage piles in California. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's), when combined with mono-nitrogen oxide (NOx) produce smog. VOC producing sources on dairies are the cow's rumen, silage bags, lagoons, and corral manure packs. However, it is estimated that cattle feed (TMR and silage) produces 94% of dairy VOC's, much more than manure sources. The bottom line is that volatilization of VOC's from silage increases feed losses and also has air quality impacts. Dr. Mitloehner gave compelling reasons to pay serious attention to the bunker silo face. This not only reduces emissions, but it also significantly effects feed quality and dry matter losses. You can read a summary of Dr. Mitloehner's research here.  If you have a bunker silo and don't own a silage defacer, you might want to consider investing in one!
Regional Meetings Well Attended, Great Information
Decatur Regional Mtg 2012 It's been an wonderful trend, enjoying record crowds at most of the IPDP Regional Meetings! Thanks for all who attended the meetings in Rockville, Decatur, Goshen, Warrenton and Columbus. We received many compliments on the good information that was presented. We will feature some of it in upcoming e-updates. You can watch a photo slideshow recap of the regional meetings here. (If you click on "show info" in the upper right corner of the slideshow, you can see picture captions.) We would like to thank our many different presenters that helped to make these meetings so successful. Special thanks to Jim Dickrell, Indiana NRCS, Indiana Forage Council, Todd Janzen, Purdue Extension Specialists and other Purdue speakers, and many IPDP Platinum Sponsors who gave updates! We are interested in your feedback as we plan future meetings. Please reply to this email or contact Doug Leman if you have suggestions for improving the meetings or if you have topics you would like to hear.
 
Indiana Milk Quality Conference April 10-11 Features Producer Panel, Federal Order Pricing and More
Armfelt This year's Indiana Milk Quality Conference will be held in Fort Wayne at Don Hall's Guesthouse on April 10-11. It will feature many interesting discussion topics. Dr. Mark Armfelt (Elanco Animal Health) will be the keynote speaker. Also featured is a producer panel discussion from dairy farmers Mike Yoder, Fred Kunkel and Sam Jones. Hear discussions of shelf life of dairy products and federal order and milk pricing, as well as updates from IPDP, BOAH, MPSI and much more! Visit the IMQP website for all the details and registration information here.
 
IPDP Membership Includes Legal Advice

We are grateful for the platinum sponsorship of Plews Shadley Racher & Braun, Indianapolis attorneys that have been so supportive of IPDP. We are especially glad to have Todd Janzen serving as General Counsel and IPDP Advisory Board Member. He is once again making a very generous offer to IPDP members. In addition, you may want to check out Todd's legal blog:  Janzen Ag Law Blog.

Todd Janzen
Todd Janzen, attorney and IPDP legal advisor

Todd Janzen, Attorney

Phone: 317.637.0700
1346 N. Delaware Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
First thirty minutes of legal advice is included with your IPDP membership.
Dairy Policy According to Dickrell, Lessons Learned
Jim Dickrell IPDP Policy Update 2012 Jim Dickrell, editor of Dairy Today, spent the best part of a week in Indiana. Jim spoke at the 2nd dairy breakout session at the Livestock Forage & Grain Forum, and he also gave updates at the Rockville, Decatur and Goshen Regional Meetings. He also visitied the Indiana State Board of Animal Health and had very positive things to say about that office!

Jim discussed the volatility challenges in mailbox pricing and the Dairy Security Act that is being considered as part of the 2012 Farm Bill, although we do not know the exact language of the bill at this writing. He also mentioned that there are conflicts in what dairy economists predict as far as the effectiveness of the DSA.

Jim believes the dairy industry must strengthen export markets, but he does not necessarily believe that will raise milk prices. Instead, it will allow the dairy industry to grow and maintain a strong dairy infrastructure. Jim also touched on somatic cell count policies, national animal ID, and immigration reform.

The lessons we can learn from the past are that dairy producers need more liquidity to survive, perhaps $500-$750 per cow. If this level of liquidity is not attainable, Jim recommends risk management options. Be sure to read Jim's dairy blog for additional updates on his week in Indiana. You can also watch a video here.
 
Suggestions Welcome, Printable E-Update
We had a great suggestion at one of the Regional Meetings. An IPDP member told us that not everyone in their operation uses the computer very much. He suggested it would sure be handy if the e-update could be printed out. We thought that was a great suggestion, so click here for a pdf printout of this e-update. We'll try to include a printable link from now on. Of course, any computer links will not work unless they are viewed online, but we hope this can keep us more connected. We welcome your suggestions for topics and ways we help! Contact Doug, or reply to this email. Thanks!
Heckaman Recognized for Outstanding Service & Leadership
Heckaman Outstanding Service Kelly Heckaman (right), IPDP board adviser and Kosciusko County Extension Educator, was recognized at the IPDP Annual Meeting for her outstanding contributions to IPDP since it was founded in 1998. Executive Director Doug Leman (left) presented a plaque to Kelly and took the opportunity to thank her for her many volunteer hours on behalf of IPDP and Indiana's dairy youth. The dairy industry in Indiana will continue to benefit from Kelly's leadership and passion for sharing her expertise through Dairy Ambassador programs, dairy youth conference, Women in Ag programs, and IPDP.
Opinion: Time for Coops to Lead
Dave Forgey IPDP Executive Board member, Dave Forgey, wrote a letter that was published in Dairy Business. Here is an excerpt:

U.S. dairy producers are getting very mixed signals as they look to the future of the dairy industry. Andrew Novakovic Ph.D. from Cornell University, who chaired the USDA Dairy Industry Advisory Committee, in a recent interview stated: 

 

"We have a dairy industry with good talent and industry skills from the farm through the supply chain. We are not unique that way, but we are tough to beat in agriculture and dairy. One single thing to point to is that our agriculture is a tremendous resource base and it is the envy of anyone in the world."

 

In my personal view, we need to directly focus on this analysis as we look at the new emerging markets in the world, and as we develop policy and programs that help us compete.

 

The cooperative system has been a definite asset to producers in the past as we have balanced the challenges of the U.S. domestic dairy market. Since co-ops have always been the ones to balance the milk supply, they have utilized the simplest systems available to manage that milk for their member owners.  Our co-ops balanced with cheddar cheese, butter, non-fat dry milk powder (NFDM) and whey - all products that establish our price and which are storable and easy to manage.  

 

The current problem in this system is that co-ops have been good at what they have done in processing and marketing in the past, but are not necessarily good at looking into the future and developing a plan, to be a leader, as they move into the future of manufacturing and especially marketing products to meet world demand.

 

Having never considered world markets as being highly reliable, co-ops continue to look at them with that perspective, in spite of the current Bain Report and the recent 2012 Western United Dairymen convention, where Hilmar, Leprino and California Dairies shared all the things that are happening in world markets and the increasing values in dairy products in those markets.  

 

This becomes more evident as we look to a rapidly growing world demand for dairy components. Most of those components are also storable to make distribution easier to those world markets.

  

Read the complete editorial here.

 

 

 

Support IPDP  

IPDP

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.   

 

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 support IPDP's efforts in Indiana, download an information sheet here.
Send Us Cow Pictures for E-Updates!
We try to put a different picture headline on each e-update which are sent out about 2 times each month. We invite you to send a jpg file of a picture of your cows or your farm and we may place it in an upcoming e-update. Just send your picture(s) to [email protected]. If you send us the picture, you are giving us permission to use it. Please include some information for a caption if possible. Thanks! The above picture is of triplet calves born on the Troxel Dairy Farm on March 3rd. Mom is doing pretty well after the experience. The calves are 2 heifers (freemartins) and 1 bull. So far, all seem very healthy and weigh about 50 pounds each.
Upcoming 2012 Events 

MARCH

 

March 13-14, 2012  PDPW Annual Dairy Business Conference, Dane County Expo, Madison, Wisconsin Conference Brochure  

March 22, 2012 Next regular IPDP board meeting, at ISBOAH offices at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, including a tour of their new location. 10-3 PM 

 

APRIL

April 10 & 11, 2012 Indiana Milk Quality Conference, Fort Wayne, Indiana    

April 21 Indiana 4-H Dairy Youth Conference, 

contact [email protected] or call 574-372-2340 for more information 

April 24-25, 2012 Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference   

April 28 Purdue Dairy Club Spring Calf Sale,  contact Steve Hendress or call 765-583-2526.   

 

MAY

May 19 Indiana State 4-H and FFA Dairy Judging Contest, Purdue University

 

JUNE

June 20-21 80th Annual Indiana Farm Management Tour, Marshall and St. Joseph Counties

 

JULY

July 31 Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange in Kentucky (SAVE THE DATE!)

 

AUGUST

August 1 Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange in Kentucky Day 2