When: Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Time: 1:30 - 3:30 PM

Where: Indiana State Fair,  

Farm Bureau Building, Banquet Hall

 

Please join the Indiana Dairy Producers, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Purdue University Extension to discuss the impact of the drought on the dairy industry. Topics discussed will include nitrate concerns, pricing silage, aflatoxin challenges, risk management strategies and more. Our goal is to provide information and additional resources that will help dairy farmers navigate the tough decisions they face due to the drought. There is time allowed to answer specific questions.

 

Reservations are not required. This meeting is free and open to anyone who has an interest in this timely topic. Please contact Doug Leman if you have any questions at 317-695-8228.

 

  Tentative Agenda:

• Welcome
• Comments from Dr. Alan Mathew
• Nitrate Concerns and Pricing Silage - Dr. Tamilee Nennich
• Aflatoxins - Dr. Jon Townsend, DVM 
• Risk Management - Roz Leeck
• Q & A Session (allowing plenty of time--come with questions!)
• Refreshments

Try to find an opportunity to experience the Indiana State Fair this year! What could be better than combining fun along with sharing our ag stories! Click here for more information on the year of dairy cows at the Indiana State Fair.

Indiana Dairy Producers worked a shift at the Dairy Bar on August 3. Below is a picture of the group getting instructions from Michelle at MPSI. Did you know you can get a glass of milk at the dairy bar for only 50 cents and refills for only a quarter? What a deal! Also, check out the new moo chew! Delicious pepper jack grilled cheese with a lemon chiller shake. You have to taste it to believe how good it is! IDP will have another shift at the dairy bar on August 10.



There are over 50 touch points of interest at the fair where folks can learn about dairy cows.  Kimmi Devaney at MPSI (pictured below) has worked very hard to set up a great cow comfort display of waterbeds, recycled manure and mattresses. Be sure to check it out in the cattle barn.



Steve Hendress from Purdue has a display of baby calves representing each major breed of dairy. What a great way to engage the public--cute dairy calves of different colors--and petting is allowed!

Kentuckiana Recap:
Good Information, Good Ideas,
Good Times

Indiana Dairy and Purdue Extension organized a bus ride for Indiana Dairy members to travel to Kentucky for the 2012 Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange on July 31 through August 1. It was a great opportunity to meet the Kentucky dairy community and visit 5 diverse dairy operations around Shelbyville, Kentucky. The largest farm milked around 200 cows. Summer heat is such an issue in Kentucky that most of the dairies try to manage heavy calving in September and be producing milk at their lowest level through July and August. Well-managed compost barns were a very interesting practice on several farms, and surprisingly low somatic cell counts were enjoyed on each dairy on the tour.

A Tuesday evening steak dinner was followed by a heartfelt talk on dairy succession planning by Kelly Heckaman, ANR Purdue Extension Educator in Kosciusko County and Indiana Dairy Producer board adviser. The stories and experiences from several in the audience added to a meaningful evening.

Probably the single greatest benefit of participating in a tour like the Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange is the opportunity to visit with others who have similar challenges, compare practices, discover new ideas, and go back to the farm inspired to try something in a different way than we did before. This arena for ideas exchange is one of the founding reasons for organizations like the Indiana Dairy Producers. Next year, the Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange will be held somewhere in Indiana on July 30-31!

 
Watch the photo slideshow here.

Horror stories of ripped up families due to poor succession planning...no one wants that to happen! Kelly Heckaman, Ag Educator from Kosciusko County Purdue Extension, gave some tragic examples of poorly planned estates and the subsequent negative consequences. It started an emotional discussion during the evening program of the Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange on July 31. This tragedy can be avoided with some straightforward conversation and some professional advice from experienced attorneys and accountants. But Kelly urged the audience to tell some positive stories, too, and it was good to hear that this challenge can turn out beautifully as well. Probably the worst idea is to procrastinate; yet, it's really easy to do. Here's a great summary slide from the presentation that urged farmers to pursue five areas that need consideration in dairy succession planning: Operating agreement, Buy-Sell agreement, Business Entity agreement, Management transfer plan, and contracts & leases.

 Additional resources for starting your own farm succession planning can be found here:

Purdue Farm Succession Resources

Farm Journal Legacy Project Succession Planning

Tips for Handling Drought-Stressed Forages
Purina Animal Nutrition

"Unfortunately you can't control the plant that's presented for harvest," says Martha Baker, dairy nutrition specialist with Purina Animal Nutrition LLC. "But you can control what you do with it."

The upside to dealing with drought-stressed forages is that total plant digestibility tends to go up and they tend to be good quality feeds, because of higher stem to leaf ratios. "Improved digestibility offers some advantages and is something dairy producers and nutritionists need to keep in mind when formulating rations with this year's crop," she says.

To handle and feed drought-stressed forages, Baker offers the following advice:

• Decide when to harvest
• Watch nitrate levels
• Use silage inoculants
• Watch for prussic acid poisoning

Read the full article here. 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced two new pieces of disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers impacted by the nation's worsening drought. First, Vilsack is expanding emergency haying and grazing on approximately 3.8 million acres of conservation land to bring greater relief to livestock producers dealing with shortages of hay and pastureland. Second, the Secretary announced that crop insurance companies have agreed to provide a short grace period for farmers on insurance premiums in 2012. As a result, farming families now have an extra 30 days to make payments without incurring interest penalties on unpaid premiums. Earlier in the day, Vilsack signed disaster designations for an additional 218 counties in 12 states as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat. Counties designated today are in the states of Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming. More than half (50.3 percent) of all counties in the United States have been designated disaster areas by USDA in 2012, mainly due to drought. Read more.

FSIS Begins New Antibiotic Testing for Meat Residues

Click logo for FSIS Press Release

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is launching a new approach to its testing to protect the public from exposure to harmful levels of chemical residues in meat, poultry and egg products.

Through its National Residue Program (NRP), FSIS tests for the presence of chemical compounds, including approved (legal) and unapproved (illegal) veterinary drugs, pesticides, hormones and environmental contaminants that may appear in meat, poultry and egg products. The new, modern, high-efficiency methods that FSIS announced this week will conserve resources and provide useful and reliable results while enabling the agency to analyze each sample for more chemical compounds than previously possible.

One of the multi-residue methods being implemented for veterinary drugs will allow FSIS to screen for chemical compounds that include several types of legal and illegal drugs such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and growth promoters. In the past, FSIS would have collected 300 samples from 300 cows and looked for just one chemical at a time. Under the new system, one sample may be tested for as many as 55 pesticide chemicals, 9 kinds of antibiotics, various metals and eventually more than 50 other chemicals. In all, FSIS will assess more compounds per sample using several multi-residue methods.

FSIS is also revamping its scheduled sampling program to increase the annual number of samples per slaughter class from 300 to 800. If an establishment has samples containing illegal residue levels, FSIS will notify the FDA, which may review practices of producers supplying the establishment with livestock or poultry, and FSIS may subject the establishment to increased testing and review.

Click here to read a Q & A on the new testing methods and find a list of the chemicals being tested.

Michelle Robinson, Zeeland Farm Svc

Wow, it sure has been a difficult month for livestock producers. Thinking out of the box, stretching what you have in silage and grain storage, and considering new co-products in ration may be necessary.

 

There are a few opportunities that arise occasionally in co-products, but the farm needs to be ready and willing to take quick ships. If you are in a position for some of these, let us know and we can get you on a list to call.

Soyhulls come open on weekends when rail is tight, wet gluten pops up when dryers go down at plant as well.

 

Cottonseed is a good buy for fiber and protein source as delivered IN prices are $360 or so, and $350 new crop. Crop looks good but as protein market holds strong, it too shall remain competitive. We carry whole fuzzy and de-linted seed.

 

Canola (36%protein and 4% fat min.) is a good value on a cash basis vs. soybean meal. Oct-March contracts are also available. Product is in a pellet form, less shrink. Citrus pulp and beet pulp pellets are options for sugar/fiber sources for months to come and can also replace some corn in ration. Hominy is still running at a discount to ground corn delivered farm values and available for contract thru December. It is a very fine textured product highly utilized by animal.

 

Feel free to call us! Zeeland Farm Service, ingredient division, 866-888-7082, and look at options outside of the box. We are here to help.