Anticipate, Prepare, and Protect

Are you interested in establishing a farm crisis plan? Do you want to learn what crisis prevention and preparedness resources are available to you?

Indiana Dairy Producers is partnering with American Dairy Association Indiana, the Indiana dairy checkoff, to help farmers create farm crisis plans. We are looking for farmers who would like to participate in a small group training in your area. This free crisis planning session would leave you feeling prepared to handle situations like: an undercover video, a barn fire, a food safety concern, a natural disaster, a farm injury or fatality, worker issues, foreign animal disease, and more.

Through your dairy checkoff and other dairy organizations such as National Milk Producers Federation and International Dairy Foods Association, the dairy industry has an extensive, industry-wide crisis and issues response plan for everything from hoof-and-mouth disease and undercover videos to nuclear radiation and foodborne illness. This training will focus on crisis preparedness for your individual farm and what resources exist locally and nationally to help Indiana dairy farmers prevent, prepare for, and recover from a crisis.

If you are interested in developing a crisis plan, please contact Doug Leman (dougleman@indianadairy.org or 317-695-8228) and let us know if you would like to participate in a training. We will plan trainings in the area of those who show interest, so make sure to let us know if you think you would like a training. If you have facilities to host a training on your farm, let us know and you may not have to travel very far at all!

After leaving this small and focused half-day training, your farm crisis plan will be fully fleshed out and complete.

You will have identified all members of your farm crisis team, assessed risks to determine areas of vulnerability on your farm, networked with some of the neighbors you may rely on in a crisis situation, filled out a crisis contact sheet, and learned what Indiana Dairy Producers and your dairy checkoff will do to assist your recovery.  

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Several Canola crushers are taking down time in May and June for maintenance.  Downtime, along with poor crush margins, and an overall reduced Canola crush is causing product tightness.  We look for the poor margins to last into late summer or early fall and product tightness to follow that same schedule.  It is a good time to get your needs covered through the summer to ensure product availability.  Soybean meal futures have been under pressure which is aiding in lowering Canola meal costs.  Soybean basis is stronger and soybeans are beginning to get difficult for crushers to buy which will equate to higher soymeal basis levels, which is also supportive to Canola Meal.  We have Canola meal available at several of our locations so give us a call.   

   The cotton crop is being planted and in some spots like TX the crop is getting smaller and later.  The area went from drought conditions to being too wet to plant rather quickly.  Old crop cottonseed supplies are tight and we don't expect a fall-off in prices until we get closer to harvest in September or October.  Today the spread between old crop and new crop cottonseed is running at around $50 per ton.  The overall cotton plantings are going to be reduced from this past year so seed is likely not going to get really cheap compared to other ingredients. 

   Corn Gluten feed has once again returned to a seasonal trend of becoming softer as we enter into summer.  Plenty of grass in the southern regions has lightened demand on this product.  Gluten feed is a very good buy right now and is available in wet or dry. 

Distillers grains is showing weakness in the export market and is coming down in cost slowly to the domestic market. A new ethanol plant has opened in northern Indiana, with full fat 10-11%, levels. If you have a need for a high fat product, give us a call.  

   Hominy is still available as a good dry fine ground corn substitute  or if running short on high moisture corn and need a replacement, it may be worth a try.  Beet pulp pellets are still available into late August if you are looking for a sugar/fiber source to supplement your ration. Citrus pulp pellets are readily available as the processing has wrapped up with harvest. Good supply will be available through November on contract.  Values are down from recent years, with less export demand, it may be worth a look.  Soy hull pellets have good availability in the area market, if you need a good fiber source in the ration. Contracts are available through Sept. Wheat midds have become more readily available from the processors for June forward and offers are favorable-a good fiber and starch source.

Dairy Youth Academy Current Class 2014-2015

Applications are now being taken for the 2015-2016 Indiana 4-H Dairy Youth Academy. This year-long dairy leadership experience is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for high school youth who have a passion for dairy.

To be eligible to participate in the academy you must be in grades 10-12 by September 1, 2015. You must be currently enrolled in the 4-H program and able to reasonably commit to the Dairy Youth Academy from September of the current year to August of the following year. You may not exhibit dairy animals at the World Dairy Expo during the current year or participate in the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest during the current year.

The top 14 delegates will be selected based on their leadership and written application by a panel of industry and extension representatives. Upon acceptance in the Academy, delegates must pay a fee of $100. Most expenses will be generously covered by our sponsors. Deadline to apply is June 1, 2015.  

However, as the drink grows in popularity, there are questions about whether almond milk is nutritious and healthy enough. Almond milk can contain additives, which is raising concerns among health food activists. It also lacks the calcium and protein of regular milk. "It can be a great alternative to cut calories but not a great alternative for bone health," said Rene Ficek, a registered dietician and lead nutrition expert at Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating, an Illinois based firm that sells dietary meal programs.

And because more than 80 percent of the world's almonds are grown in drought-ravaged California, some say the water used to produce almonds is wasteful.  

Read the full article here.