Greg Coffta, bilingual dairy support specialist based in the Genesee County Cornell Cooperative Extension office, has a new monthly column called AgriCultura. In it, he writes about issues facing producers and employees trying to reach across culture barriers such as language. And he includes a short Spanish-English lesson. Find AgriCultura here.
AgriCultura – crossing the culture gap
NY cheese production rises
Cheese production in New York State jumped by 5.4% last year, to 737 million pounds, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s New York field office. Italian cheese, 52.9% of the state’s total output, was up 1.9%, to 390 million pounds.
Total U.S. cheese production for 2007 was 9.7 billion pounds, up 1.8% from 2006. Italian cheese varieties accounted for 42.6% of that production. American-type cheese production dropped .9%, to 40% of total U.S. cheese production last year.
Total U.S. cheese production for 2007 was 9.7 billion pounds, up 1.8% from 2006. Italian cheese varieties accounted for 42.6% of that production. American-type cheese production dropped .9%, to 40% of total U.S. cheese production last year.
CSP signup in a N.Y. watershed
Farmers in the Oneida watershed can sign up for the Conservation Security Program (CSP) through May 16.
CSP pays farmers for conservation efforts. There are three levels of payments:
1. An annual payment for base level of conservation.
2. An annual payment for maintaining existing conservation practices.
3. An enhanced payment for exceptional conservation efforts, such as limiting pesticide applications or renewable energy generation.
The Natural Resource Conservation Service estimates that 1,277 farms in the watershed, which includes parts of Madison, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego counties, could be eligible for CSP.
A potential participant must complete a CSP Self-Assessment Workbook, then submit the completed workbook to the local NRCS office before May 16. They must also meet with NRCS personnel. The agency will determine if the applicant is eligible.
Go to the New York NRCS website at http://www.ny.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cspinfo.html, or contact your local NRCS office.
CSP pays farmers for conservation efforts. There are three levels of payments:
1. An annual payment for base level of conservation.
2. An annual payment for maintaining existing conservation practices.
3. An enhanced payment for exceptional conservation efforts, such as limiting pesticide applications or renewable energy generation.
The Natural Resource Conservation Service estimates that 1,277 farms in the watershed, which includes parts of Madison, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego counties, could be eligible for CSP.
A potential participant must complete a CSP Self-Assessment Workbook, then submit the completed workbook to the local NRCS office before May 16. They must also meet with NRCS personnel. The agency will determine if the applicant is eligible.
Go to the New York NRCS website at http://www.ny.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cspinfo.html, or contact your local NRCS office.
Minerals in your water?
By Charlie Elrod
Springfield Farm Enterprises Inc.
Newfield, N.Y.
Water is one of the easiest and most important things we can supply to our cows. The simplest of compounds, two hydrogen atoms bound to an oxygen atom, and yet it is the critical solvent for most of life’s sustaining reactions. More Here...
Springfield Farm Enterprises Inc.
Newfield, N.Y.
Water is one of the easiest and most important things we can supply to our cows. The simplest of compounds, two hydrogen atoms bound to an oxygen atom, and yet it is the critical solvent for most of life’s sustaining reactions. More Here...
Check for brown root rot
April and early May is the best time to scout fields for brown root rot, say Cornell University researchers. A team of Cornell faculty and Extension educators is helping regional farmers recognize the disease in alfalfa and forage grass crops.
Brown root rot causes lesions to develop on alfalfa roots and crowns while the plant is dormant. The disease increases in severity as plants age and go through more winters.
To determine if a plant has the disease, dig up a root, clean it and slice into it with a knife to see if the plant has lesions and how deep they are. To confirm the disease for certain, you need a molecular laboratory test, available from the Cornell University Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic. A composite field sample costs $40.
Brown root rot was confirmed in northern New York in 2003 and high levels of the disease have since been seen in alfalfa fields across northern and western New York, and the Southern Tier. It has also been found in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Cornell work is being funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program.
Find an online resource in the “Field Crops: Alfalfa” section at www.nnyagdev.org. It includes photographs of the disease.
Brown root rot causes lesions to develop on alfalfa roots and crowns while the plant is dormant. The disease increases in severity as plants age and go through more winters.
To determine if a plant has the disease, dig up a root, clean it and slice into it with a knife to see if the plant has lesions and how deep they are. To confirm the disease for certain, you need a molecular laboratory test, available from the Cornell University Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic. A composite field sample costs $40.
Brown root rot was confirmed in northern New York in 2003 and high levels of the disease have since been seen in alfalfa fields across northern and western New York, and the Southern Tier. It has also been found in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Cornell work is being funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program.
Find an online resource in the “Field Crops: Alfalfa” section at www.nnyagdev.org. It includes photographs of the disease.
Sawdust: Scarce and expensive
By Susan Harlow, Northeast DairyBusiness
Northeast dairy producers are having a hard tine finding sawdust or shavings for bedding. And if they find it, they’re paying through the nose. Associated Press reports that customers are paying double for sawdust over a year ago, $50 per ton or more.
It might be time to consider an alternative, says Pete Erickson, dairy specialist for University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. Sand, of course, is a great bedding. But if that doesn’t work with your equipment, think about recycled paper, once popular as a bedding in the 1980’s.
You can collect paper yourself from your neighbors – some Pennsylvania producers keep recycling bins in their yards. Other sources are the local recycling center, where you can get newspaper, or data destruction services that shred paper, Erickson says. You may have to buy a chopper to chop newsprint.
The drop in home construction, and more wood going into heating pellets and into sawdust to heat wood-processing facilities are the culprits, Erickson points out. U.S. sawmills shipped about 114 million board feet of lumber per day for the first three months of 2008, or about 20 million board feet per day less than in 2007, according to AP.
Northeast dairy producers are having a hard tine finding sawdust or shavings for bedding. And if they find it, they’re paying through the nose. Associated Press reports that customers are paying double for sawdust over a year ago, $50 per ton or more.
It might be time to consider an alternative, says Pete Erickson, dairy specialist for University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. Sand, of course, is a great bedding. But if that doesn’t work with your equipment, think about recycled paper, once popular as a bedding in the 1980’s.
You can collect paper yourself from your neighbors – some Pennsylvania producers keep recycling bins in their yards. Other sources are the local recycling center, where you can get newspaper, or data destruction services that shred paper, Erickson says. You may have to buy a chopper to chop newsprint.
The drop in home construction, and more wood going into heating pellets and into sawdust to heat wood-processing facilities are the culprits, Erickson points out. U.S. sawmills shipped about 114 million board feet of lumber per day for the first three months of 2008, or about 20 million board feet per day less than in 2007, according to AP.
Prepare against agro-terrorism
The New York Office of Homeland Security will hold free training on how to prepare for and respond to agricultural terrorism, from April 28 to April 30, at the State Training Center in Oriskany, N.Y.
The training is intended for people in agriculture, law enforcement, emergency medical services and other emergency responders. Find out more information at:
http://www.security.state.ny.us/training/courses/MGT-322_Oriskany_042808.pdf
The training is intended for people in agriculture, law enforcement, emergency medical services and other emergency responders. Find out more information at:
http://www.security.state.ny.us/training/courses/MGT-322_Oriskany_042808.pdf
Agri-Mark: Increase make allowances
By Susan Harlow
Editor, Northeast DairyBusiness
Agri-Mark is pushing for more increases in the make allowance (the manufacturing cost allowed processors under the pricing formulas in the Federal Milk Marketing Orders), said Paul Johnston, CEO of Agri-Mark. USDA’s slow process of making changes to make allowances under the federal orders cost Agri-Mark $10 million in income last year, compared to prices under the California system.
He said cheesemakers in federal orders, like Agri-Mark, are at a huge disadvantage compared to manufacturers in California, the largest cheese producing state in the United States, who pay about $1 per cwt. less for milk. The California pricing system is more flexible and reacts faster to market changes, Johnston said.
Changes in the make-allowance brought Agri-Mark $2.7 million more income in 2007. But the changes didn't go far enough – the co-op had to forgo $7 million in income because the Class III make allowance was still too low and another $2 million because the barrel cheese price plus 3 cents is used in pricing, which California does not use.
Also, because federal order prices are based on National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) survey prices instead of a more realistic Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the
cooperative lost another $1 million, Johnston said.
Agri-Mark: It was a very good year
By Susan Harlow
Editor, Northeast DairyBusiness
2007 was a crucial year for Agri-Mark Inc., CEO Paul Johnston told the annual meeting April 10 in South Burlington, Vt. It was also a good year, with higher whey prices and lower cheese costs contributing to a profit of $17.6 million for the cooperative, compared to $2.5 million in 2006. “It’s very unusual that both those happened,” Johnston said.
Whey prices that rose to 80 cents per pound, boosted by global demand, and strong cheese prices meant that “both the cooperative and the farmers had good pay prices,” he said.
Aged cheese made from expensive milk coming onto a market of low cheese prices has burdened Agri-Mark in the past. Johnston said the co-op will be hedging more milk – as much as 40% of the 2008 supply – to even out costs and help avoid that problem in the future.
Johnston also said that Agri-Mark is on a three-year plan to increase its equity, using profits and cutting back on capital spending in order to generate cash and pay off debt.
The cooperative has consolidated its financial structure as one business with two divisions – the Agri-Mark cooperative division and the commercial division, which includes Cabot Cooperative Creamery, McCadam Cheese and commodity cheese and butter businesses.
Editor, Northeast DairyBusiness
2007 was a crucial year for Agri-Mark Inc., CEO Paul Johnston told the annual meeting April 10 in South Burlington, Vt. It was also a good year, with higher whey prices and lower cheese costs contributing to a profit of $17.6 million for the cooperative, compared to $2.5 million in 2006. “It’s very unusual that both those happened,” Johnston said.
Whey prices that rose to 80 cents per pound, boosted by global demand, and strong cheese prices meant that “both the cooperative and the farmers had good pay prices,” he said.
Aged cheese made from expensive milk coming onto a market of low cheese prices has burdened Agri-Mark in the past. Johnston said the co-op will be hedging more milk – as much as 40% of the 2008 supply – to even out costs and help avoid that problem in the future.
Johnston also said that Agri-Mark is on a three-year plan to increase its equity, using profits and cutting back on capital spending in order to generate cash and pay off debt.
The cooperative has consolidated its financial structure as one business with two divisions – the Agri-Mark cooperative division and the commercial division, which includes Cabot Cooperative Creamery, McCadam Cheese and commodity cheese and butter businesses.
Maryland & Virginia posts profit
By Susan Harlow
Editor, Northeast DairyBusiness
Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative had $1.44 million in profits in 2007, members heard during the cooperative’s annual meeting March 26 in Ellicott City, Md.
Exports helped push revenues over $1 billion for the first time ever, said Steve Graybeal, president.
However, rising milk costs – good for producers and the cooperative – strained Maryland & Virginia’s fluid processing division, along with high fuel and transportation costs. The cooperative operates three fluid plants: Marva Maid in Newport News, Va., and Landover, Md., and Maola Milk and Ice Cream Company in New Bern, N.C.
Its manufacturing division, which operates a plant in Laurel, Md.; and is majority owner in Valley Milk LLC in Strasburg, Va., fared better.
Editor, Northeast DairyBusiness
Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative had $1.44 million in profits in 2007, members heard during the cooperative’s annual meeting March 26 in Ellicott City, Md.
Exports helped push revenues over $1 billion for the first time ever, said Steve Graybeal, president.
However, rising milk costs – good for producers and the cooperative – strained Maryland & Virginia’s fluid processing division, along with high fuel and transportation costs. The cooperative operates three fluid plants: Marva Maid in Newport News, Va., and Landover, Md., and Maola Milk and Ice Cream Company in New Bern, N.C.
Its manufacturing division, which operates a plant in Laurel, Md.; and is majority owner in Valley Milk LLC in Strasburg, Va., fared better.