2020 | May 29 GMP E Newsletter
Georgia Milk Producers Weekly Enews
Let's Toast Online for World Milk Day!
Monday, June 1st, is World Milk Day! If you are online - please post a milk toast picture and tag @gamilkproducers and we will share your post! Let's kick of June Dairy Month with the nature's perfect beverage!! #EnjoyDairy #WorldMilkDay
CFAP Application Period is Now Open

Producers can now apply through their local Farm Service Agency Service Center for direct payments under the Corona Food Assistance Program. While USDA Service Centers are open for business by phone appointment only, FSA is working with our agricultural producers by phone and using email and online tools to process applications. Please call your FSA county office to schedule an appointment. You can find contact information for your local USDA Service Center at the bottom of the page.

Applications can be submitted electronically either by scanning, emailing, or faxing. Please call your office prior to sending applications electronically. 

A CFAP Call Center is available for producers who would like additional one-on-one support with the CFAP application process. Please call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer assistance.

A CFAP Payment Calculator  is available to assist with the CFAP application process. This Excel workbook allows you to input information specific to your operation to determine estimated payments and populate the application form. NOTE: Microsoft Excel is required to use this workbook. Please download the workbook by clicking the  Payment Calculator link , then save to your computer. You will need to open the file and enable editing and/or enable macros at the top of the Excel sheet to input information specific to your operation.

Producers who are interested in filling out the application manually can also  download the application form, AD-3114 . If you need more space, you should use the  AD-3114A continuation form . Spanish versions of  application form AD-3114  and the  AD-3114A continuation form  are also available.
Dairy Top in CFAP Benefits
By JIM DICKRELL , MilkBusiness.com
Dairy fared as well as any commodity in the benefits offered through the Coronavirus Financial Assistance Program (CFAP).

“This is a very generous program,” says Marin Bozic, a dairy economist with the University of Minnesota. “Dairy farmers can be thankful to USDA for the way CFAP was designed and implemented. And they should be thankful to the National Milk Producers Federation and the Minnesota Milk Producers Association for raising payments caps….

“Of all the sectors, dairy did the very best or near the top of all commodities,” he says.
Bozic notes that dairy farmers will be eligible for $6.20/cwt for milk produced in January, February and March. They will receive additional benefits for dairy cattle sold and corn silage and high moisture corn they held in feed inventory January 15.

Bozic notes that the $6.20/benefit paid for each of three month’s production, totaling $18.60/cwt, is either more than or equal to what trade association groups had requested. MMPA, for example, asked for a one-time $9/cwt payment. NMPF asked for $3/cwt over six months. Read here>>>
Georgia beef producers to vote on continuation of state check-off
From GA Farm Bureau

Georgia beef producers will vote in a mail referendum scheduled for June 1-30 on whether they will renew the assessment they currently pay to fund the Georgia Agriculture Commodity Commission for Beef established by the Georgia legislature at the request of Georgia cattlemen in 2014.

Georgia Beef producers approved by vote a marketing order that established a $1 per head assessment on all cattle sold in Georgia for beef with a value over $100. This includes beef breeds as well as dairy breeds sold to be used for beef.

By law, beef producers must vote every three years to determine if they want to continue the market order. Georgia beef producers re-affirmed the market order in 2017.

Funds from the assessments are used to fund research, education, and promotion projects for the Georgia cattle producers. In the five years since the assessment began, more than $2.5 million has been committed to research projects with the University of Georgia that help producers with production issues and for state education and promotion programs which benefit Georgia beef producers.

Beef producers should receive a ballot in the mail, but if they do not by June 10, they can call 404-656-3680 or go to  www.GABeefBallot.com . Ballots and the back of the return envelope must be filled out for the ballot to be considered as eligible. Ballots must also be postmarked by June 30.  
For a second time in Borden’s 163-year history, a government contract could propel it through crisis
By  Natalie Walters , Dallas Times
Dallas-based Borden Dairy — known for its nostalgia-inducing “spokescow” Elsie — struggled to find a market until Civil War shortages led to a breakthrough government contract to deliver canned milk to the Union Army.

“I don’t think there’d be a Borden if it wasn’t for that contract,” says modern-day Borden CEO Tony Sarsam.

By 1930, Borden was the largest milk distributor in the U.S. By the 1980s, it was the largest in the world.

Now — four months after seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and amid a pandemic that forced it to furlough 5% of its workers — Borden has won another potentially path-altering government contract: delivering 700 million servings of fresh fluid milk to nonprofits. That’s equal to almost 10% of Borden’s annual production of 500 million gallons of milk, Sarsam said. Read more here>>>
My grandfather would take eggs and cream to the local town grocery store every Saturday night. The grocer gave him a price on the cream; if my grandfather did not like the price, he could not take it home to see if prices were higher next week. When he sold his cream, he was only one step away from the consumer, but he was still a “price taker.”
While milk marketing risks have always been here, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought to light many risks in the supply chain and consumer demand. Putting a floor price on all or a portion of your milk can be the first step in moving away from being a “price taker.”

There are flexible tools to establish a price floor, including two USDA subsidized-premium insurance programs: Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) and Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy (LGM-Dairy). Here’s a brief summary of those programs and upcoming dates and coverage period options. Read more here>>>
ICYMI: GMP May GA Milk Review Newsletter
This issue covers:
  • USDA Denies Hearing for Class I Mover Floor Price
  • What Dairy Farmers Need to Know About CFAP
  • The Great Georgia Give
  • Dixie Dairy Report


SBA and Treasury’s Rule and Application for Loan Forgiveness under PPP
From Michael Best Strategies
Last week, the SBA and Department of Treasury released the PPP  loan forgiveness application  and   Interim Final Rule on Loan Forgiveness . Read our firm’s   alert  on highlights and considerations for borrowers on the application. The interim rule and application clarifies some questions on period of review for loan forgiveness, how to determine payroll and non-payroll costs paid and incurred during the loan period, reductions in loan forgiveness, among other issues. Borrowers will need to work closely with their lender to ensure loan forgiveness.
Don’t miss this dairy market opportunity
By Scott Brown, University of Missouri
It has been a tough few months as the dairy industry has dealt with COVID-19. With milk processing challenges and the food service demand for dairy products both being negatively impacted, a steep drop in milk prices forced many producers into crisis mode. Class III milk futures for July declined from over $17.50 in mid-February to below $13 on April 22.

But markets have rebounded recently. At the moment, July Class III futures closed above $17 for a handful of days recently, and many longer-term contracts have traded above $16.

Is the worst of the financial storm past?

While we are unlikely to return to the worst of times experienced earlier this spring, there will be several factors challenging dairy markets for the rest of 2020 and into 2021. Don’t miss the opportunity to use current price levels as a means to reduce your risk moving forward. Read more here>>>
Farmer to Farmer Support Program Available for SE dairy farmers
 Farmers across the Southeast are experiencing uncertain times like never before. All aspects of agriculture have been hit by market losses due to COVID-19, but dairy has reached a level of uncertainty that many have never experienced.

As we navigate through these next few months, dairy producers across the Southeast have come together to introduce the "Farmer to Farmer Support Program." If you find that you need support or would like to talk to a fellow farmer or industry friend, they have several volunteers that are willing and able to help. Georgia Milk Producers has also put together a packet on the program that you can access by clicking   here

For more information on the program, please reach out to Farrah Newberry at gamilkproducers@gmail.com
Food bank distributing produce, milk to Georgia families in need
By Doug Evans, Fox 5 News Atlanta
Families in metro Atlanta are now getting government-subsidized food boxes as part of the USDA’s Farmers to Families program. 

The USDA is spending $3 billion nationwide through June to give families in need a 20-pound box of fresh produce as well as milk that otherwise might have gotten tossed out. 

Midwest Food Bank distributes food to food pantries all over north Georgia. As part of the program, they will be giving away 2,000 of these 20-pound boxes of fresh produce every week and 3,500 gallons of milk every single week to the churches and charities that they serve.  Read more here>>>
Summer Inspiration Series: Create a Category
By D onna Berry, Berry on Dairy

Let’s talk about creating a new category. This is not just a new formulation, such as high-protein ice cream, nor is it as simple as new packaging, such as yogurt in a pouch. Think of it as a concept that IRI, Nielsen and Spins do not know how to categorize. Recent examples among dairy processors would be refrigerated dairy bars.

In the U.S., Kraft kicked off the category in 2011 with MilkBite bars. The concept was ahead of its time and was discontinued less than a year later. Then in 2017, Prairie Farms introduced Milk Snack Bars, which is alive in the marketplace. Take note, similar refrigerated dairy-based snack bars, with fillings ranging from whipped dessert to quark, have been around in Europe for some time. Prairie Farms’ Milk Snack Bar is a two-layer whole milk crème-filled chocolate cake bar dipped in chocolate. Read more here>>>
Other Stories to Check Out This Week >>>
Upcoming Events >>>
GA Dairy Classifieds
TO ADVERTISE: EMAIL AD AND CONTACT INFORMATION TO FARRAH NEWBERRY at gamilkproducers@gmail.com

UPDATED 5/1/20

WANTED: Peter's Cattle Co. will buy any dairy, beef, and cross, bottle or weaned, bulls, heifers or free martins. Pick up weekly 7 days a week. Chris- 470-255-8515

For Sale: Corn Silage - For more information contact Carlin Giesbrecht at 478-494-4007

FOR Sale: Stretch-O-Matic Bale Wrapper and Mover. For more information contact Carlin Giesbrecht at 478-494-4007

Bull Calves WANTED:  Competitive pricing with 6 day a week pickup. Brandon Mason Cattle Company 912-632-4490

For Sale: Custom manure application and Dryhill manure equipment sales.  Contact Edwin @ 478-299-0717 with Agboys Custom Services LLC -  New 8"x52' lagoon pump with outriggers $24,000 (Pictured right)

FOR HIRE : Custom Silage Harvesting. Late model JD chopper. Will travel. Let me put your quality forage up! Nic Haynes, Muddy H Farms, 678-617-3379.

FOR SALE :  We have a continuous selection of fresh and springing heifers.   Call William at   (706) 768-2857  or visit our website at   crumpdairyreplacements.org