Georgia Milk Producers Weekly Enews
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Granny has 11th calf on Northeast GA Dairy Farm
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Meet "Granny", a milk cow from a small Georgia dairy in Northeast Georgia. This is her 11th calf and in the past 11 years she has had 12 calves - one set of twins - and out of the 11 calves only 1 has been a bull. Granny is a good mama cow and has treated her babies and farm just as well as her farmer has treated her.
❤️🐮
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GA Ag Labor Relations Forum Next Week in Tifton
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Beware of Fake Census Takers
From Growing Georgia and GA Agribusiness Council
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Following reports from Indiana and Oklahoma of people posing as United States Census takers visiting poultry farms and attempting to take photos of the farm operations, the Georgia Agribusiness Council (GAC) reported that a Georgia broiler farm was the subject of a similar attempt. The Georgia grower took appropriate action, denying access to the fake census takers and requested that they leave the farm immediately.
The GAC warned that the fake census takers did not identify who they truly work for, and it is believed that they are employed by anti-animal agriculture organizations. The GAC recommended that other poultry growers, as well as dairy farmers, be notified of these activities.
Read more here>>>>
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From Progressive Dairy Editor Dave Natzke
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The petition asks Congress and President Trump to support proposals to allow whole milk to be included on school feeding program menus
.
Read more here>>>
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Is Rural America the ‘New Inner City’? Land O’ Lakes CEO Beth Ford Thinks So
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The problems facing farmers today seem ceaseless.
Adverse conditions during planting season, an early frost that has begun to hit crops, and President Trump’s ongoing trade war are just a few of the factors weighing on American agriculture these days.
Beth Ford, President and CEO of Land O’Lakes, and Denise Johnson, Resource Industries Group President of
Caterpillar
, spoke at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday about why improving the quality of life in rural America is the best way to alleviate the industry’s struggles as a whole.
Read more here >>>
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Keeping good help around: Finding and retaining qualified labor is critical to the success of family farms
From By Jennifer M. Latzke, High Plains Journal
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Putting food on the table is labor intensive.
Every sector of agriculture relies on labor to get crops and livestock from the fields, dairies and feedlots to the final consumer. And labor is a part of the equation for a successful farm’s overall bottom line. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service says labor costs as a share of gross cash income for dairies averaged 10.2% in 2016.
It takes time to recruit and train new employees, so turnover or unfilled positions can be costly to a farmer-operator. In 2012, Michigan State University Extension’s Stan Moore looked at the cost of employee turnover on dairy farms.
“Labor experts report that we can conservatively use a figure of 100 to 150% of the position’s salary for hourly workers,” Moore stated. For an employee making $30,000 a year, the cost of turnover for that position is $45,000 in time, out of pocket costs and productivity.
“For a dairy farm with 20 employees and 10% turnover per year the cost would be $75,000 to $90,000 per year,” Moore stated.
Taking time to find, train and retain employees may feel frustrating to farm operators but when an employee has a direct impact on herd health, animal welfare, productivity and efficiency of the entire operation, it’s time well spent.
Read more here >>>
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Increased Cow Efficiency Leads to Stunning Decrease in Resource Utilization
By Jim Dickrell, MilkBusiness.com
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An increase in milk per cow over the past decade has led to a stunning improvement in the amount of feed needed to produce that milk and a subsequent reduction in the amount of manure and greenhouse gases (GHG) produced.
In 2009, researchers Jude Capper, Roger Cady and Dale Bauman looked at the environmental footprint of the U.S. dairy industry between 1944 and 2009. They found that it took 90% less land, 65% less water and produced a 63% small carbon footprint to produce a gallon of milk over those 65 years.
At the request of the Journal of Animal Science, Capper and Cady performed a follow-up assessment, looking at the 2007 through 2017 timeframe. The assessment looks only at field to the farm gate, and does not look at the whole value chain from field through to the consumer’s refrigerator.
Read more here>>>
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Rabo AgriFinance Calls for Continued Dairy Price Improvement
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Rabo AgriFinance dairy analyst Ben Laine tells Brownfield he’s optimistic about the dairy outlook for the fourth quarter and start of 2020.
“In the U.S. and across the world, you’re seeing some constraints that are really keeping people from being able to expand in a big way so I think seeing that constraint is still going to help prices going into the first half of next year.”
He says even if farms would like to expand, financially they’re not able to do so and if they could, “Even if you are in a position where you would like to grow, there’s not really necessarily someone that’s able to take that milk right now,” he says.
Listen to the report here>>>
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Shaking Up the Dairy Department
By Donna Berry, Berry on Dairy Blog
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Many of you were born into the dairy industry. You were raised on a farm and milked cows daily. Others of us chose dairy as a career because we believe in the nutritional value of cows’ milk and have the desire to bring wholesome, healthful and delicious products to homes everywhere. Then there’s a group of you who landed in dairy and just cannot leave because, well let’s face it, the dairy industry is good people.
None of these reasons, however, are enough to keep dairy foods relevant to today’s adventurous consumers. These are folks who are way too connected into social media and online shopping. When they visit a bricks and mortar store, they often do not make it all the way back to the dairy department. Remember the dairy department’s location was once a strategic placement by retailers, as grabbing a gallon of milk was often the reason for shopping at the store. Having to walk through extra aisles often resulted in unplanned items being added to the cart. Not anymore!
Maybe produce should get swapped with dairy? Or how about co-locating the CBD department with dairy?
Read more here>>>
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ICYMI: October 2019 GA Milk Review
From GA Milk Producers
This edition covers: Sunbelt Ag Expo, Farm Bureau FMMO Reform Recommendations, UGA CVM Breaks Ground on New Facility, Smaller Percent of SE Farms Account for Larger Percent of Total Milk Sales and the October Dixie Dairy Report.
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Other Stories to Check Out This Week >>>
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We are excited to add Hannah Thompson-Weeman, of Animal Ag Alliance, to our list of Wed. session speakers on Jan. 22! Hannah connects consumers & influencers w/ factual information about modern food production. To learn more visit our website at
http://
gadairyconference.com
#2020GDC
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Animal Waste Operator and Planner Certification Training in November
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A waste planner/operator certification training will be offered in Athens at the UGA Livestock Arena classroom on November 13 & 14, 2019. All permitted livestock operations (other than dry poultry operations) must have a certified animal waste systems operator and an implemented nutrient management plan written by a certified planner. In previous years this has been held as separate trainings, one to certify farm owners/employees to properly manage animal waste systems and the other to certify people to write nutrient management plans.
This training has been combined into one training with break-out sessions on day 2 for topics specific to each group. Both certifications require completion of this course and passing of the exam. This is the final operator/planner certification course this year. The next training will be in March 2020.
Click here for registration form and information>>>
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Univ. of Florida Seeking
Dairy Manager
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The Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida, is looking for candidates for the position of manager of its Dairy Unit.
Where to apply:
Applications close:
November 4, 2019 (or later until the position has been filled)
More information:
Dr. Audy Spell
Dr. Albert De Vries
Operations Manager
Professor and Associate Chair
251-656-6972 cell phone
352-474-3412 office phone
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TO ADVERTISE: EMAIL AD AND CONTACT INFORMATION TO FARRAH NEWBERRY at [email protected]
UPDATED 10/4/19
The following are
FOR SALE
from Archie Felder. For more information call 1-803-682-3426 :
Dairy Tech Bag Pasturizer - $4,000
Tidenberg Hydraulic Hoof Table (like new) - $5,000
Hall stall sand leveler skid steer (never used) - $1,000
Mench Sand Trailer - $14,000
McLanahan 20 x 20 sand seperator - $25,000
Chiller Drake 24 hp, dual 12 hp scroll tank pumps, 3 phase - $10,000
Fans 3-phase w/brackets:
54" - $225/ea (18 available)
48" - $125/ea (20 available)
36" - $100/ea (20 available)
3000 Mueller Milk Tank - $5,000
20 springers 7 1/2 - 8 mos. pg - $1,450/ea (24,000 2x herd average)
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.
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