Monsanto Company announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved full production of POSILAC® bovine somatotropin (bST) at its manufacturing facility in Augusta, Georgia. POSILAC bST is used to enhance milk production and serves as an important tool to help dairy producers improve the efficiency and profitability of their operations.

With FDA approval of the Augusta plant complete, Monsanto is increasing production.

Source: Monsanto Company/ News Release, March 20, 2006
Source URL: http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/investor/news&events/2006/03-20-06.asp

America’s West is facing a situation where there might be water, water everywhere and yet no water anywhere.

Some parts of the West are dry as tinder and ready to burn, while others are snowpacked and face floods when warmer weather arrives, according to meteorologists. The drought in the West has been ongoing since the late 1990s and will remain, but there is more overall weather variability than many weather watchers can recall.

Take the Arkansas River as a case in point.

Source: New York Times/ Kirk Johnson, March 21, 2006
Source URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/national/21drought.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

It used to be a tradition: the family farm stayed in the family for generation after generation, handed down to eagerly awaiting sons and as time went on, daughters. Today, that tradition is becoming a thing of the past, going the way of the horse-drawn plow.

Land values have soared, operating costs have spiraled upward, competition from large-scale operations threaten to overwhelm smaller farms, tax complications, and market forces have all joined to make the nation’s farmers grayer.

Source: Agri News/ Associated Press, March 20, 2006
Source URL: http://webstar.agrinews.com/agrinews/285671846837344.bsp

A U.S. judge has ruled that Italian dairy giant Parmalat can pursue a lawsuit against auditors Deloitte & Touche, and Grant Thornton International.

The judge’s decision continues Parmalat’s chief executive, Enrico Bondi, strategy of going after financial institutions he believes knew of the company’s perilous finances. The company’s financial troubles came to light in December 2003, when Parmalat was found to be €14 billion ($16.93 billion US) in debt.

Source: Food Navigator/ Anthony Fletcher, March 21, 2006
Source URL: http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=66537&m=1FNE321&c=kiliywpuldsefex

A jury in a Minnesota county has awarded the owners of a dairy farm almost $1 million in a feed case.

The Houston County jury awarded Tom and Joe Hoscheit $941,390 last week after it ruled that Nelson Dairy Consultants Inc. of Decorah, Iowa, and its employee, Harry Root, were negligent in serving up nutritional services and advice. The final settlement will be closer to $1.1 million once prejudgment interests and costs are added.

Source: Caledonia Argus/ David Heiller, March 21, 2006
Source URL: http://www.hometownargus.com/2006/March/21hoscheitlawsuit.html

Milk prices have fallen farther than earlier forecasted. Class III prices which were near or above $14.00 per hundredweight all of 2005 and averaged $14.05 for the year fell to $12.20 in February and will be about $11.15 for March. The Class IV price which averaged $12.88 for 2005 was down to $11.10 in February and will be around $11.00 for March. The Class III futures is in the low $11.00s through June and don’t get above $12.00 until August with a peak of only $12.13 for September. However, I expect some improvement in these futures prices as we move towards late spring and summer. But, the improvement will depend upon a slowing of milk production and continued good commercial sales of milk and dairy products. Milk production increased 3.5% in 2005 and continues strong into 2006 with milk production running more than 5% higher.

Source: University of Wisconsin/ Bob Cropp, March 17, 2006
Source URL: http://www.aae.wisc.edu/future/OUTLOOK/cropp_mar_06.pdf

SOYBEANS on the CBOT traded in a tight, slightly downward-drifting pattern on Monday. Both the MAY’06 and NOV’06 bean contracts started the day up on a technical bounce only to finish down for the day. The MAY’06 closed at $5.724/bu, down 4.2¢/bu and the NOV’06 closed down 4¢/bu at $6.012/bu. Soybeans closed lower despite technically oversold conditions. The 9-day RSI for the MAY’06 contract closed at 32 amid light volume and a lack of news. One indicator of an oversold market is an RSI near or below 30. The fundamental picture for soybeans remains bearish. Record large U.S. stocks amid lagging export pace, worries about feed demand as bird flu spreads and improved moisture for the new crop all hung over prices. USDA reported that 16.9 million bushels of soybeans were inspected for export last week, compared to estimates for 18-24 million bushels. The export pace for this year is down 185.4 million bushels from a year ago. Friday’s CFTC trade data showed funds expanding their net short positions in CBOT bean futures/options to 11,200+ contracts as of March 14. Basis for soybeans in the Midwest was firmer due to slow farmer selling. After opening steady to slightly higher, opening bids for soybeans in the Mid-Atlantic region sank as much as 4¢/bu in some places. Hopefully the ’05 crop is long-gone. Those who are waiting on $6.00/bu beans for last year’s crop should move them out at current prices as $6.00/bu is no longer expected to be available. Cash sellers should consider having up to 50% of the ’06 crop priced at this time. Hedgers should maintain short hedges on up to 50% of the crop as well.

Source: Virginia Cooperative Extension/ Mike Roberts, March 21, 2006
Source URL: http://www.ext.vt.edu/news/periodicals/purcell/2006wp/11.html

You always recognize that awful squawking from liner slip. Caused by air leaking between the teat skin and the liner mouthpiece, it's fairly easily resolved by just manually adjusting the cluster. But liner slip may already have damaged your cow's teat.

For many years, dairy specialists blamed most machine-induced mastitis infections on vacuum fluctuations in the claw from low vacuum reserves. However, recent research has shown another culprit may actually be liner slip caused by the design of the liners used.

Source: Government of Ontario/ Vanessa Taylor, Feb. 9, 2006
Source URL: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/dairy/facts/squawking.htm

Including grasses in some of your new alfalfa seedings is worth considering. Years ago, mixing grasses with alfalfa was standard practice, whether seeding an oat companion crop and/or including timothy or smooth bromegrass with the under-sown alfalfa. The increased availability of grass herbicides and the evolution of how we estimate forage quality contributed to the movement away from grasses towards alfalfa monocultures. However, recent developments in forage testing have helped restore the respect that grasses somewhat unfairly lost.

Source: University of Minnesota/ Paul Peterson, March 16, 2006
Source URL: http://www.extension.umn.edu/cropenews/2006/06MNCN13.htm

The Agriculture Council has today adopted two regulations to clarify and streamline rules for the registration of protected geographical indications (PGIs) and protected designations of origin (PDOs), as well as traditional specialities guaranteed (TSGs). The first regulation on geographical indications and designations of origin also implements the findings of a recent WTO panel.

Geographical indications and designations of origin are names identifying a product as originating in a given territory, and testifying to a link between a given quality, reputation or characteristic of the product and its geographical origin.

Source: Europa/ Agriculture Council/ News Release, March 20, 2006
Source URL: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?
reference=IP/06/339&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en