Last month's Codex meeting in New Zealand marked a milestone for forward progress and U.S. leadership, according to Allen Sayler, IDFA's senior director of regulatory affairs and a member of the U.S. delegation at the meeting. The Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP) finalized and adopted several U.S.-supported cheese standards, many of which had been under development for as long as 10 years.

Source: International Dairy Foods Association/ News Release, April 10, 2006
Source URL: http://www.idfa.org/news/stories/2006/04/codex_cheese.cfm

Following are some of the news articles highlighted this week:

• EU Group Urges Ban on US Milk from rBST-Treated Cows
• USDA Releases Final Dairy Purchase Specifications
• Trio Plans Nebraska Milk Processing Company
• Alaska Dairying on Verge of Extinction
• Canada Yawns Over Fifth Case of Mad Cow
• Trials Examine Recycled Plasterboard as Cow Bedding, Soil Conditioner

Click to read more about these and other news stories.

As we enter the start of the 2006 calendar year, it is time to take stock of where we are milk price-wise and where we are likely to go in the next 12 months. In this column, I will review the trends observed in the cash markets for dairy commodities. If you would like to follow my weekly price projections for the milk and dairy product markets, you can do so by accessing my Ohio Dairy website at this address: http://aede.osu.edu/programs/ohiodairy/ . Here, you will find a wealth of information on the Ohio dairy industry, current cash and futures markets, and my 24 week forecast.

Source: Ohio State University/ Buckeye Dairy News/ Cameron Thraen, March 2006
Source URL: http://dairy.osu.edu/bdnews/v008iss02.htm#mprice

Soybean prices dropped sharply following the USDA’s March 31 Prospective Plantings report, but have regained some of that loss. A wide variety of factors will continue to have a bearing on price movement.

November soybean futures declined by about $.30 in the aftermath of the USDA’s report showing producer intentions to significantly increase soybean acreage in 2006. That contact traded to about $5.85, only $.43 above the contract low reached in February 2005. The average central Illinois spot cash bid dropped by $.33 and traded within $.15 of the marketing year low of $5.15 established on October 10, 2005. It appeared that prices would continue under pressure, with the potential of new marketing year lows in the cash market. On April 17, however, November futures traded above $6.00 and were only $.13 below the pre-report settlement price. The central Illinois cash price recovered by about $.10 during the shortened trading week ended on April 13.

Source: Farmdoc/ University of Illinois/ Darrel Good, April 17, 2006
Source URL: http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/marketing/weekly/html/041706.html

Following are some of the past week’s market trends and analysis articles:

• Milk Production: Continuing to Climb
• Bailey’s Dairy Market Outlook: Futures Weaken
• New Generation Grain Contracts: Changes in Opinion and Usage
• Mexico Forecast to Import 10% More US Soybeans
• Japanese Consumers Turn Up Noses at Milk

Click to read more about these and other market stories.

The purpose of this study was to improve the prediction of the quantity and type of Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) produced from fermented substrate in the rumen of lactating cows.

The simulation results showed that the latter result was merely a consequence of the statistical analysis chosen and should not be interpreted as an indication of inaccuracy of coefficient estimates. Deviations between fitted and observed values corresponded to those obtained in simulations.

Source:  Estimation of the stoichiometry of volatile fatty acid production in the rumen of lactating cows. Journal of Theoretical Biology 238 (1): 36-51, 2006. Bannink, A.; Kogut, J.; Dijkstra, J.; France, J.; Kebreab, E.; et al.

Producers and newspaper writers often call to find out the probability of triplets or quads happening in their herd or in herds near them. Very little research is conducted to specifically examine the incidence of multliple births. Most recently, Rutledge et al, (1975) reported on the the frequency of twins in beef and dairy cattle. This paper was in the Journal of Animal Science, Volume 40; page 803.
 
They found small differences in the likelihood of twins in two different breeds of beef cattle.

Dairy cattle have been notorious for more twinning.

Source: Oklahoma State University/ Cow-Calf Corner, March 2006
Source URL: http://cowcalfcorner.okstate.edu/

Keeping cows comfortable translates into more milk.

And since lame cows are not comfortable cows, reducing lameness in herds is a goal dairy farmers strive for. Yet the cause of many lamenesses has been elusive.

So when veterinarians on the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine’s production medicine team found evidence that cows bedded on sand stalls, as opposed to rubber “mattress” stalls, experienced a lower incidence of lameness, dairy farmers started taking note.

Source: University of Wisconsin/ On Call Newsletter, March 2006
Source URL: http://www2.vetmed.wisc.edu/oncall/story.php?id=186&type=news&pos=8

Current research suggests that by managing the length of the dry period according to the cow ‘s parity, dairy producers can increase lifetime productivity of their cows, an SDSU expert said.

South Dakota State University Extension Dairy Specialist Alvaro Garcia said the length of the dry period as it affects cow performance in current and subsequent lactations has been the focus of recent attention.

“Past research showed that dry periods less than 60 days result in lost production in the subsequent lactation. However, it is also true that longer dry off periods cause lost yield in the previous lactation.”

Source: South Dakota State University/ News Release, April 11, 2006
Source URL: http://agbionews.sdstate.edu/News/newsrelease.cfm?id=2460

One hundred-sixty Holstein growing-finishing steers (initial BW of 185 kg) were blocked by BW to determine the effectiveness of long-term bovine somatotropin (bST) administration on lean, skeletal, and carcass measurements.

Bovine somatotropin was effective in reducing carcass fat and increasing edible lean. Administering bST to young, lightweight steers increased skeletal growth and noncarcass weight without an increase in total carcass weight, but decreased carcass quality.

Source: Use of bovine somatotropin for increased skeletal and lean tissue growth of Holstein steers. Journal of Animal Science 2006. 84:1176-1187. M.L. Schlegel; W.G. Bergen; A.L. Schroeder; M.J. VandeHaar; et al.

Below is a summary listing of Career notices and awards in the industry. Detailed information about each listing is available by clicking the “Click to read more” link. If you have an announcement you would like us to include here, please send it to Patt Ligman, pattligman@metafarms.com or Metafarms, 2980 Commers Drive, Suite 400, Eagan, MN 55121. The next CareerTrak is scheduled for May 3, 2006.

Job Listings This Week:
None this week

Awards & Accolades:
1. Food Safety Honors Butts, Zink
2. IDFA Honors Dairy Ad Makers; Hood Garners Best of Show
3. Tharp Honored for Lifetime Achievement at Special Reception
4. Shatto Farms Gains Small Business Runner-Up Award
5. Dean, Kraft, Blue Bell Garner Pioneer Awards

Faces In New Places:
1. USDA’s Miller Retires
2. Boren Named Product Manager: Food Safety at Kemin
3. Kemin Names Hastings as Key Account Manager
4. WI Names Paine Lead in Grow Wisconsin Implementation
5. DFA Names 28 to 51-Seat Board of Directors
6. Kraft Names Finard Executive VP, Global Category Development