State Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen today announced that Wisconsin cheese makers are leading the nation in crafting innovative, specialty cheeses. Specialty cheese production in 2005 rose 7 percent above the previous year, totaling 355 million pounds and accounting for 15 percent of the state's total cheese production.

Source: State of Wisconsin/ News Release, May 18, 2006
Source URL: http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/press_release/result.jsp?prid=1809

US Group Building Large Dairy in Vietnam
Gannon Group, a U.S. food production giant, has officially invested in Vietnam with a project to set up a dairy holding company.

The Vietnam Hi-tech Dairy Holding Company has a total investment capital of $10 million. It specializes in producing fresh milk bearing the Milky US trademark.

Source: Nhan Dan, May 19, 2006
Source URL: http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/business/190506/business_us.htm

Following are some of the headlines from news articles highlighted from the past week:

• Iowa Lawmakers Say Session Good to Agriculture
• WI: Proposal Affects Large Farms’ Manure Handling
• Danisco Develops Super-Low-Fat Ice Cream
• Ames Lab Halts Mad Cow Work Over Waste Dispute
• Italy’s Musical String Makers Hamstrung by BSE

Click to read more of these and other news stories.

Based on recently summarized Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association (FBFM) records, average returns for labor and management on 2,940 Illinois farms was lower for all geographic areas in 2005 compared to 2004 and slightly below the average for the last five years. Significantly lower corn yields and increased costs were the main factors leading to the lower incomes. Returns to the livestock enterprises were above the last five year average and contributed positively to earnings on livestock farms. Lower grain prices resulted in higher farm program payments which supported farm incomes. The highest earnings were recorded in central and southern Illinois. Lower earnings were recorded in western, north-central and north-eastern Illinois.

Source: Farmdoc/ University of Illinois/ Dale Lattz, May 17, 2006
Source URL: http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/manage/newsletters/fefo06_08/fefo06_08.html

Following are some headlines from market articles highlighted this week:

• Milk Production: Monthly Production Rises Again
• Cold Storage: Butter Slides Up Again
• Farm Labor: Workers Down 4%, Wages Up 5%

Click to read more of these and other market news.

Milk production should peak in May or June and start its seasonal decline as we move through the summer. Milk cow numbers are not likely to show any decline, at least before the last quarter of the year, if then. The key to the rate of increase in milk production will be milk per cow. Milk per cow is somewhat sensitive to summer weather conditions. But, rather than increase of 4%, increases of 2% to 3% in milk per cow are more likely for the remainder of the year. This will still result in better than a 3% increase in milk production and keep pressure on milk prices.

Source: University of Wisconsin/ Bob Cropp, May 18, 2006
Source URL: http://www.aae.wisc.edu/future/OUTLOOK/cropp_may_06.pdf

Teat condition scoring is a valuable tool that has virtually no cost. Teat condition scoring, particularly on the teat end, can provide a heads-up on problems with milking machine settings, the concentration of germicidal teat dips or the cow's environment. Quick action to find the cause of poor teat condition will reduce somatic cell counts and clinical mastitis, saving time and treatment costs.

Research has shown that poor teat condition can reduce milk yields and increase milking times. This is an incentive to monitor and maintain teat condition. In a recent study, teats were exposed to chemically induced chapping conditions and milked with automatic take-off clusters. Researchers observed that as teat condition worsened, milk yield dropped 3.6%-8.5%, and milking time increased 1.3-2 min, or 26%-51%. As teats healed, milk yield began to improve, and milking time shortened.

Source: Government of Ontario/ Factsheet/ Vanessa Taylor, April 21, 2006
Source URL: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/dairy/facts/06-019.htm

For the past few years Tom Kilcer, a fellow County Agent from New York, has been investigating management of swath width of forage crops to maximize the harvest of the highest quality forages. Tom points out that profitability in the dairy industry hinges on the quantity and the quality of forages fed.

Forage investigators note that the quality of the forage that reaches the cow's mouth is dependant on three factors: when you start harvesting, how long it takes for you to complete harvest and how much quality is lost during harvest. Tom's work on swath management shows how much quality loss during harvest is affected by HOW you harvest hay crop silage.

Source: Ohio State University/ BEEF Team Newsletter/ Paul Craig of Penn State University, May 17, 2006
Source URL: http://fairfield.osu.edu/ag/beef/beefMy17.html

The questions arise, therefore, how and where should we measure the real supply of AA in the dairy cow? This review will follow the downstream flow of AA from duodenum to peripheral tissue delivery, with a glance at the efficiency of transfer into milk protein.

Overall, intermediary metabolism of AA between the duodenum and the mammary gland biologically explains the decreased efficiency of the transfer of absorbed AA into milk protein as maximal yield is approached. Therefore, variable, rather than fixed, factors for transfer efficiencies must be incorporated into future predictive models.

Source: What is the true supply of amino acids for a dairy cow?. Journal of Dairy Science 89 : E1-E14, 2006. Lapierre, H.; Pacheco, D.; Berthiaume, R.; Ouellet, D.R.; et al.

The objectives were to identify relationships between human resource management (HRM) practices used by dairy farm businesses and the productivity and profitability of the dairies.

The results did not support expectations that differences exist between the groups. However, a significant positive relationship was found between return on equity and the use of continued training ( used = 10.61%; did not use = - 62.38%), and a significant negative relationship was found between the use of standard operating procedures for feeding and somatic cell count ( used = 263,000; did not use = 214,000).

Source: Relationships between selected human resource management practices and dairy farm performance. Journal of Dairy Science 89 (3): 1116-1120, 2006. Stup, R.E.; Hyde, J.; Holden, L.A.