Cheese trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange may get a close examination as a group of U.S. senators have urged the Government Accountability Office to look into whether cheese trading is susceptible to price manipulation.

Among the senators calling for the examination are: Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton of New York, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Source: Wisconsin Ag Connection, July 17, 2006
Source URL: http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.cfm?Id=836&yr=2006

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a 50-month-old dairy cow from Alberta. The animal was first reported on Monday, July 10, based on preliminary test results. The entire carcass has been incinerated and did not enter the human or animal feed systems.

The CFIA has located the birth farm, and investigators are tracing other cattle born on the premises within 12 months before or after the birth of the affected animal.

Source: Canadian Food Inspection Agency/ News Release, July 13, 2006
Source URL: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2006/20060713e.shtml

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

• Article: No Disaster Required for LCP Payments
• Dairy Processing Energy Best Practice Guide Issued
• Ridley Loses Class-Action Appeal in Quebec Court
• Judge Rules Against Amish Farmer in Raw Milk Case
• EU Halts NZ Butter Imports in Trade Dispute

Click to read more of these and other news stories.

Dairy farmer check-off contributions are used to fund a variety of generic commodity promotion programs. Historically, generic advertising of fluid milk and cheese have constituted the majority share of check-off budgets for dairy products. In recent years, however, slow growth in dairy farmer check-off revenues, combined with sharp increases in media advertising costs, has prompted a shift away from generic advertising to other nonadvertising commodity promotion activities.

Recently, new store-level marketing efforts by the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council (ADADC) have focused on implementing retail category management (CM) programs for fluid milk products in the dairy case — the Dairy Case Management Program (DCMP). This program aims to improve the management, appearance, and operation of the dairy case in retail stores, with the ultimate goal of increasing per capita milk consumption. Retailers have long recognized category management as a promotional tool for marketing their products, and grocery retailers have applied various methods of using space in dairy cases to encourage consumers to buy dairy products. The CM process involves managing product categories as strategic business units and customizing them on a store-by-store basis to satisfy customer needs.

Source: Choices Magazine/ American Agricultural Economics Association/ Todd M. Schmit, Chanjin Chung, and Harry M. Kaiser, July 2006
Source URL: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/2006-2/grabbag/2006-2-13.htm

For the first time in seven months, dairy farmers were thankful to witness an increase in Class I milk prices. Strong demand and growing consumption for cheeses coupled with a reduction in the growth rate in milk output has bolstered dairy markets. Improving milk prices are usually expected during the late summer and early spring months as hot, humid summer weather stresses milk cows and curtails milk output. Eligible dairy farmers can receive additional monies through Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program payments, which were extended through the end of August 2007.

Source: Mississippi State University/ Bill Herndon, July 2006
Source URL: http://www.agecon.msstate.edu/research/dairy_newsletter/NEWSLT06JULY.pdf

Following are some of the headlines from market analysis and news highlighted from the past week:

• USDA Dairy Outlook: Milk Production Still Rising
• Milk Production: June Rises 1.9% from 2005
• Markets Reflect Concerns on Potential Crop Size
• EU-25 Livestock Annual: Dairy Herds Drop
• Plus analysis from Bailey, Roberts and several USDA reports

Click to read more of these and other market articles.

Six rumen-fistulated Holstein-Friesian cows were used in a Latin square design to test the hypothesis that more frequent feeding of a high energy supplement to cows consuming high-protein white clover silage would improve microbial protein production, resulting in greater N retention and higher milk yields.

The benefits of a higher milk production as a result of more frequent feeding of the supplement to cows should be considered in context of the additional effort or costs associated with more frequent feeding.

Source: Feeding an energy supplement with white clover silage improves rumen fermentation, metabolisable protein utilisation, and milk production in dairy cows. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57 (4): 367-375, 2006. Cohen, D.C.; Stockdale, C.R.; Doyle, P.T.

The role of OLR1 in lipid metabolism and the results of previous whole-genome scan studies prompted the investigation of OLR1 as a candidate gene affecting milk composition traits.

The 3'-UTR polymorphism found in this study might control translation or stability of OLR1 mRNA.

Source: Association of the OLR1 gene with milk composition in holstein dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science 89 (5): 1753-1760, 2006. Khatib, H.; Leonard, S.D.; Schutzkus, V.; Luo, W.; et al.

For nearly a decade, dairy farm profitability has been extremely volatile. Changes in milk pricing have created wide fluctuations in gross income. From the expense side, feed costs varied with weather conditions, plus supply, electricity, building and equipment costs have been affected by higher energy and material costs. Hired labor has become more of a factor since farms have grown in size. For dairy farmers, lenders, suppliers and others, it is important from time to time, in light of these changes, to review financial and production benchmarks. These can be most useful as a person compares key indicators to individual operations and address ways to improve profits.

Source: Ohio State University/ Ohio Ag Manager/ Donald J. Breece, July 2006
Source URL: http://ohioagmanager.osu.edu/news/index.php#7

During a recent presentation on calf management, Franklin Garry from Colorado State University quoted figures on mortality related to assisted deliveries (dystocia calves). The calves were grouped depending on the amount of assistance the dam received at delivery: Group 1 = no assistance; Group 2 = one person assistance required, not mechanical; Group 3 = two or more people required to assist, and/or mechanical or surgical intervention.

The study collected information on 6684 calvings. Forty-eight percent of first lactation heifers required some assistance. Cows second lactation and greater, needed assistance in thirty percent of the calvings.

Source: Calf Notes/ Calving Ease/ Sam Leadley, June 2006
Source URL: http://www.calfnotes.com/pdffiles/CNCE0606.pdf