Feed Prices

New $20 Million Feed Mill Expansion Unveiled in Idaho

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:42:43 GMT

Beef and dairy producers throughout Idaho may soon be receiving steamflaked corn and calf grains from a newly expanded feed facility in the state. Scoular, a global agribusiness company based out of Nebraska, recently completed a $20 million expansion of its state-of-the-art feed blending facility located in Jerome, Idaho.

According to the company, the expansion adds a 120-feet high concrete feed mill, boosting the facility’s production capacity by 35% and delivers a 40% increase in storage capacity.

“Scoular’s mission is to deliver safe, reliable and innovative solutions to our feed and food customers around the world,” Scoular CEO, Paul Maass, said in a company. “This new investment is a perfect example of meeting our customers’ demands and bringing forward the ideal solutions. We are thrilled to continue to make growth investments in this important region and industry.”

Updates to the facility will help provide two new capabilities, including:

A steamflaking process that processes corn and barley into flakes and makes the feed more digestible for cattle. The corn is steamed, heated, then pressed into a flake.
A pellet mill to make feed pellets. Pellets are easy to transfer, handle and proportion for optimal nutrition. Feed pellets are typically used for feeding calves and beef cattle.

“The expansion shows Scoular’s customer-focused approach,” said Jeff Ackerman of Bettencourt Dairies. “Scoular is helping us provide the right nutritional profile to the animal at the right time. Tailor-made feed blends are essential.”

As the dairy sector continues to grow in the state, this expansion will provide both beef and dairy producers with an additional resource for purchasing feed.

“To see a company like Scoular expand means good news for producers,” added Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. “It gives producers more options for how they want to handle feed on their farms.”

This expansion not only provides more choices for producers but also reinforces Scoular’s commitment to bolstering the local agricultural community.

“Agriculture drives the Magic Valley’s economy, and Scoular has made it a priority to support the industry through innovation, state-of-the-art facilities and programs that support local producers,” said Andy Hohwieler, a Scoular Regional Manager based in Twin Falls. “With our latest investment, we look forward to creating new feed products that create solutions for end-users.”

Your Next Read: Beef-on-Dairy: How to Make Successful Semen Selection Strategies

The “Feed-Saved” Trait Helps Breed for Feed Efficiency

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:42:38 GMT

Feed usually represents the greatest cost to dairy farms. Cows that milk the same amount or more, while eating less feed than their counterparts, are both desirable and profitable. So, is there a way to “make” such cows?

That strategy has become possible in recent years, with the introduction of the feed-saved (FSAV) trait by the Council on Dairy Breeding in 2020. FSAV estimates the difference between the amount of feed individual animals consume, after accounting for milk production, body weight, and body condition.

The trait is actually a combination of two factors:

Feed saved when a cow is smaller; and
Feed saved when a cow has a Lower Residual Feed Intake (RFI)>

FSAV is expressed in pounds of dry-matter intake saved.

“Because this trait requires individual feed intakes of cows, data must be collected from research herds with that capability,” noted Dr. Isaac Salfer, Assistant Professor of Dairy Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. “This means it is not measured across a diverse range of commercial environments and includes fewer total cows in its evaluation compared to data collected for traits such as milk production, confirmation, or daughter pregnancy rate.”

Currently, the trait is only available for Holstein males and females. But genetic researchers hope it can expand to other breeds as more data becomes available. In addition to the potential to achieve greater milk production with less feed, creating more feed-efficient cows also could help dairies conserve feed resources, and reduce the amount of waste produced per pound of milk.

Salfer said estimates suggest FSAV is about 19% heritable, which is lower than production traits, but higher than health traits like somatic cell score and daughter pregnancy rate. FSAV was pioneered by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Michigan State University.

Will the Decline in Dairy Culling Continue?

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 19:39:48 GMT

Fewer cows went to their local sale barns in the month of June compared to months prior. In fact, through July 13, USDA Ag Marketing Service estimates indicate the number of dairy cows marketed for beef has now trailed year-ago levels for 45 consecutive weeks, dating back to Sept. 9, 2023, and was down about 332,000 from the same period a year earlier.

Phil Plourd, president of Ever.Ag Insights, attributes the slowdown in dairy cull cow marketing to several factors, including a smaller milking herd, limited availability of replacement heifers to maintain full barns and slight improvements in milk income margins.

“I believe the low slaughter figures reflect at least two different realities. First, we don’t have a lot of replacements and the ones we have are expensive. Second, I think that prospects for better margins are likely slowing the slaughter pace. If that’s true, I am curious to see the effect on productivity,” he says.

Robin Schmahl with AgMarket.Net says he believes culling will continue.

“It may not be lower month-to-month, but it will be lower than the previous year,” he says, noting that producers have been culling heavily for quite some time leaving fewer cows to be culled

However, Schmahl shares that two other factors are the greater issues.

Beef-on-dairy interest has generated a significant source of income for dairy producers. “This has limited the need to cull cows aggressively to add to income,” he says. “These calves bring substantially better income than dairy calves adding significantly to the farm’s bottom line. Many of my clients are breeding 50% of their herds to beef bulls. This leaves sufficient replacements for the dairy but does not allow for any to be sold as replacement heifers resulting in a tight heifer market and high prices. This also increases the desire to hold onto cows as replacements are difficult to find. This will continue as long as beef prices remain strong.”

Continued Lower feed prices. “The outlook is for continued low feed prices through the end of this year and into next year,” Schmahl says. “This lowers the bar for cows that may need to be culled.”

Schmahl highlights the year-over-year decline in grain prices that are welcoming to dairy producers, allowing for better margins.

- The average price for corn in June 2023 was $6.49 per bushel while the average price in June 2024 was $4.48 per bushel.

- The alfalfa hay price in June 2023 was $263 per ton compared to $195 per ton in June 2024.

- The All-milk price in June 2024 was $22.80 compared to last year when it was $17.80.

“This all lowers the bar of profitability for milk production per cow,” he says. “Cow numbers remain below a year ago but are slowly narrowing the gap. We should see reduced culling as long as these aspects remain in place.”

5 Ways to Help Minimize Feed Refusals

Sat, 29 Jul 2023 19:28:15 GMT

High feed costs have cut deeper into dairy farmers pockets, especially as milk prices continue to sink lower and lower. According to the University of Minnesota, over the last decade, total feed costs of a dairy herd have become a better predictor of profitability than milk production. With no end to the higher feed cost trend in sight, farmers are looking at ways to get the most out of their rations while minimizing wasted feed.

While empty feedbunks are not the goal, working to reduce feed refusals is an excellent management strategy to help keep dollars in your pocketbook. Isaac Salfer, an a assistant professor of dairy nutrition at the University of Minnesota, provides five tactics to help target feed intake of cows more precisely and cut back on unnecessary waste.

Evaluate TMR Dry Matter Variation

“Variations in dry matter of forages, and subsequently the total mixed ration, are easily the largest factor contributing to differences between expected feed intake and actual feed intake,” Salfer says. “Corn silage can vary by over 10% from one day to the next, which, if not accounted for, results in overfeeding or underfeeding the diet of cows by over 5% assuming corn silage makes up approximately half of ration dry matter.”

To better account for these variations, Salfer recommends sampling the dry matter of silages as often as possible and make adjustments to the ration accordingly. He suggests taking samples once a week at the minimum and especially after weather events such as heavy rainfall.

Stick to a Consistent Feeding Schedule

We all know cows crave consistency, but research has shown that altering feeding times can lead to slug feeding, which in turn reduces daily feed intake. To help minimize refusals, it’s important to stick to a consistent schedule as much as possible.

“Keep in mind that 15 minutes of time equates to 1% of the day, so even small delays in feeding time can have large impacts on refusals due to reduced time available for cows to eat,” Salfer adds.

Group Cows

Cows who are in the beginning stage of their lactation require different nutritional needs compared to animals who are in the mid or nearing the end of their lactation. However, rations are often formulated to meet the requirements of the average cow within that group. To combat this, Salfer recommends grouping animals based on their lactation stage to help prevent animals from being either over or underfed.

“It is also valuable to have a separate fresh group fed to a higher refusal rate (4 to 5%) to prevent limiting feed intake of these cows,” Salfer says. “Intake of fresh cows will generally be less predictable as they begin to approach peak milk production.”

Measure Ingredients Accurately

You might think feeding ‘a little extra of this’ or ‘a smidge less of that’ wouldn’t make that big of a difference, but according to Salfer, it’s easy for small errors in feed loading to add up and impact the accuracy of feed offered to cows. Therefore, TMR scales should be calibrated regularly to ensure what hits the feedbunk is the same formula provided by your nutritionist.

“Batching can also help reduce the variation in dry feed ingredients at low quantities within a total mixed ration,” Salfer adds. “Using feed management software easily allows you to adjust a diet based on the number of cows in a pen and the dry matter of feeds and helps track the variability in load weights.”

Increase Feeding Frequency and Feed Push-ups

Cows are more likely to devour their feed when it is fresh. Additionally, research suggests that increasing feeding frequency from once a day to twice a day reduces sorting and increases dry matter intake, milk production and milk fat. Consider splitting your batches in half and move from feeding once a day to twice.

Similar to fresh feed, pushing up feed bunks more frequently stimulates animals to visit the feed bunk more often and limits the amount of time for cows to sort feed. Salfer states that pushing up feed more often will reduce your variability in feed refusals.

For more on nutrition, read:

6 Ways to Boost Performance and Lower Feed Costs

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 19:19:16 GMT

Feed costs will continue to be the No. 1 expense. Jim Salfer, Extension dairy educator with the University of Minnesota, offers some best practices to help producers lower feed costs. These recommendations can be implemented with minimal effects on performance in most herds.

Minimize Waste and Shrink — In one year, a 100-cow dairy can save $58,400 by reducing the shrink from high shrink to low shrink. Often, dairies have a shrinkage of 30% on forages with bunkers and piles, with 10% shrinkage on concentrates in commodity sheds. “This is the biggest and an easy way to reduce feed costs,” he says, stating that for forage stored in bunkers or piles, this is an insidious cost because you don’t write a check for it.
Maximize Homegrown Feeds —If you raise most of your own feeds, work with your nutritionist to maximize the value, he says. “If you are feeding purchased dry hay, consider reducing the amount and increasing the corn silage in the diet if adequate inventory is available. Even with a higher purchased protein cost, the total diet cost likely will be lower,” Salfer explains.
Optimize Bunk Refusals — “With excellent bunk reading and feed management, many have been able to successfully reduce bunk refusals to 2% or below for lactating cows. Feed can be fed to replacement heifers or the low group in a freestall barn,” he says. As the level of refusals is reduced, Salfer says it is important to have high-quality feeds, frequent pushups, strategies to maintain feed along the entire bunk and consistent feeding times.
Avoid Overfeeding Nutrients —All classes of animals should be fed at recommended nutrient requirements but not much above. In my opinion, heifer diets balanced considerably above national research council recommendations are a waste of nutrients. “Research shows that feeding at recommended levels is adequate for excellent growth,” Salfer says. “Review additives and determine if they are cost-effective in the diet.”

Dr. Mike Hutjens, professor of animal science emeritus from the University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana says concurs with Salfer that feed costs are the major costs on the farm.

“With feed representing half of total farm expenses, it’s vital to keep them under control,” he says. “The only reason to raise livestock is to increase return on crops raised on the farm.”

Independent agriculture business financial consultant, Gary Sipiorski, says knowing your costs is essential. He reports that feed costs range between 20% to 45% of the gross income, depending on how much feed you produce yourself.

“If you purchase all your feed, your feed cost will push to be around 50% of the milk check,” Sipiorski says. “Feed is the biggest cost to a dairy and each farm needs to individually evaluate depending on variables such as needs and forage quality.”

For more on nutrition, read:

Economist Shares It Will Be a Tough Year Ahead for Dairy

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 20:10:34 GMT

As dairy producers open up their summer milk checks it will be hard to celebrate. This echoes the sentiments from Ben Laine, a senior dairy analyst with Terrain, who shares he is significantly less optimistic about milk prices and the overall state of the dairy economy compared to the beginning of the year.

Laine notes it is difficult to give the dairy economy a current grade, sharing it gets challenging when looking long-term, that futures are above the 5-to-10-year average.

“For example, we’re really probably slightly above that or close to in line to where that long term average is,” he says.

Laine adds that compared to last year, the dairy economy is much worse in terms of milk price, which is down significantly from last year’s record-setting prices, paired with still-high input costs.

“I think it’s pretty difficult to find anyone who’s above breakeven at these levels,” he shares.

Good News on the Horizon?

Laine is hopeful that a bearish grain market will push feed costs down but it won’t happen overnight.

“That’s not something that’s going to show up immediately. I think what is going to provide some support to milk prices in the second half of the year moving into next year is going to be a little bit more contraction on the supply side,” he says.

Laine also shares that the strong beef market incentivizes producers to sell off the bottom end of their herd.

“A lot of folks in this type of environment where the milk profitability is slowed and negative, it’s incentivizing higher cull rates, so you’re going to see a little bit of contraction, I expect, in the milk cow herd, tightening up supply a little,” he says.

Although Laine shares he is not convinced that a supply contraction on its own is going to be enough to propel us forward.

“I think we’re going to need a little bit tighter supply, but we would really need a big demand surge to see a significant increase in prices at this point,” he adds.

Laine does state that June is likely to be the bottom of prices, although he is being cautiously optimistic for the second half of the year.

“I think we’ll see some upward movement, but it’s still going to be a tough year,” he shares.

Cows Like Candy, Too

Wed, 24 May 2023 17:34:24 GMT

Who doesn’t love candy? Head to Lancaster County Pennsylvania and the sweet aroma of candy can be smelled on a family dairy farm. If you look closely enough, yellow and orange freckles of Reese’s Pieces can be seen in the cow’s TMR feed, too. Andy Young, General Manager of Red Knob Dairy in Peach Bottom, Pa., says they have been feeding upcycled Hershey candy waste to their cows for more than a decade.

This is the same time that Cargill and The Hershey Company teamed up to share a sustainable mindset. Nearly 35,000 tons of what Cargill refers to as ‘candy meal’ is produced by Cargill and used on approximately 500 farms throughout the Northeast. The two companies have perfected a way to upcycle Hershey’s waste stream, which contains edible bits of chocolate, nuts and licorice, and convert it into a reliable, value-added feed ingredient.

Red Knob’s herd of cows are in fact eating everything from Milk Duds to Payday bars, all of it coming from Hershey plants and broken down into a powder and mixed into Cargill’s feed that is delivered to their farm.

Zero Waste

Founded in 1974 and built on the hard work of prior generations, daily operations at Red Knob Farm are now led by the third generation including Andy and David Young as well as Jared Galbreath. The family milks 900 head and raises around 650 head of youngstock.

According to Young, feeding candy meal is a cost-effective and sustainable way to add protein, sugars, and fat to the cow’s diet, replacing molasses or other sources of sugars in feed. The idea that his cows help prevent this byproduct from ending up in the landfill is comforting to the Youngs.

“We aim to reuse everything we can,” Young says. “Whether it’s food or water or manure.”

A representative from Cargill says that by upcycling the candy byproduct, the program has contributed to Hershey’s zero-waste-to-landfill goal while supporting local dairy farmers in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region. Today, Cargill has an entire plant dedicated to the intake and processing of candy meal.

One might wonder if candy is actually good for cows. The fact is sweets, like Hershey chocolate, are a good source of sugar.

According to Dr. Mac Campbell, dairy technical specialist at Cargill, “Candy Meal is an excellent source of energy to support milk production and milk fat synthesis. Also, Candy Meal reduces risk of rumen digestive upset compared to some other carbohydrate sources such as starch. Dairy nutrition formulation software, such as the Cargill Dairy MAX system, pulls the right ingredients in the right amounts to optimize both the nutrition for the cow and the cost for the dairy owner.”

Young says that sourcing the upcycled Hershey candy is easier compared to other options, and more cost-effective, too.

“The candy meal got drawn in incrementally,” Young explains. “And it provided the right nutrients at the right price point that we wanted.”

At the end of the day, Young says feeding candy is a win for all those involved.

“Farmers are the original sustainability experts,” he says. “Taking the milk from dairy cows to make milk chocolate and seeing now that waste stream cycle back again is totally consistent with dairy’s long history of sustainability cycles.”

Premium Alfalfa Hay Delivered by Amazon Prime

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 16:37:12 GMT

According to EarthWeb, Amazon reports that its Prime version had more than 200 million members in 22 countries in April 2021. From accessories to clothing to toiletries, households can get just about anything with one click through their Amazon app.

Dairy farmer, Steve Maddox knew his wife loved Amazon. Recently he also found a newfound love, as he began utilizing their shipping service. Earlier this month, an Amazon Prime truck hauled premium alfalfa dairy hay from his Logan, Utah hay ranch to his Riverdale, Calif. dairy farm.

Amazon worked with a dispatcher who then was able to fill the truck with Maddox’s milk cow alfalfa hay. Although, the load of hay didn’t qualify for free shipping.

“Amazon Prime back hauled 21 tons of hay from our hay ranch to our dairy,” Maddox shares. “The cost of shipping was $1,250.”

He says his hay trucking cost is down from its peak in December 2021, at around $2,000, but up considerably from 8 years ago.

“The cost of trucking from Utah to California back then was between $900 to $1,000,” he says.

Maddox Dairy milks 4,000 cows, with an equal number of heifers, and farms 1,600 acres of almonds and 3,00 acres of wine grapes, as well as cropland to supply feed for their cattle.

According to Maddox, Amazon Prime has many orders heading east but lacks loads coming west.

“They look to backhaul,” he shares.

Delivered in a straight truck, Maddox says they use a forklift and a ramp to underload the 1,400 lb. bales.

(Farm Journal)

“We have 2,500 tons of hay that will get moved from Utah to California,” Maddox says. “That is 120 loads that are trucked from June to the first part of November. Sometimes we will store the hay in Utah and move it west when we need it.”

Amazon is known for its quick deliveries and when the big semi-truck showed up, Maddox didn’t question what his wife had ordered and realized there are many benefits to holding a Prime membership.

The Heifer Discussion

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 14:13:04 GMT

The goal of producers is to raise heifer calves to fill their future pipeline. However, the increased cost associated with raising heifers has made us retool our thinking. Today many producers’ philosophy with raising heifers is only keep the heifers you need. Earlier management decisions are happening on dairies, with a more dialed-in, strategic breeding philosophy being adapted. While our Illinois dairy has also revised our breeding protocols, we still have room for improvement.

Our family dairy has increased the use of beef semen being served to our bottom-end cattle year-over-year. Recently, my husband, Scott, sighed when he learned all the calf hutches were full and four newborns needed a place to go. I kindly remind Scott that we only need so many heifer calves to fill the future pipeline.

Truth be told, Scott has a hard time breeding what is considered low-genomic-value cattle to beef. He often replies, “They are scored Very-Good or Excellent for a reason.”

While those low-genomic-value cattle have a place on our dairy, and on other dairies, too, I encourage producers, like my husband, to review the set protocols on which animals qualify for beef semen. Come up with a breeding game plan on how you handle those “VIP” cows.

Impacting Profitability

Our dairy has sold many surplus heifers, from open to bred heifers, to other dairies over the past decade. This has added a nice income to our bottom line, but with the increased cost associated with raising heifers, I’m not sold that we are truly getting our return on investment back. A heifer discussion is needed on our dairy. My guess is it wouldn’t be bad to revisit yours, too.

A Princess for a Princess

My daughter, Cassie, purchased a Jersey heifer calf in a junior-only sale back in 2014. At the age of 8, Cassie earmarked a few heifer prospects she liked after reviewing the catalog with her father. She ended up buying a heifer named Princess. Cassie’s Princess family has produced 20 heifer descendants. One of those descendants was recently sold in a pot load of surplus heifers that our farm sold to a Canadian herd last month.

The return on investment for Cassie has paid in spades. I’ll admit, sometimes the return on investment when raising heifer offers more than filling the future bulk tank or adding profit to the dairy’s bottom line. It also helps fund other projects, like a kid’s college savings account, or, to Cassie’s appeasement, her first car.

Dairy Semen Sales hit 17-Year-Low: What Will the Trend be Going Forward?

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 18:34:48 GMT

With the cost of inflation impacting every corner of a dairy, including the costs to feed heifers, the producer’s breeding strategy has been forced to become finetuned. More and more producers are keeping just enough replacements to fill the pipeline, so it is not surprising that the market for dairy semen sales has hit a 17-year-low, with year-over-year sales dropping nearly 7%, according to the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) data.

With beef-cross calves creating a value-added revenue stream for producers, Beef x Dairy numbers have indeed skyrocketed. The 2021 NAAB year-end report showed that Beef x Dairy sales totaled 8.5 million units, an increase of more than 30% over 2020.

According to Lyle Kruse, Vice President of U.S. market development for Select Sires, Inc., Holstein dairy owners will continue to prioritize strategic use of sexed and Beef x Dairy due to the increased costs of rearing replacements.

“We could still see some growth in Beef x Dairy in the U.S.,” Kruse says. “Most Jersey dairy owners are already intensively using sexed semen and Beef x Dairy, as well as pure-beef embryos.”

Kruse reports that Select Sires has seen a decline in the U.S. on conventional semen sales over the last 4-5 years, while sexed semen sales continue to increase.

“Total dairy semen sales have also declined,” he notes. “Some of this is from the improvement in dairy reproductive efficiency (fewer units needed per pregnancy), but Beef x Dairy is nearing one unit per cow, which is clearly replacing dairy semen.”

Low Culling Rates

With Beef x Dairy ramped up, the question begs to ask, ‘Will we have enough dairy replacements?’ Kruse says he already sees some herds with a 30% or less culling rate.

Kruse shares that based on research from Dr. Albert DeVries and Dr. Chad Dechow, the optimal herd turnover rate to optimize production and not hinder genetic progress is between 25-30%.

“We are not there yet but heading that direction,” he notes. “To get there, dairies will need productive, healthy and reproductively fit older cows.”

However, he remarks that the trend in declining culling levels has occurred for several years, and he expects that to continue. Kruse also states going forward, this will lead to producers honing their genetic selection focus by using indexes that consider more factors affecting longevity, like Select Sires’ Herd Health Profit$^™ (HHP$^™) or Zoetis Dairy Wellness Profit$^® (DWP$^®).

Kruse says that dairy owners will start focusing on increasing the percentage of older lactation cows (third lactation and up) to eventually be equal to or more than 40% of total lactating cows.

“Herd management, cow comfort and utilization of technology, such as CowManager^®, to aid in accurate individual cow alerts for repro and health management will play a role also,” Kruse remarks.

While we are not there yet, Kruse believes this is what the U.S. is leaning towards. “It also fits our animal care and sustainability needs for the future. Most U.S. dairy owners want to continue to reduce herd replacement costs and harvest additional income by generating excess beef calves from uteruses not needed to gestate replacements,” he says.

With record inflation felt from every angle of the dairy, fine-tuning management must continue, and Kruse says he believes strategic breeding and smart replacement planning is here to stay.

“This includes planning for the most profitable outcome for every pregnancy generated based on the specifics of every individual cow and heifer in the operation,” Kruse notes. “This will include a mix of dairy conventional, dairy sexed and beef conventional and sexed semen and embryos.”

Based on estimates from the USDA-NASS, Chuck Sattler, vice president of the genetic program for Select Sires, shares with his team that the number of replacements is relatively low.

“We only have enough replacements to cull 31-32% of the current dairy cows and this will likely drive herd life and lead to less forced culling of older cows,” Sattler states.

Kruse believes the Beef x Dairy market for semen sales will continue to increase to eventually level off at around 10-11 million units sold per year.

“Some of this decision process is going to be driven by changes in the availability of native beef cattle, replacement dairy heifer prices and the Holstein bull calf prices as well as the level of adaptation for pure-beef embryos,” he says.

Minnesota Producer Perspective

Carlson Dairy, located in Pennock, Minn., has switched up their culling determinations in recent years, especially as they have strategically dialed in on their breeding program.

“We used to cull a lot more, but that has really changed,” one of the owners, Carl Carlson, shares.

Before, cows were culled for mastitis or low production and now cows are only leaving for low production. Carlson’s culling rate hovers between 31-32%.

“We want to keep older lactation cows in the herd longer because obviously we’re getting more milk out of them,” he notes.

Understanding their ultimate goals, the Carlson’s began utilizing Beef x Dairy a couple of years ago on both heifers and mature cows.

“Right away we went with using beef, as well as some conventional semen,” Carlson shares. “And now we’re strictly using either beef or sexed.”

The Carlson family milks 2,000 cows and basically raises all replacements on the home site, except for the 15% that are raised by a nearby family member. In addition, they farm 2,500 acres, including 1,000 acres of alfalfa and 1,500 acres of corn, all of which goes back to the dairy to feed cattle.

(Farm Journal)

Before breeding to beef, Carlson was raising excess heifers that they would later sell as bred heifers, but that changed when the market changed. Rising inflation costs increased (swallowed up sounds like lowered to me) the costs of raising heifers and selling bred heifers later didn’t always guarantee a returned profit.

“We weren’t getting the money back that we were putting into them,” Carlson shares. “We don’t want to raise more heifers than we need because obviously it costs a lot of money to raise a heifer today.”

While the prices for bred heifers have increased with rising milk prices, Carlson says they don’t plan to raise more heifers than they need.

The focus for this Minnesota dairy is to produce 60 heifer calves a month, and their breeding plan has become strategic to reach this goal. Today, 10% of cows are bred to sexed semen while the rest are bred to beef. For the heifers, 50% are bred to sexed while the other half is bred to beef.

An increase in conception rate is proof that the improved management is working. Carlson shares that their current conception rate is 51%. Additionally, the farm relies on a shot program, along with CowScout sensor collars from GEA for heat detection.

Limousine is the breed of choice for Carlson, and he shares that currently he has two buyers for his crossbred calves who pick up calves weekly. Fine-tuned breeding protocols that have introduced Beef x Dairy breeding now generate an additional revenue stream for the operation. Carlson gets $200 per crossbred calf and shares that in 2021 he sold approximately 150 crossbreds a month.

Creating just enough replacements has not only helped Carlson Dairy maintain its herd size, but also generate efficiencies throughout the operation to cushion their bottom line.

Dairy Report: California Drought Continues to Impact Dairy Producers

Wed, 19 May 2021 17:41:29 GMT

The drought out west isn’t just impacting grain and livestock producers. It’s also impacting California’s dairy industry.

Speaking with one dairy producer in Riverdale, California, Maddox Dairy milks 4,000 cows, with an equal number of heifers. Part of the water system the farm uses includes the Stinson Irrigation District in Fresno County. The company has told its members not to expect any water this year.

Maddox Dairy says most farms in Fresno County have their own wells. The owner, though, made the decision to fallow a third of his 1,800 acres of corn silage cropland due to water restrictions. That means, he will have to purchase more feed in a year when feed prices are rising. He estimates his feed costs will increase by up to 25%.

Farm Safety

We know that farming can be a dangerous job at times, and dairy farmers face even more hazards due to animals, feed and on-farm chemicals. Now OSHA is identifying the top 12 safety concerns on dairies. It calls them the “dairy dozen”.

They include manure storage, dairy bull and cow movement, electrical systems, skid steer loader, tractor operation, along with on-farm chemicals and noise. Hazardous chemicals are often found on dairy farms. They can include teat dips, sanitizing acids and detergents, along with oil-based paint and diesel fuel.

OSHA reports nearly one-third of employees they interviewed during recent inspections of more than 100 dairy farms said they were not informed about the hazards of the chemicals they used.