Moosletter: October 2019

Moosletter: October 2019
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October 2019                                                                       
In this Issue
  • Nebraska Dairy Tailgate set for November 16
  • Aflotoxins in Corn
  • NSDA Update
  • FARM Animal Care Program Announces Version 4.0 Changes for 2020
  • Calf Care Handling Videos Available Online
  • AFAN is Working for You!
  • Nuts & Bolts of Corn Silage Quality Webinar
  • Siouxland Ag Lenders Seminar
  • US Dairy Industry Encouraged Interim Japan Trade Deal
Calendar of Events
 
November
7: Siouxland Ag Lenders Program; 9:00 am-4:00 pm, Orange City, IA
15: Dairy Leadership Program Kick-off event
16: Nebraska Dairy Producers Indoor tailgate; Apothecary building, 140 N 8th St, Lincoln; see the flyer

December
4: Livestock Risk Management workshop; Ramada Columbus, NE; check dairy.unl.edu for details.

2020
January
I-29 Moo University Winter Workshop Series, Norfolk.

February
9-13: Dairy Farm tours, Tulare, CA. 
24: Dairy Leadership: Farm Finances Workshop, Columbus, NE
25: Nebraska State Dairy Association Annual Convention

 

By Kim Clark, Dairy Extension Educator
What a weather anomaly this year has been!  It started this spring with the bomb cyclone in March in the western part of Nebraska and the flooding on the central and eastern portion of the state from the rapid melting and rains.  Since then, much of the state has been wet or flooded.

As silage harvest continues and corn harvest begins, mycotoxin challenges and issues may arise.  Mold produce mycotoxins.  It is not the molds themselves that impact animal health, it is the mycotoxins that negatively impact animal health. 

One common mycotoxin is Aflotoxin.  Aflotoxin is produced by two molds, Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus.  A. parasiticus causes the most aflatoxin issues in the United States.  High heat, relative humidity and drought are ideal conditions for aflatoxin growth during pollination and as kernels mature.  On corn in a field, mold growth will appear as gray-green or yellow-green mold growing on corn kernels in the field or storage.

Long-term consumption of low levels of mycotoxins may contribute to chronic problems including reduced feed intake, reduced nutrient absorption and impaired metabolism, suppressed immunity, and altered microbial growth. 

Before feeding grains to livestock, it is recommended to test feeds for mycotoxins. Contact the laboratory you or your nutritionist use to determine if they test for mycotoxins.  Iowa State University Extension and Outreach developed a Mycotoxin Grain Testing Directory of laboratories, both commercial and University based, that test for mycotoxins. Click here to continue reading.

FARM Animal Care Program Announces
Version 4.0 Changes for 2020
ARLINGTON, VA – The National Milk Producers Federation, with support from Dairy Management Inc., today announced updates to animal care standards under the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management, or FARM, Animal Care program after a rigorous 16-month stakeholder review.

The fourth iteration of the FARM Animal Care Program’s standards supports closer farmer-veterinarian relationships, requires continuing education for all employees and adds a new standard for pain management when disbudding animals. As with previous versions of FARM Animal Care, a robust suite of materials that include templates, FAQs, continuing education videos and other resource tools will be made available to help producers meet the outlined standards. These resources are available to producers through their cooperative or processor and can be found on the FARM Resources web page. Hard copy resources are also available upon request.
 
“FARM’s Animal Care Program 4.0 underscores the dairy community’s commitment to continually improving animal care and incorporating the latest animal-welfare research, demonstrating to consumers that dairy is a leader in the humane and ethical care of our animals,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “We are committed to ensuring that farms are prepared to meet the updated standards and that the supply chain – from farm to fork -- has full transparency as well as high-quality dairy products.”
 
FARM Animal Care is updated once every three years to ensure relevance to current industry best management practices and scientific research related to on-farm animal care. Farmers nationwide, dairy veterinarians and animal-welfare experts and dairy-industry leaders are all represented in drafting and approving new standards received 370 submissions that guided final decisions made on Version 4.0.
Significant changes going into effect beginning Jan. 1 include:
  • If tail docking is found to have continued to occur, immediate action must be taken to cease the practice.
  • Standards that generate a Mandatory Corrective Action Plan -- ranging from veterinarian engagement (Veterinarian-Client-Patient-Relationship and herd health plan review), calf care, non-ambulatory, euthanasia and fitness to transport management practices, and disbudding prior to 8 weeks of age -- will need to be addressed within nine months of the evaluation. For additional specifics around the standards updates, please visit this site.
 
FARM staff will be attending and exhibiting at the World Dairy Expo from Oct. 1-5 at booth EH4508. FARM is also hosting a lunch at Expo on Thursday, Oct. 3rd at noon CT to more broadly discuss current initiatives within FARM. RSVP is required and can be completed by emailing the FARM Inbox at dairyfarm@nmpf.org

If you have questions about the FARM program and the new changes, reach out to Kim Clark, Dairy Extension Educator at kimclark@unl.edu or 402-472-6065.
Calf Care and Handling videos available online

Having properly trained employees is critical for the health, growth and development of dairy calves and for the profitability and sustainability of a dairy farm. This series of resources provides training in calf management including; newborn calf care, colostrum management, animal handling, automatic calf feeder management, and hygiene and sanitation. The videos linked below in English and Spanish cover harvesting and storage of colostrum.

https://mediahub.unl.edu/channels/27873

Training videos on flash-drive or DVD can also be requested by emailing jbentley@iastate.edu or kimclark@unl.edu

Calf head photo
AFAN is Working for You!
The Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska’s (AFAN) mission is to grow the livestock industry in Nebraska.  AFAN is supported by all the commodity organizations, Farm Bureau, NE Dept of Ag, UNL and many private partners in this mission.  Livestock growth creates value for grain producers and economic diversity as well as opportunity to expand a farming operation without needing more land.
 
AFAN offers many services to assist producers in deciding if livestock is right for them and how to go about getting started.  We meet one-on-one with farmers and ranchers to discuss options for new construction or expansion, type of operation to build, what regulations they will have to abide by and who to contact.  A great example of what AFAN can do is the Lincoln Premium Poultry/Costco project; AFAN worked to bring information to potential growers about the opportunity, helped those growers evaluate where to site the buildings, and supported the grower through county zoning meetings. This is what we can do for all livestock operations.
 
Partnering with others is where we all gain strength.  AFAN is part of the Grow Nebraska Dairy effort that is working to create opportunities for dairy producers in Nebraska.  We will be attending the World Dairy Expo, World Ag Expo and International Dairy Foods Association meetings to make connections with processors and other diary industry folks to promote Nebraska as a great place to do business.  Dairy has tremendous growth potential in our state and we look forward to seeing that happen!
 
If you would like more information about AFAN please visit our website at becomeafan.org or call, text, email or just stop by, we’d love to visit with you!
 
NSDA Update
NSDA was invited by White House staff to participate on a conference call that briefed on the new agreNebraska state dairy association logoement with Japan before it made headlines.  The DC Dairy Summit has payed tenfold! 

NSDA signed onto the letter by National Milk Producers Federation asking for a swift trade deal be done with Japan.  

Mark your calendars for the 2020 Annual Dairy Convention in Columbus, February 25.  
Nuts & Bolts of Corn Silage Quality Webinar Available

Nebraska Extension recently hosted a corn silage webinar to assist you in preparing to put up corn silage.  Dr. Hugo Ramirez, former UNL dairy graduate student and Assistant Professor at Iowa State University, shared his 5 C's of putting up quality corn silage. 

  1. Content of Dry Matter - Maturity
  2. Chop length and kernel processing - chopping length should be 19 mm or 3/4 inches; kernel processing should be 2 mm or tighter
  3. Compaction - packing; the goal is at least 15 pounds dry matter per cubic foot
  4. Covering and sealing - cover and seal as soon as possible, use oxygen barrier and black and white plastic cover
  5. Care and management at feed-out
Click here to access the webinar and Power Point slides. 
Siouxland Ag Lenders program flyer
AGENDA
8:45 a.m. — Registration
9:00 a.m. — Convergence of the Big Three in Agriculture: Economy, Technology and Experience
Doug Johnson, Moody’s Analytics
10:00 a.m. — Break
10:15 a.m. — Combining FINBIN and DHIA Data to Predict Expansion Success Jim Salfer, University of Minnesota
11:00 a.m. — Dairy Market Outlook Mark Stephenson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
12:00 Noon — Lunch
12:45 p.m. — How Dairies are Ramping Up Their Financial Reporting Gary Vande Vegte, Van Bruggen & Vande Vegte, PC
1:45 p.m. — Break
2:00 p.m. — Tax Law Changes Tom Thaden, Iowa Farm Business Assn.
2:45 p.m. — Market Outlook Chad Hart, Iowa State University
3:45 p.m. — Adjourn and Evaluation plus Price Prognostications


Registration deadline: October 25

Pre-registration is $85 for the first person from the business/organization, and $60 for each additional person. Includes materials, lunch and refreshments. Registration at the door is $100 per person with no lunch guaranteed.

Register via phone at 712-737-4230, or online at
https://form.jotform.com/4Hregion1/siouxland-lenders-seminar

Questions?
Fred Hall, NW Iowa Extension Dairy Specialist
712-737-4230 or fredhall@iastate.edu
U.S. Dairy Industry Encouraged by Interim Japan Trade Deal, Urges U.S. to Complete the Job in Negotiations to Come
 
 
ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today thanked the U.S. government for its work to reach an interim agreement with Japan that will deliver improvements in market access for the U.S. dairy industry, while noting that the work to secure a sufficient competitive landscape in Japan for dairy is not finished.
 
NMPF and USDEC look forward to reviewing with their members the details of this first stage of a trade agreement with Japan to take advantage of the new opportunities it will provide on a near-term basis while continuing to work with the Administration to secure the additional elements that are still needed to ensure a strong final dairy package in a comprehensive agreement. 
 
“This enhanced access into the Japanese market is welcome news. Japan represents a rapidly growing market, and without a trade deal, our competitors are poised to seize valuable market share from U.S. dairy,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of USDEC. “This first stage of a US-Japan agreement will improve upon today’s status quo, which has been unsatisfactory ever since Japan’s treaties with the CPTPP nations and the EU went into effect. To continue that progress toward closing the competitiveness gap with both CPTPP and EU suppliers, it’s essential that the U.S. secure further market openings and assurances in the second stage of negotiations with Japan to best position the U.S. to compete against all of our major competitors in Japan.”
 
“This interim trade agreement with Japan is welcome news for farmers across the U.S. who have seen their incomes damaged by trade disputes,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “Today’s news is not the end of the road though; it’s the first leg of the journey. We thank America’s trade negotiators for their pursuit of a deal aimed at benefiting our dairy farmers and expanding international markets for their high-quality milk. To reap those full rewards and ensure the U.S. is able to best compete in the Japanese market, the subsequent stage of negotiations must secure further inroads into Japan, building upon what our key competitors – the European Union and New Zealand – have secured there.”
 
NMPF and USDEC agree with what Ambassador Lighthizer told the House Ways and Means Committee during his testimony in June: “You cannot treat your best customer worse than you treat people from all these other countries in Europe and all the other TPP countries.”
 
Last month, USDEC and NMPF coordinated a letter signed by 70 dairy companies, farmer-owned cooperatives, and associations to the United States Trade Representative and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture asking the U.S. government to move swiftly to finalize a strong trade deal with Japan and secure critical market access for the U.S. dairy industry. The objectives outlined in that letter remain the industry’s expectation for a comprehensive agreement with Japan.
 
The U.S. exported $270 million in dairy products to Japan in 2018 with room for further growth. However, without a strong trade agreement that addresses the inequalities in market access granted to our competitors by the Japan-EU and CPTPP agreements, a 2019 USDEC study found that the U.S. risked losing $1.3 billion in exports over a decade, costing dairy farmers $1.7 billion in farm income.
 
Nebraska State Dairy Association logo
Kris Bousquet, Exec. Director
Email: KrisBousquet@NebraskaMilk.org
Phone: (531) 207-4291
Are you an NSDA member? Click here for membership information.
Nebraska Extension logo
Kim Clark, Dairy Extension Educator
Email: kimclark@unl.edu
Phone: (402) 472-6065
 
Thank you to our sponsors
5 STAR
Automated Dairy Specialists      Aschoff Construction     Midwest Dairy     Nebraska Corn Board   
SoyBest
 
4 STAR
Enogen Feed    Farm Credit Services     Frontier Mills, Inc.   Nebraska Vet Services    
Nebraska Soybean Board    Nutrient Advisors
 
3 STAR
Ag Processing, Inc./Amino Plus   Cappel Sales, Inc.  Diamond V  Gallagher  Midwest Livestock Systems   Nebraska Dairy Systems    Progressive Nutrition
 
2 STAR
Advanced Comfort Technology/DCC Waterbeds   Agri-King, Inc   AgVenture The Seed Company     Alltech     Animal Health International   Balchem Animal Nutrition   Central Confinement Services, Ltd   Central Dairy Supply   DeHaan, Grabs & Associates, LLC   Elosyl Products, Inc.   Heartland Builders    Hiland Dairy Foods    IDEXX LALA Branded Products     Legend Seeds   LG Pumping   Multimin USA   USDA-NASS, Northern Plains Region   Peterson Ag Systems   Phibro Animal Health Corporation   Select Sires MidAmerica   Sioux Automation Center, Inc.   ST Genetics   West Point Dairy Products, LLC.
 
1 STAR
Agropur   American Agco Trading Company    Associated Milk Producers, Inc.  CMP Dairy Consulting    Connor Agriscience    Dairy Farmers of America     Elanco   Form-A-Feed   Nebraska Cattlemen   Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation   Nebraska Public Power District   XFE Products  
 
Dairy Booster
Bills Volume Sales, Inc.      Holstein Association USA  Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska   Nebraska Dairy Extension    We Support Ag    Nebraska Department of Agriculture   
Nebraska Department of Economic Development
 
Nebraska State Dairy Association Mission: The purpose of the Nebraska State Dairy Association is for the promotion of dairy interests in the state of Nebraska.

 

Nebraska Dairy Extension Mission: As Nebraska Extension faculty with expertise in dairy production and agriculture systems, we provide science-based programs, resources, and knowledge to Nebraska’s dairy producers. Our aim is to empower dairy operations to be both sustainable and resilient while maintaining profitability. Our ideas, actions, and communications will promote resource-based stewardship while enhancing human and animal well-being.
Copyright © 2019 Nebraska State Dairy Association, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
9019 South 72nd Street, Lincoln, NE 68516

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