Dairy
April
1999
BIOSECURITY ON THE FARM
Extension Dairy Science Specialist
Biosecurity is a fancy word for a program designed to minimize your herd's exposure to diseases. Recently, Mississippi reached a milestone in becoming a Brucellosis free State for cattle. The free status was accomplished through an eradication program that included testing to determine those animals that were infected and more importantly an effective vaccination program. However, there are many other diseases that are not as easy to test for nor have effective vaccines to protect cattle.
As a dairy producer, any event that decreases milk production or lowers reproduction costs you money. Leptospirosis, for example, is an infectious disease that can cause abortions, lower your reproductive efficiency and ultimately reduce milk production for a herd. Fortunately, there are very effective vaccines to protect cattle against Leptospirosis, yet each year veterinarians diagnose and treat herds that either stopped vaccinating or did not properly administer their vaccination program.
I compare good biosecurity programs to an all-star baseball player. Joe DiMaggio was the complete player, excelling in both offense and defense. And so it should be with the protection of your herd from potential disease outbreaks. A well-rounded disease prevention program will minimize exposure and maximize protection.
Vaccination Vaccines are like health insurance. Most people buy health insurance before they get sick, because if they wait until they are ill, it may be too late to receive coverage. Vaccines are the same way; they are not designed for cows that are already infected. Vaccinate cattle as a prevention, not a cure.
The obvious question is "What do I vaccinate for?" The standard answer is "Check with your veterinarian." Your local veterinarian has the experience to help you implement a vaccination schedule for your farm. There are some vaccines that I think are essential to any dairy operation. These are Leptospirosis, IBR, BIV, P13, BSRV, and Clostridium (Blackleg).
There are other vaccines such as E. coli vaccines, which in certain situations can be very beneficial. Your vaccination program should be customized to meet the needs of your herd and always remain flexible to make changes if needed.
Isolation In an ideal world, a herd of cattle would be separated from contact with any other cows. Accomplishing this may be nearly impossible in most situations. Fences that directly border with other cattle and the occasional "escapee" either from your herd or your neighbor's herd can compromise your herd's health. Additionally, the movement of cows to livestock shows, veterinarian facilities and other off-farm areas and then back again also allows exposure to herd contamination.
Maybe the biggest risk for your herd is purchased cows and heifers entering directly into the herd. Every animal arriving in your herd for the first time should be held in a quarantine area. The duration of the quarantine depends upon the potential for iseases and your veterinarian's recommendations. And, effer a biosecurity break is the people who visit your farm after contact with other animals. These can be the very people who many times assist you with the health and management of your herd. Specifically, veterinarians, nutritionist and consultants as well as other people who come in direct contact with your cattle or even walk through the areas where your cows are kept. It may seem trivial to ask these people to disinfect their boots before entering your herd, but it can provide you with added protection that will keep your cows healthy and profitable.
In-Herd Transmission Even in a closed and isolated herd of cattle there can be the potential for the spread of diseases. We all know how easily diseases spread through baby calves whose immune systems are weak. Similarly, cows within a herd can infect each other. Much of the disease spreading potential can be eliminated with some simple techniques.
- Artificial Insemination- A natural service bull can contaminate many cows with numerous diseases. The use of A. I. will reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.
- Single Service Breeding Gloves- When breeding or palpating use a new glove for each animal. Common use gloves have been suspected in the spread of bovine leukemia.
- Single Use Needles- There have been some nasty outbreaks of anaplasmosis from common needle use in cattle. We certainly would not allow a doctor to reuse a needle when injecting us.
- Clean Equipment- obstetric chains for assisted births should be disinfected after each use. Avoid ropes because they are hard to disinfect. Bolus applicators, intravenous kits and other equipment that are reused for numerous cattle can also transfer disease.
- Proper Mastitis Treatment Procedures- Only use commercially packaged, individual infusion tubes to treat mastitis. Several organisms such as mycoplasma and yeast, which are untreatable, can be spread by the use of bottle mixes of antibiotics.
Analyze your farm situation to see if there are areas where you can improve your biosecurity plan. And if you don't currently have a plan to reduce your herd's exposure to diseases, begin now. Just one disease that spreads through your herd can cost you thousands of dollars.
Nutritionist, MSU
Spring is the best time of the year for many dairymen in Mississippi because approximately 100 percent of the cows are in milk and winter annual grazing (ryegrass, wheat and/or oats) is the predominant forage. This season is also the most profitable since milk production for the herd is at a yearly high. The reason for the increased milk production and improved profits is the forage quality of winter annual grazing. Assuming that these grasses are fertilized correctly, the nutritional value on a dry matter basis is high. Crude protein level may be 30% or higher, Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) content is 70% or higher and Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) level is 25% or lower. For many dairymen, winter annual grazing is without question the highest quality forage fed to lactating cows. Unfortunately, the quality of this forage decreases rapidly as temperatures rise during late spring. It is obvious that dairymen must take action to prevent a drastic crop in milk production. This is imperative especially since the heat stress during the hot summer months prevents cows from rebounding after lowered milk production. Several approaches which can be used to keep the nutritional value of the ration are briefly discussed in the following paragraphs.
Since many dairymen have corn silage as a forage source, rations can be converted over to corn silage as the major forage. As the quality of winter grazing deteriorates, corn silage should be increased in the ration to prevent reduction in dry matter intake. Since good corn silage is low in protein and high in energy, the type of concentrate used to supplement corn silage should be adjusted. Additionally, the vitamin and mineral content of winter annual grazing is higher than that of corn silage so supplementation of these nutrients should be adjusted.
Some dairymen harvest winter annual forage to be fed as silage or baleage during the late spring and summer months. In this situation, increased feeding of concentrate can at least partially offset the decline in winter annual grazing quality until the time that the silage is ready to feed. The silage must ferment at least 21 days before feeding and 28 days is more desirable to insure total fermentation and preservation. Winter annual silage or baleage is higher in crude protein and lower in energy content than corn silage so the type and amount of concentrate utilized in the ration should be adjusted. In addition, the cows must be adjusted to the ration containing that winter annual silage especially if no silage has been fed during the grazing season.
A third alternative is the feeding of hay. It is critical that excellent quality grass hay be fed if milk production levels are to remain high. This hay should be fed at the time when winter annual grazing starts to deteriorate in quality and quantity. If excellent quality grass hay is not availabe, dairymen should consider purchasing a high quality hay such as alfalfa to feed with the average quality grass hay. This approach will help increase ration quality while minimizing cost of milk production.
Lastly, summer annual grasses such as millet or sorghum-sudan, can be planted to be used as summer forages. Perennial warm season grasses such as bermuda grass can also be used as grazing forages during the summer months. One must realize that there is a time gap between winter annual grazing and annual or perennial warm season grasses. An excellent quality forage, usually hay, must be fed during this gap to prevent a significant drop in milk production
In summary, forage quality must be maintained after winter annual grazing quality starts deteriorating. Always remember that increased feeding of concentrate will NOT totally offset decreases in forage quality. If we in Dairy Extension at MSU can be of assistance, please contact us.
UPCOMING
EVENTS April
9, 7:00 P.M.. Dixieland
Holstein Sale April
10, 10:00 A.M. Dixieland
Holstein Sale May
27, 9:00 A.M. Statewide
Dairy Field Day June
4, 7:00 A.M. All
Breed Dairy Heifer Sale June
5, 12:00 Noon All
Breed Dairy Heifer Sale HONOR
ROLL HERDS* Dairy County No.
Cows Lbs
ECM** 2X/3X RHA
Milk RHA
Fat RHA
Prot DOT MACTOC
FARM OKTIBBEHA 195 90.3 2X 25396 942 826 02/04/99 JEFCOAT
& WILLIAMS DAIRY JONES 65 79.1 2X 20577 710 640 02/17/99 STEWARD
FARM INC TATE 383 74.9 2X 22507 792 716 02/22/99 DAVID
ROBINSON & SONS RANKIN 136 72.1 2X 19386 714 603 02/22/99 MELVIN
NICHOLSON NEWTON 127 71.6 2X 22417 823 711 02/01/99 COASTAL
PLAIN EXP STA NEWTON 163 69.6 2X 21109 787 678 02/07/99 G
& B DAIRY LINCOLN 36 68.8 2X 16873 658 613 01/30/99 G
& B DAIRY COPIAH 152 67.2 2X 16762 652 553 01/28/99 RONALD
H CLARK LINCOLN 87 66.3 2X 19434 686 635 01/29/99 CLEMMER
AND HILL DAIRY TIPPAH 189 66.0 2X 19479 658 608 02/16/99 CHEEKS
DAIRY JONES 137 65.1 2X 17060 608 558 02/22/99 CAL
MAINE FOODS DAIRY HINDS 1637 64.3 3X 19334 702 617 02/07/99 A
L BOYD JR WALTHALL 76 63.4 2X 20350 633 642 02/09/99 DIXIE
DAIRY SALES CARROLL 488 61.8 2X 20236 798 647 02/20/99 KNIGHTS
DAIRY FARM JONES 130 61.6 2X 19529 676 627 02/09/99 ROWZEE
JERSEY FARM NEWTON 153 61.3 2X 16556 748 629 02/22/99 ELWAYNE
MAST NOXUBEE 174 60.5 2X 17738 610 525 02/18/99 WILLA
DEAN GURNEY AMITE 241 60.5 2X 18463 668 607 02/10/99 THOMPSON
BROTHERS MARSHALL 131 60.4 2X 19445 699 626 02/08/99 JAY
PAUL HOOVER NOXUBEE 159 60.2 2X 17187 0 0 02/17/99 JODY
DEBLANC PIKE 34 60.1 2X 0 0 0 01/21/99 NORTH
MISS BR EXP STATION MARSHALL 89 59.4 2X 20091 737 657 02/09/99 MILTON
AND TERRY JEFCOAT JONES 227 59.0 2X 21534 737 674 02/08/99 MS.STATE
UNIVERSITY OKTIBBEHA 166 58.3 2X 20173 841 661 02/24/99 SUMMERS
DAIRY MARION 55 58.0 2X 18704 683 583 02/15/99 *
Top 30 herds enrolled on supervised DHIA testing
programs by test day energy corrected milk.
Franklinton, LA
Franklinton, LA
Newton, MS
McComb, MS
Pontotoc, MS
** ECM = (.3246 x test day milk) + (12.86 x test
day lbs fat) + (7.04 x test day lbs protein)
Dairy Economist, MSU
BFP Plunges by $6.00, Lowest BFP Since May 1991
The Basic Formula Price, or BFP, suffered its largest decline in the 40+ year history of the BFP and M-W price series when the USDA reported a February BFP of $10.27 per hundredweight (cwt.) which was $6.00 per cwt. lower than the January BFP of $16.27. This $10.27 BFP represents an eight-year low when the former Minnesota-Wisconsin price series was reported at $10.23 in May 1991. Additionally, February's classified milk prices have resulted in a price difference of $10.15 per cwt. between the Class I price of $20.42 and the Class III price of $10.27 and there has NEVER been this large a price discrepancy. The dairy industry was expecting a substantial decline in the February BFP -- but most market analysts were surprised by the sheer magnitude of this $6.00 decline. This plummeting of the BFP translates into a 36.9% change in milk prices, indicating that volatility remains a significant problem that dairy producers must attempt to manage.
The reasons given for the $6.00 plunge in the February BFP are: (1) the $1.07 decline in the January BFP was much smaller than expected, so a portion of this anticipated decline was delayed until February; and, (2) an oddity in the Upper Midwest witnessed during January when the BFP was greater than the value of milk used to produce cheeses, thus processors greatly reduced prices paid for milk used for making cheese. The combined effects of these factors have caused an overreaction in the dairy market where most experts believe that milk prices have fallen too far. Therefore, the March BFP should increase and the size this anticipated rise depends on how much milk is produced during this year's spring flush. Current milk output is the heaviest along the Gulf Coast where the spring flush is already in full swing resulting in Florida, Louisiana, and the Carolinas exporting 70 - 140 truckloads per week to nearby states. Almost ideal weather conditions across the U.S. and, especially in the Southeast, have caused milk production to jump sharply while demand for bottled and manufactured dairy products has been sluggish, corresponding to the usual seasonal pattern. With milk production increasing aggressively and dairy product demand ebbing, milk supplies are exceeding dairy consumption needs and the outlook for milk price is pessimistic for the remainder of this spring and into early summer. Dairy farmers need to be prepared for the significant declines in milk prices and dairy farm revenues that will be seen in their mailbox milk checks over the next several months. The February BFP was reported at $10.27 per cwt. which represents a DECREASE of $6.00 cwt. (-36.9%) BELOW the January BFP of $16.27. This year's February BFP is $3.05 per cwt. (or 23%) LOWER than the February 1998 BFP price of $13.32. Dairy producers need to remember that the February BFP will be used as the base price to calculate the April Class I and Class II milk prices and the February Class III milk price. Because about 80 percent of Mississippi milk is utilized as Class I and Class II products, farmers will not notice the majority of this $6.00 plunge in the February BFP until they receive their "settlement" checks in mid-May as payment for milk sold in April.
Milk Production Milk output is increasing dramatically in the U.S. and the spring flush has NOT yet begun in the major milk producing regions. The USDA reports that February milk production was 4.3% higher (or +518 million pounds) than February 1998. This tremendous increase in milk output has been stimulated by an increase in dairy farm profitability during the last six to eight months subsequent to record high milk prices, very moderate feed prices and costs, and favorable weather that has produced ample and high quality forages in most areas of the country. For the 20 states reporting monthly milk production statistics, this 4.3% increase in output was accomplished by milking 16,000 fewer cows but these cows produced 60 more pounds of milk per head when comparing February 1999 versus February 1998. The largest monthly increases in output were recorded in the western states of Arizona (+12.0%), New Mexico (+10.9%), California (+8.7%), and Idaho (+8.1%). Two of the five states reporting decreased production were located in the Southeast which follows the long-term trend of declining milk output in this region. For the three Southeastern states which report monthly milk output data, Florida increased by 1.4% (with 2,000 fewer cows producing 35 more pounds per cow), Kentucky declined by 5.1% (with 8,000 fewer cows producing five more pounds per cow), and Virginia fell by 1.4% (with 3,000 fewer cows producing 15 more pounds per cow) between the most recent Februaries.
Dairy Product Prices While the dark clouds of excess milk supplies and the prospect of an upcoming spring flush burden the dairy market outlook, dairy products prices have remained remarkably stable during late February and early March. Cheese prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) have been virtually constant duringFebruary 19 and on March 19 and did not change at all over this period. Barrel prices did experience some up and down movements and did increase 0.75 cents from $1.2950 on February 19 to $1.3025 on March 19. Grade AA butter began being traded on the CME three times a week on March 8 and processors are striving to adjust their pricing schemes to correspond to the new CME trading schedule. During this same four-week period, CME butter prices have declined 14.00 cents per pound (-10.4%) from $1.3400 on February 19 to $1.2000 on March 19. The butter market is being described as "weak" with processors having filled and shipped their Easter holiday orders with most of the anticipated orders also having been satisfied for the next several months. Nonfat dry milk (NDM) prices on the CME have also illustrated price stability during these four weeks with Grade A NDM prices reported at $1.0500 on both February 19 and March 19. However, the USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) has increased the amount of weekly purchases and has bought more than 21.5 million pounds of non fortified NDM between February 22 and March 19. The NDM market is obviously "weak" with market prices being supported by CCC purchases and large amounts of excess milk supplies being processed into milk powder products.
Near-term Market Outlook The market outlook for the dairy industry over the next several months will be dependent on the quantities of milk produced during this year's spring flush period. Current milk supplies are exceeding dairy product demand and, subsequently, large quantities of distressed milk go searching for a dairy processing plant that is able to utilize these excess volumes of milk. These increasing volumes of excess or distress milk are casting a very large shadow over the industry. If weather conditions continue to be favorable for producing milk, dairy farmers will produce even more milk which will likely cause prices to fall to the federal support level (or, a BFP of $9.80 at 3.5% Butterfat). Despite this very dismal price outlook, most market observers believe that the February BFP overcorrected when it fell $6.00 per cwt. and expect that the March BFP to increase and will be in the $11.00 to $11.25 range. As an indication of what the future holds for milk prices, BFP futures contracts settlement prices for March 19 were reported at $11.15 for March, $11.20 for April, $10.96 for May and $10.95 for June. However, these recent price movements again demonstrate the extreme volatility of milk prices and points to the fact that dairy farmers must struggle with an exceeding difficult problem of attempting to manage huge fluctuations in the amount of revenues received from the sale of their milk. The process of Federal Milk Order reform needs to address this problem of price volatility.
USDA Announces Plans to Distribute Dairy Disaster Funds
The USDA announced on March 8th its plan for distributing the $200 million allocated for disaster assistance payments to U.S. dairy farmers under the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1999. This legislation was passed last fall but the USDA delayed announcing its method for dispensing these monies until the anticipated decline in the BFP occurred on March 5. The USDA's plan requires dairy farmers to sign up at their local USDA Farm Service Agency office between April 12 and May 21, 1999. The payment to each qualifying farmer will be based on the higher of the annual milk production totals from either 1997 or 1998, up to a maximum of 2.6 million pounds. To be eligible to receive a disaster payment, a dairy farmer must have sold milk during the fourth quarter of 1998.
The USDA expects that the disaster payment to an individual qualified dairy to be limited to a maximum of approximately $5,000. Thus, the payment rate is anticipated to be between 18 and 20 cents per cwt. given the limitations listed above. Because the amount of Dairy Disaster Assistance monies is limited to $200 million, the exact amount of disaster payments that an individual dairy farmer will receive cannot be determined until the sign-up period ends and the number of eligible milk producers are identified by the USDA. Again, each dairy farmer must sign-up at her/his local Farm Service Agency office to qualify for this disaster payment of MAYBE as much as $5,000. If a dairy farmer fails to sign-up, she/he will not receive any disaster funds that will surely be needed later this summer when farm revenues fall dramatically due to plummeting milk prices.
Southeast F.O. #7 "Blend" Price Falls Slightly to $18.99 in February
The Southeast Federal Order Milk Market Administrator reported the February 1999 "blend" or uniform prices for milk delivered in Federal Order (FO) #7 at $18.99 per cwt. (for 3.5% Butterfat milk) in Zone 7, see the Mississippi map for zones (Zone 5 minus $0.25, Zone 6 minus $0.10, Zone 8 plus $0.10, Zone 9 plus $0.20, Zone 10 plus $0.32, Zone 11 plus $0.50, and Zone 12 plus $0.57 per cwt.). The February "blend" price of $18.99 for Zone 7 of FO #7 represents a DECREASE of eight cents per cwt. compared to the January price of $19.07. The February 1999 blend price is $3.27 (or 20.1%) ABOVE the February 1998 blend price of $15.72. The small decrease in the February blend price occurred despite increases in both the Class I and Class II milk prices and despite an increase in the Class I utilization rate (and corresponding decreases in the Class II and Class III utilization rates). This eight-cent decline in the February blend price is attributed to the huge decrease in the Class III milk price of $6.00 per cwt. Class I utilization rose 1.9% (from 76.8% in January to 78.7% in February), while Class II utilization fell by 0.5% (from 7.4% in January to 6.9% in February) and Class III utilization decreased by 1.4% (from 15.8% in January to 14.4% in February). The February Zone 7 "blend" price was calculated using: (1) the December BFP price of $17.34 plus the $3.08 Zone 7 Class I differential for a Class I price of $20.42; (2) the December BFP price of $17.34 plus the 30 cents per cwt. Class II differential for a Class II price of $17.64; and, (3) the February Class III price of $10.27 (which is the BFP). Please consult the map in this newsletter to determine which Zone the plant you sell your milk to is located in FO #7. A dairy producer's uniform price and the amount of his milk check is affected by where the plant that processes his milk is located in the Southeast FO and NOT by where the milk was produced on the dairy farm.
UNIFORM
or "BLEND" PRICE FOR FEBRUARY 1999 ZONE
5: $18.74 ZONE
9: $19.19 ZONE
6: $18.89 ZONE
10: $19.31 ZONE
7: $18.99 ZONE
11: $19.49 ZONE
8: $19.09
CLASS
1 PRICE FOR APRIL 1999 (using February 1999
BFP) ZONE
5: $13.10 ZONE
9: $13.55 ZONE
6: $13.25 ZONE
10: $13.67 ZONE
7: $13.35 ZONE
11: $13.85 ZONE
8: $13.45
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Last Modified: Wednesday, 18-Feb-04 11:08:22
URL: http://msucares.com/newsletters/dairy/1999/199904.html
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