Dairy
June
1999
BRUSH UP ON YOUR SUMMER MANAGEMENT
Dr.
John Fuquay, Professor
Animal & Dairy Sciences, MSU
Dairy cows produce milk most efficiently when the ambient temperature is roughly between 35 and 65 degrees F. This has been identified as their "comfort" or "thermoneutral" zone. During Mississippi summers when we sometimes go for weeks with the nighttime temperature never dropping into this zone, dairy cows show marked stress responses. These responses include elevated rectal temperature, reduced appetite, reduced milk production and loss of body condition. In addition, if cows need to be inseminated, our ability to detect them in estrus is reduced. If detected in estrus and inseminated, fertility will be low. There are some practical management consideration that will help reduce these undesirable stress responses.
Appetite. The primary cause of lower milk production during the summer is loss of appetite. Therefore, you need to cater to the whims of the cow on feeding preference. If given the opportunity, our research indicates they will do most of their eating at night. They should be given free access to the best forages at night, whether it be summer annual grazing, greenchop, or silage, and freshness is a consideration. They should be fed in late afternoon rather than in the morning. Even when feeding your best forages at night, our research indicates that most of the reduction in intake as the air temperature goes up will be from forage rather than from concentrate. Therefore, increasing the level of concentrate feeding will be helpful in insuring higher energy intake and lessening the summer slump.
Drinking Water. Chilled drinking (50 to 60 degrees F) will reduce rectal temperatures and respiration rate while increasing feed intake and milk production in lactating dairy cows. However, cows prefer to drink warmer water (80 to 90 degrees F.) If you are to receive maximum benefits from chilled water, it must be the cow's only source. Water can be chilled practically by putting a block of ice in the watering vat a couple of times a day. If using self-waterer bowl, a refrigeration unit would be needed to chill the water, which would limit the cost effectiveness of this method. It is critical that cows have easy access to an ample quantity of fresh water for drinking.
Environmental Modifications. Research in Florida and other locations indicates that cows with access to shades during the day will produce more milk than unshaded cows. Natural shades (large trees) or constructed shades (freestall barns) should be provided. If using a constructed shade such as a freestall barn, it should be open on the sides to permit free cross-ventilation. A vented roof with a layer of insulation on the underside will improve its efficiency as a radiation shield. Use of fans or sprinklers and fans will keep cows cooler and improve production efficiency. If sprinklers are used, the spray should be coarse enough to wet the skin of the cows and be used intermittently (e.g., 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off) to permit evaporation of water from the skin surface. Fans should be run continuously.
At night, cows cool down more quickly under an open sky. If kept in a freestall barn or in a small lot outside the barn, continuous use of fans will speed the cooling process. Remember that our nighttime temperatures in summer are usually above the cow's comfort zone and natural air movement subsides at night. In our research, cows in a freestall barn and under fans 24 hours per day had lower rectal temperatures, maintained better body condition, and had more persistent milk production with less negative fluctuation during heat waves than similar cows in a freestall barn with no fans.
Summer Reproductive Function. From our research, we have observed that lactating Jerseys and Holsteins that are not pregnant will continue to cycle throughout the summer. However, we detected estrus in only 35 to 40% of all cycles even though we made observations for estrus at 6-hour intervals for the entire summer. Research from a number of locations indicates that conception rates of 10 to 30% can be expected for cows inseminated with high quality semen during the summer which compares to 50 to 70% expected during cooler seasons.
In our research on use of fan cooling in the summer for lactating Holsteins, we have approximately doubled the percentage of cows seen in estrus if cows were under fans for a cycle (21 days) before observations began as compared to cows not under fans or cows under fans for only a few days before observations started. Cows detected in estrus have potential for pregnancy; others do not have that potential. While we have not had the animal resources available for a fertility trial during the summer, the combination of lower rectal temperatures and better body condition provides potential for higher conception rates. Further, we have observed higher progesterone after estrus in cows under fans. Progesterone is the hormone needed for maintenance of pregnancy.
In conclusion, management strategies are available to help minimize the summer slump in milk production. Those strategies that lower rectal temperatures and provide for maintenance of better body condition, provide for higher reproductive efficiency, also.
Assoc. Clinical Professor, CVM
The hot and humid days in summer cause a decrease in milk production; a decrease in breeding efficiency, and usually an increase in clinical cases of mastitis as well as an increase in somatic cell counts. There is no magic formula for keeping dairy cows cool in the summer in Mississippi, but this article will attempt to outline some of the steps producers can take to help keep somatic cell counts and clinical cases of mastitis to an acceptable level. The following steps are important and are not ranked in order of importance. It is necessary to implement all the following steps.
Step 1: One of the major components for preventing mastitis is to have clean cows. Hot, humid weather serves as an ideal breeding environment for bacteria. If cows are kept in freestalls it is critically important to keep the stalls clean, and dry. If the cows are on pasture, ponds and muddy areas must be fenced off so cows don't lie in them.
Step 2: The milking of clean dry teats is critically important to prevent environmental bacteria from gaining access to the udder. Time spent on udder prep prior to attaching the milkers is invaluable. Pre-dipping the teats during this routine and having adequate contact time with the pre-dip is extremely important.
Step 3: Certain vaccines such as J5 have been shown to reduce not only the severity of E. coli mastitis but also the number of new cases. Heading into the summer months, it is critical that your vaccination program against these organisms be current.
Step 4: Feeding a balanced ration with adequate energy and protein levels is important. However, just as important is to pay attention to the levels of vitamins and trace minerals in this ration. Research suggests that adequate levels of Vitamin E and selenium in the diet will lower the new infection rate and also decrease the severity of clinical disease. Check with your nutritionist to make sure you have adequate levels of vitamin E, selenium, and other trace minerals in your ration.
Step 5: Post-teat dipping helps to stop the spread of contagious organisms. However, when cows first leave the parlor, the teat end is still open and organisms can invade the udder. Adequate post-teat dipping will help prevent the bacteria from growing on the teat end and invading until the teat is sealed. In extreme cases where cows are exposed to a dirty environment one should consider using barrier teat dips.
Step 6: Having fresh feed and water available to cows as they leave the milking parlor is important. Cows show extreme thirst after milking. Therefore, having plenty of clean water available is a necessity. Having fresh fed, water will stimulate the cows to remain standing and thus stop the exposure of the teat end to a dirty environment until it has time to seal. It takes between 30 minutes and an hour after the milking unit is removed for the teat end to seal.
Step 7: Having your milking equipment checked to verify that all the components are working at or above standard requirements is imperative.
Step 8: Just as important as milking equipment, the technique used in applying and removing the units is also critical. Lessening the squawking and liner slips during milking will help avoid impacts which is one of the major causes of environmental mastitis.
Step 9: Routine bulk tank cultures to monitor the type of bacteria present in the udder of cows is also important. The results of these cultures can sometimes pinpoint areas of management that need to be checked when investigating a rise in somatic cell counts or an increase in clinical cases.
Following all the above steps will not guarantee low somatic cell counts or clinical cases during the hot summer months. However, following all these steps should keep these increases to acceptable levels.
UPCOMING
EVENTS June
4, 7:00 p.m. All
Breed Dairy Hiefer Sale June
5, 12:00 Noon All
Breed Dairy Hiefer Sale
McComb, MS
Pontotoc, MS
MAY
1999 HONOR ROLL HERDS* Dairy County No.
Cows Lbs
ECM** 2X/3X RHA
Milk RHA
Fat RHA
Prot DOT MACTOC
FARM OKTIBBEHA 211 85.6 2X 25446 957 817 04/08/99 G
& B DAIRY LINCOLN 38 76.9 2X 16957 666 616 03/29/99 MELVIN
NICHOLSON NEWTON 129 76.2 2X 22856 797 728 04/04/99 KNIGHTS
DAIRY FARM Jones 135 75.1 2X 19808 687 641 04/14/99 STEWARD
FARM INC Tate 385 71.8 2X 22750 814 725 04/19/99 DAVID
ROBINSON & SONS Rankin 132 71.4 2X 20124 715 621 04/19/99 TIM
WEEKS Copiah 64 69.5 2X 0 0 0 04/01/99 COASTAL
PLAIN EXP STA NEWTON 154 69.4 2X 21034 779 672 04/07/99 DIXIE
DAIRY SALES Carroll 465 67.3 2X 20115 770 643 04/03/99 SUMMERS
DAIRY Marion 53 66.3 2X 18608 671 578 03/31/99 FREEMAN
DAIRY Pike 131 65.3 2X 19354 639 648 04/02/99 JEFCOAT
& WILLIAMS DAIRY Jones 67 64.9 2X 20645 699 646 04/19/99 J
& J JERSEY Jones 10 64.7 2X 16711 712 620 04/19/99 ROWZEE
JERSEY FARM NEWTON 148 64.5 2X 16868 767 639 04/18/99 CLEMMER
AND HILL DAIRY TIPPAH 182 64.2 2X 19434 669 608 04/21/99 CAL
MAINE FOODS DAIRY HINDS 1610 63.5 3X 19686 716 630 04/17/99 TURNIPSEED
DAIRY MONROE 462 62.5 2X 19523 721 618 04/03/99 THOMPSON
BROTHERS MARSHALL 128 62.3 2X 19500 698 624 04/05/99 NORTH
MISS BR EXP STATION MARSHALL 87 61.7 2X 19913 725 655 04/13/99 BRAD
BEAN AMITE 234 61.2 2X 20968 788 675 04/07/99 WILLA
DEAN GURNEY AMITE 235 60.9 2X 18464 694 603 04/22/99 RONALD
H CLARK LINCOLN 85 60.9 2X 19710 682 640 04/26/99 JODY
DEBLANC PIKE 39 59.8 2X 0 0 0 04/29/99 JAY
PAUL HOOVER NOXUBEE 167 59.7 2X 17428 0 0 04/14/99 CHEEKS
DAIRY JONES 129 59.3 2X 17049 611 555 04/26/99 *
Top 30 herds enrolled on supervised DHIA testing
programs by test day energy corrected milk.
** ECM = (.3246 x test day milk) + (12.86 x test
day lbs fat) + (7.04 x test day lbs protein)
Assoc. Clinical Professor, CVM
April
BFP Increases to $11.81
The Basic Formula Price, or BFP, increased for the second
month in a row after the disastrous $6.00 per hundredweight
(cwt.) plummet recorded in the February price report. The
dairy industry is of the opinion that the $1.54 increase
(+15%) in the BFP reported during March and April has been
"market correction" subsequent to the "overreaction" that
occurred with the February price plunge. Despite this bit of
good news, the dairy market is currently being burdened by
an over-supply of milk as the spring flush period moves to
the northern states and as demand begins to decline with the
onset of school recesses for the summer. Milk production is
at its annual peak in the middle and western states and is
expected to reach at peak in the Northeast and Upper Midwest
in late-May. But warmer weather has already caused milk
output to drop appreciably in Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Georgia indicating that the spring flush period is concluded
in the Southeast. Milder Temperatures and recent rains in
Florida have sustained production through mid-May and milk
was still being exported out of the state for manufacturing
purposes -- but, these Florida exports are expected to end
by late-May with imported milk supplies required sometime in
June. May and June are usually the months with the lowest
BFP due to the facts that the spring flush is in full swing
and fluid milk demand is at its annual low. But for this
year, current market prices indicate that the industry
believes that the BFP will remain above the $10.27 BFP
reported in February. Dairy farmers are already reeling when
they suffered a 30 to 40% reduction in monthly revenues
between their April 13 and May 13 "settlement" milk checks
that was caused by the previously described $6.00 per cwt.
decline in milk prices. The April BFP was reported at $11.81
per cwt. which represents an INCREASE of 19 cents per cwt.
(+1.6%) ABOVE the March BFP of $11.62. This year's April BFP
is 20 cents per cwt. (or -1.7%) LOWER than the April 1998
BFP price of $12.01. Dairy producers need to remember that
the April BFP will be used as the base price to calculate
the June Class I and Class II milk prices and the April
Class III milk price. Because about 80 percent of
Mississippi milk is utilized as Class I and Class II
products, farmers will not realize any additional revenues
from this 19 cent rise in the April BFP until they receive
their "settlement" checks in mid-July as payment for milk
sold in June.
Milk
Production.
Milk output continues to respond to the record high prices
experienced during late 1998 and the recent favorable
weather conditions with substantial increases in dairy
production reported in each and every month of 1999. The
USDA reports that April milk production was 3.4% higher than
April 1998 and dairy farmers have produced in excess of 1.8
billion pounds (+3.5%) more during the first four months of
1999 compared to the same period of last year. Mild
temperatures and high-quality forages continue to enhance
milk output per cow that has increased more than 50 pounds
between April 1998 and April 1999 which has increased total
production despite the fact that there was 40,000 fewer cows
being milked on U.S. dairy farms. Comparing April 1999 to
April 1998 for the 20 states which the USDA reports monthly
milk production statistics, the states recording the largest
percentage increases were California (+11.5%), Arizona
(+11.4%), Idaho and New Mexico (both +8.1%), and Florida
(+6.3%). Of the 20 reporting states, the largest percentage
decreases in output were reported for Kentucky (-8.8%),
Illinois (-7.8%), Missouri (-7.1%), Ohio (-5.4%), Indiana
(-5.1%), and Virginia (-3.1%). Again, this data confirms the
current 10-year trend of milk production increasing in the
West states while output has been declining in the Ohio
Valley and Southeast. One notable exception found in April
was that Florida increased milk production by 14 million
pounds while milking 2,000 fewer cows that produced an
additional 105 pounds of milk per cow. However, these data
indicate that the area of the country that is growing more
and more dependent on milk imports from the Upper Midwest
and West are getting larger and larger over the past
decades. Dairy consumers in this area of growing milk
deficits may be forced to pay much higher prices for dairy
products in the future.
Dairy
Product Prices
These growing supplies of excess milk being produced during
this year's spring flush have weakened dairy product prices
during late April and early May. But, there is a silver
lining in this dark cloud of excess milk supplies as
demonstrated by a substantial increase in butter prices and,
more recently, a slight upturn in cheddar cheese prices.
While butter prices continue to be very unstable, the cheese
market is stabilizing as the spread between block and barrel
cheese prices has returned to a more normal difference of
three to four cents per pound during mid-May. Cheese prices
on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) declined steadily
during this four-week period with 40# block prices falling
more than the corresponding barrel prices which have reduced
the price spread between these two product
categories.
On the CME, 40# block prices were reported at $1.3300 per pound on April 23 compared to $1.2300 on May 21-- indicating a 10-cent (-7.5%) drop over this period while barrel prices fell 6.00 cents from $1.2500 on April 23 to $1.1900 on May 21. More important, both block and barrel prices increased (2.5 and 1.0 cents, respectively) during the week of May 21. During this same four-week period, CME butter prices have been very erratic; first, falling to a low of 96 cents per pound on April 28; then, increasing significantly to $1.3250 on May 21. Over this time period, butter prices have spiraled up by 30.50 cents per pound (+29.9%) from $1.0200 on April 23 to $1.3250 on May 213. The butter market is "firm but unsettled" with buyers still reluctant to purchase large quantities because spring flush milk supplies are expected to cause substantial decreases in future butter prices.
Nonfat dry milk (NDM) prices on the CME have remained flat because the current market prices are at the government price support level, as illustrated by the fact that Grade A NDM prices have been reported at $1.0500 since February 19 (for 14 straight weeks). However, the USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) continues to increase the amount of weekly purchases to eight to ten million pounds and has purchased almost 32 million pounds of non fortified NDM between April 23 and May 21. The NDM market is "very weak" with market prices propped up by the government purchases and increasing volumes of excess milk supplies being processed into milk powder products.
Near-term
Market Outlook.
The outlook for the dairy market over the next several
months is not positive nor negative with the industry
expecting dairy prices to remain steady to slightly lower
over the next several months. But, the flood of "spring
flush" milk is still troubling the industry and a prolonged
period of favorable weather conditions may spur even more
excess milk supplies that could cause milk prices to fall in
the $10.00 per cwt. range. Most market analysts believe that
the $1.54 increase recorded in the March and April BFP
"corrected" the February BFP's over reaction and more
closely represents the demand and supply situation in the
current dairy market. Therefore, the May BFP is expected to
be $11.30 to $11.40 and bottom-out somewhere near $11.00 in
June and then rebound to the $13.00 range by September and
October. On May 21, BFP futures contracts settlement prices
were reported at $11.33 for the May contract, $11.38 for
June, $12.10 for July and $13.05 for August. However, the
recent very large BFP movements illustrate AGAIN the extreme
price and income volatility that have plagued the dairy
industry since 1988 and demonstrates that dairy farmers
continue to suffer great financial hardships.
Current
Status of Federal Order Reform
The USDA's plans for Federal Milk Market Order (FMMO)
reform, which is being referred to as the "Final Rule" has
received much criticism from most of the dairy farmers
around the country expressing displeasure. Efforts are
proceeding in Washington, D.C. with Congressional hearings
being held to discuss the various Class I price differential
schemes being described and Option 1A, 1B, or the Final
Rule's pricing "surface." These hearings are considering
evidence that may determine whether the Senate and House
should force the USDA to adopt a Class I price differential
scheme ñ called Option 1A -- that is similar to the
"pricing surface" currently used in Federal
Orders.
Evidence has been given at these hearings that National Milk Producers Federation claims that the Final Rule Class I pricing scheme will cause producer income to decline by almost $150 million per year while the USDA says that dairy farmer incomes will fall by only $2.8 million per year. The number of members of Congress co-signing and signifying their support for this legislation to mandate Option 1A is growing, but the outcome is still uncertain. Efforts are also proceeding with attempting to gain Congressional authorization for the continued existence of the Northeast Dairy Compact and the creation of a Southern Dairy Compact.
The number of states that have passed the state-level authorization continues to increase with Georgia, Missouri and Kansas recently passing this enabling legislation. However, Texas did fail to get this Compact legislation out of committee and the issue is dead until 2001 when the Texas legislature reconvenes. Most dairy industry personnel agree that the operation of a dairy compact would be very difficult and costly to producers without the existence of an underlying FMMO in the state and region. If a Federal Order (FO) did not exist, many of the auditing and surveillance activities now being conducted by the USDA's Dairy Division would have to be performed and paid for by the Compact. Thus, reducing the financial benefits that could be derived from an "over-order" premium mandated by a Class I Compact milk price.
The USDA has announced that producer referendums have been scheduled for this coming August and a two-thirds majority will be required to approve the operation of an FMMO in a particular geographic area. Each FMMO area will vote separately and the existence of an FO in a given area will NOT be dependent on the existence of an FO in any other geographic area. Producers will have to vote either YES or NO and not be able to approve some parts and disapprove other provisions of the FMMO. There are several very significant factors that each producer must consider before voting and each dairy farmer should be attempting decision of how to vote on an FMMO.
Southeast
F.O. #7 "Blend" Price Plunges to $13.00 in
April. UNIFORM
or "BLEND" PRICE FOR APRIL 1999 ZONE
5: $12.75 ZONE
9: $13.20 ZONE
6: $12.90 ZONE
10: $12.90 ZONE
7: $13.00 ZONE
11: $13.00 ZONE
8: $13.10
The Southeast Federal Order Milk Market Administrator
reported the April 1999 "blend" or uniform prices for milk
delivered in Federal Order (FO) #7 at $13.00 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 April "blend"
price of $13.00 for Zone 7 of FO #7 represents a DECREASE OF
$5.19 per cwt. (-28.5% compared to the March price of
$18.19. The April 1999 blend price is $2.54 (or 16.3%) BELOW
the April 1998 blend price of $15.54. This tremendous
decrease in the April blend price occurred because both the
Class I and Class II milk prices fell by $6.00 per cwt. and
despite a slight increase in the Class I utilization rate
(and corresponding minor changes in the Class III
utilization rates). Class I utilization rose 2.0% (from
78.8% in March to 80.8% in March ), while Class II
utilization fell 0.3% (from 6.9% in March to 6.6% in April)
and Class III utilization decreased by 1.7% (from 14.2% in
March to 12.5% in April). The April Zone 7 "blend" price was
calculated using: (1) the February BFP price of $10.27 plus
the $3.08 Zone 7 Class I differential for a Class I price of
$13.35; (2) the February BFP price of $16.27 plus the 30
cents per cwt. Class II differential for a Class II price of
$10.57; and (3) the April Class III price of $11.81 (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.
CLASS
1 PRICE FOR JUNE 1999 (using April 1999
BFP) ZONE
5: $14.64 ZONE
9: $15.09 ZONE
6: $14.79 ZONE
10: $15.21 ZONE
7: $14.89 ZONE
11: $15.39 ZONE
8: $14.99
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Last Modified: Wednesday, 18-Feb-04 11:12:04
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