Weekly Hay Auction Report

Rock Valley Hay Auction for Thursday, Jul 27, 2017

Receipts:  103 loads    Last Week:  118 loads    Last Year:  96 loads

Compared to last week:   Alfalfa sold mostly 5.00 lower on varying quality, grass hay 5.00 to 10.00 lower.  Overall quality was average this week.

 

Alfalfa:  Premium:  Large Squares, 7 loads 115.00-140.00; Large Rounds, 14 loads 115.00-132.50.  Good:  Large Rounds, 18 loads 105.00-112.50.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 2 loads 85.00-90.00.  Utility:  Large Rounds, 2 loads 77.50-80.00.

Grass:  Premium:  Large Squares, 1 load 95.00;  Large Rounds, 3 loads 100.00-110.00; Small Squares, 1 load 100.00.  Good:  Large Squares, 3 loads 85.00-87.50; Large Rounds, 24 loads 80.00-95.00.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 9 loads 70.00-77.50.  Utility:  Large Rounds, 1 load 62.50.

Oat Hay:  Large Rounds, 1 load 85.00.

Straw:  Large Squares, 4 loads 67.50-82.50, mostly 75.00-82.50.  Large Rounds, 9 loads 85.00-97.50.

Cornstalks:  Large Rounds, 4 loads 40.00-42.50.

Judging Teams Learn Life Skills Plus Have Fun

It was mid-March many years ago that my Dad loaded his nine-year-old son up on a Sunday afternoon and they went down to the Telleen’s dairy to judge Brown Swiss cows. It was my first judging workout and it set the stage for what soon became the most exciting thing in that nine-year-old dairy kid’s life. While we raised Holsteins at the time, I was excited to see the big, Brown Swiss cows and was challenged by the differences between the two breeds.

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5.3 Percent Of All Food Sold In USA Is Organic

Increased consumer demand, drove sales of organic food and non-food products, shattering records and gaining new market share in 2016 ringing up $47 billion in U.S. sales, according to the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA’s) Annual Organic Industry Survey. Of the $47 billion in total organic sales, $43 billion were organic food sales, up 8.4 percent from the previous year, and non-food organic products accounted for $4 billion, up 8.8 percent. Nearly 5.3 percent of all the food sold in the United States in 2016 was organic.

Organic fruits and vegetables retained its longstanding spot as the largest of all the major organic categories with sales of $15.6 billion, up 8.4 percent over 2015. Fruits and vegetables accounted for almost 40 percent of all organic food sales. At nearly triple the 3.3 percent growth pace of total fruit and vegetable sales, organic fruits and vegetables now make up almost 15 percent of the produce Americans eat.

In second place was the organic dairy category. Organic dairy sales reached $6.4 billion in 2016, up 6.2 percent from the year before.

Sales of organic  meat and poultry shot up by more than 17 percent in 2016 to $991 million, for the category’s biggest-ever yearly gain. Continued strong growth in that category is projected push sales across the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2017. Organic dips posted 41 percent growth in 2016, with $57 million in sales, while sales of organic spices grew 35 percent to $193 million.

Sales of non-food organic products increased by almost 9 percent to $3.9 billion, with organic fiber, supplements and personal care products accounting for the majority of those sales.

 

Weekly Hay Auction Report

Rock Valley Hay Auction for Thursday, Jul 20, 2017

Receipts:  118 loads    Last Week:  101 loads    Last Year:  94 loads

Compared to last week:   Alfalfa sold steady to 5.00 higher, grass steady on a lower quality offering.  This was the first large offering of new crop straw.

Alfalfa:  Premium:  Large Rounds and Squares, 12 loads 127.50- 142.50.  Good:  Large Rounds and Squares, 23 loads 97.50-112.50. Fair:  Large Rounds, 1 load 90.00.

Grass:  Premium:  Large Rounds and Squares, 9 loads 100.00-122.50; Small Squares, 1 load 135.00.  Good:  Large Rounds and Squares, 36 loads 85.00-97.50.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 5 loads 70.00-82.50.  Utility:  Large Rounds, 1 load 60.00.

Alfalfa/Grass Mix:  Good:  Large Rounds and Squares, 2 loads 110.00- 11.750.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 1 load 90.00.

Straw:  Large Squares, 4 loads 90.00-102.50.  Large Rounds, 11 loads 77.50-97.50.

Cornstalks:  Large Rounds, 9 loads 35.00-47.50.

Farm Lending Conditions Update

Nebraska Extension Educator Robert Tigner added a new post to his blog that updates current ag lending conditions across 6 Federal Reserve districts. The commercial banks report increased lending demand for 2017 Q2 compared to 1 year ago. Although year over year loan demand is decreasing in total repayment rates show that ag borrowers are struggling to stay current.

The link is below:

https://redwillowfarmranch.wordpress.com/

Dairy Heifer Feed Cost Worksheets Available

To help better monitor the feed costs associated with raising dairy replacements, University of Wisconsin Extension Dairy Management Specialist Bruce Jones and Dairy Heifer Management Specialist Matt Akins have updated Dairy Heifer Feed Cost Budget worksheet to assist farmers and managers in estimating feed costs of replacement dairy heifers.

Iowa June Milk Production Up Two Percent Over June 2016

Milk production in Iowa during June 2017 totaled 426 million pounds, up two percent from the previous June according to the July 20 USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Milk Production report. The average number of milk cows during June, at 217,000 head, was the same as last month and 4,000 more than last year.
Monthly production per cow averaged 1,965 pounds, the same as last June.

Milk production in the 23 major States during June totaled 16.9 billion pounds, up 1.7 percent from June 2016. May revised production at 17.8 billion pounds, was up 1.9 percent from May 2016. The May revision represented an increase of 17 million pounds or 0.1 percent from last month’s preliminary production estimate.
Production per cow in the 23 major States averaged 1,939 pounds for June, 13 pounds above June 2016. This is the highest production per cow for the month of June since the 23 State series began in 2003.
The number of milk cows on farms in the 23 major States was 8.73 million head, 83,000 head more than June 2016, and 4,000 head more than May 2017.
Milk production in the United States during the April – June quarter totaled 55.3 billion pounds, up 1.8 percent from the April – June quarter last year.
The average number of milk cows in the United States during the quarter was 9.40 million head, 29,000 head more than the January – March quarter, and 76,000 head more than the same period last year.

Thoughts For A First Time Showman

Many years ago I spotted a poem under the lid of Melvin Scholl’s showbox. Melvin was one of the top fitters in his day and worked for the top herds like Curtis Candy, Maytag and Pabst. He was a great mentor and eventually he gave me a copy of that poem. Over the years I have modernized it and shared it with lots of families. Since this is “show season”, I will share it again.

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Weekly Hay Auction Report

Rock Valley Hay Auction for Thursday, Jul 13, 2017

Receipts:  101 loads    Last Week:  54 loads    Last Year:  94 loads

Compared to last week:   Alfalfa sold steady to 10.00 higher, grass hay steady to firm.  Alfalfa quality varied throughtout the sale.  Straw was all new crop and met with good demand.  All sales FOB Rock Valley, Iowa, vicinity.

Alfalfa:  Premium:  Large Squares, 10 loads 122.50-140.00; Large Rounds, 17 loads 120.00-145.00.  Good:  Large Squares, 2 loads 90.00-117.50; Large Rounds, 14 loads 92.50-110.00.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 6 loads 85.00-90.00.

Grass:  Premium:  Large Squares, 3 loads 105.00-110.00; Large Rounds, 19 loads 97.50-117.50; Small Squares, 1 load 130.00.  Good:  Large Squares, 2 loads 85.00-90.00; Large Rounds, 4 loads 90.00-92.50; Small Squares, 1 load 90.00.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 7 loads 80.00-82.50.  Utility:  Large Rounds, 1 load 55.00.

Alfalfa/Grass Mix:  Good:  Large Rounds, 2 loads 100.00-115.00.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 2 loads 80.00-95.00; Small Squares, 1 load 80.00.

Straw:  New Crop Large Squares, 1 load 115.00.  New Crop Large Rounds, 3 loads 105.00-117.50.

Cornstalks:  Large Rounds, 4 loads 40.00-45.00.

Weekly Hay Auction Report

Rock Valley Hay Auction for Thursday, Jul 06, 2017

Receipts:  54 loads    Last Week:  106 loads    Last Year:  56 loads

Compared to last week:   Alfalfa hay mostly 5.00 higher, grass hay 10.00 higher.  Lighter offerings due to the 4th of July Holiday, with attractive quality available.

Alfalfa:  Premium:  Large Squares, 3 loads 120.00-127.50; Large Rounds, 8 loads 115.00-132.50.  Good:  Large Squares, 3 loads 105.00-110.00, Large Rounds 6 loads 100.00-110.00.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 5 loads 90.00-92.50.

Grass:  Premium:  Large Rounds, 1 load 125.00; Small Squares, 1 load 115.00. Good: Large Squares, 2 loads 90.00-107.50; Large Rounds, 9 loads 97.50-115.00. Fair:  Large Rounds, 8 loads 85.00-92.50.  Utility:  Large Rounds, 2 loads 70.00-75.00.

Alfalfa/Grass Mix:  Fair:  Large Rounds, 1 load 80.00.

Cornstalks:  Large Rounds, 5 loads 35.00-42.50.