Monthly Dairy Webinar: Climate Update for 2021 Season

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Dairy Team monthly webinar series continues on Wednesday, January 20 from 12 noon to 1 pm. This program will focus on the climate and weather predictions for the 2021 growing season. Dennis Todey, director of the USDA Climate Hub in Ames, Iowa will make the presentation.

Dennis Todey is the Director of the Midwest Climate Hub in Ames. He is a native Iowan with his BS and PhD from Iowa State in Meteorology and Agricultural Meteorology. He has spent two stints in South Dakota, first completing his MS at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and most recently as Associate Professor and State Climatologist for South Dakota at South Dakota State University. He is well known regionally as a speaker and media source on various climate issues and is the former president of the American Association of State Climatologists.

Producers, dairy consultants and industry representatives can attend the webinar at:

https://iastate.zoom.us/my/dairyteamfredprogram

No registration is required and there is no fee.

For more information contact the Iowa Extension Dairy Field Specialist in your area:

Region 1 – Fred M. Hall-  email:  fredhall@iastate.edu  phone: 712.737.4230

Region 2 – Jennifer Bentley-  email: jbentley@iastate.edu   phone: 563.382.2949

Region 3 – Larry Tranel-  email:  tranel@iastate.edu  phone: 563.583.6496

November Milk Production Up In Iowa

Milk production in Iowa during November 2020 totaled 438 million pounds, up 2% from the previous November according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Milk Production report. The average number of milk cows during November, at 219,000 head, was the same as last month and 3,000 more than last year. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,000 pounds, up 20 pounds from last November.

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Dairy Goat Webinar – “Managing and Feeding the Transition Doe”

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach dairy team will begin a quarterly webinar starting Jan. 6, 2021, from noon to 1:15 p.m. 

This first webinar will focus on managing and feeding the transition doe as dairy goat producers head into the freshening season. This webinar will provide strategies for improving herd health, feeding and overall management of the transitioning doe to optimize milk production, reduce metabolic disease and produce healthy kids.

Veterinarian Vicky Lauer will give a presentation on pre and post fresh doe management, covering herd health concerns around the time of kidding. Lauer is a professional services veterinarian for Armor Animal Health, where she focuses on improving cattle and goat health through optimum management and prevention strategies. She works with multiple goat dairies and kid raisers throughout Wisconsin and has a small herd of registered Nubian dairy goats as well.

Morgan Allen will discuss feeding and managing the transition doe, bridging nutrition from dry/pregnant to milking/not pregnant. Allen is a nutritionist with Big Gain Inc., where she focuses on dairy cattle and dairy goat nutrition. She also owns a small commercial dairy goat farm located in southeast Minnesota.

There is no fee to attend the program; however, registration is required.

This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agricultural and Food Research Initiative Competitive Program, Antimicrobial Resistance number: 2020-04197.

Register by Jan. 5 at https://iastate.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJArc-iprTMrHdY3MPEMW5ut7pFXCcUfeaic, or contact Jennifer Bentley, dairy specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, at jbentley@iastate.edu, 563-382-2949.

Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Information will also be provided about future webinars, as dates and topics are announced.

Dairy Producers Heard Option on Manure Digesters

Dairy producers have many duties to carry out in their dairy operations, one of which is storing, handling and applying manure. Manure handling can be a significant cost on most dairies even when considering the value of the nutrients in the manure. Seldom do producers consider their costs of handling and applying manure on a per hundredweight (cwt) of milk sold basis like they do with many of their other costs.

In Iowa, the annual grain production requires replenishment of the fertility of the soil. Deep soils and high yields are a perfect solution for recovering value from manure. Technologies for better application and more efficient handling are applied throughout Iowa. Dairy manure values, according to Iowa State University specialists, are such that a corn producer can easily have more than enough fertility brought onto his farm to fully fertilize the following year’s crop and more.

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Monthly Dairy Webinar: Farm Family Stress and Grief

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Dairy Team monthly webinar series continues on Wednesday, December 16 from 12 noon to 1 pm. This program “Farm Family Stress and Grief” features a presentation by Dr. Larry Tranel, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Dairy Field Specialist.

Dr. Tranel will discuss the factors contribution to farm family stress and how families deal with grief.

Producers, dairy consultants and industry representatives can attend the webinar at:

https://iastate.zoom.us/my/dairyteamfredprogram

No registration is required and there is no fee.

For more information contact the Iowa Extension Dairy Field Specialist in your area:

Region 2 – Jennifer Bentley-  email: jbentley@iastate.edu   phone: 563.382.2949

Region 3 – Larry Tranel-  email:  tranel@iastate.edu  phone: 563.583.6496

Region 1 – Fred M. Hall-  email:  fredhall@iastate.edu  phone: 712.737.4230

I-29 Moo University Winter Virtual Workshop Will Focus on Dairy Sustainability

NET Zero: If it’s Not Your Profitability, What Is It?

Dairy Producers and Industry are invited to the I-29 MOO University Virtual Winter Workshop in partnership with Midwest Dairy & State Trade Associations being held on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 from 10 AM to 1:30 PM.

This workshop will focus on the Net Zero Initiative and what the impact will be for dairy producers. Attendees will gain knowledge through a hands-on virtual experience of how sustainability practices are being implemented on dairy farms and within dairy processing plants.

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Boots in the Barn, a program for cattlewomen, to be offered in Emmetsburg

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Palo Alto County and Iowa Lakes Community College have teamed up to host Boots in the Barn, a program for women beef and dairy producers.

Boots in the Barn is a three-part series for women involved in a dairy or beef operation and/or industry and will be held at the Iowa Lakes Community College Farm in Emmetsburg. The sessions will be held Feb. 10, Feb. 24 and March 10 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

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The Annual Economic impact of Every Iowa Dairy Cow to The Community Is $25,495

The new “Comprehensive Review of Iowa’s Dairy Industry” defines how important the Iowa dairy industry continues to be and just how strong and economic driver it is in Iowa and the Midwest. The projected national trends for dairy products show increases in profitability and forecasters expect that dairy revenue will continue to rise at 1.15% to $39.9 billion during 2019-24 (IBIS World Dairy Production 2019).

Iowa continues to be a significant contributor to dairy production based upon several factors that include necessary infrastructure, natural resources, inputs and experience. The state has a unique competitive advantage in these categories and continues to expand on these assets for identified growth opportunities.

The economic impact realized by the state from the dairy industry projects the following:  Key metrics include total economic impact of Iowa’s dairy industry is $5.6 billion, supplying 15,587 jobs with a labor income of $891 million. Annual economic impact of a single dairy cow is $25,495 per cow.

The complete can be found here.

Upper Midwest Ag Lenders Hear Ag Outlooks and Share Snapshot of the Industry

The Tri-state and Siouxland Ag Lenders Seminars were combined into a virtual seminar in early November due to health concerns from the Coronavirus pandemic. 158 lenders, consultants and academics from five upper mid-west states heard four presenters, including: Mike North, President of EVER.Ag; Dr. Wendong Zhang, Assistant Professor, Iowa State University; Dr. Mark Stephenson, Director of Dairy Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Dr. Chad Hart, Professor of Economics, Crop Market Specialist and Extension Economist, Iowa State University.

Participants represented over 50 lending institutions, 15 consultants from other ag businesses and eight academics and researchers from Universities and Extension specialists. An on-line retrospective program evaluation was used to collect insights from those attending. From the data it was estimated that their clients represented 7,033 ag producers; those producers cropped over 4.8 million acres and milked over 381,767 dairy cows.

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Iowa October Commodity Prices Strengthen; Hay Down

The average price received by farmers for corn during October in Iowa was $3.61 per bushel according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Agricultural Prices report. This was up 22 cents from the September price, but 18 cents below October 2019.

The October average price was $22.50 per cwt for milk, up $4.20 from the September price and $1.10 above one year ago.

All hay prices in Iowa averaged $111.00 per ton in October. This was down $6.00 from the September price and $19.00 below the October 2019 price. The October 2020 alfalfa hay price averaged $123.00, down $6.00 from the previous month and $20.00 below October 2019. The average price received for other hay during October was $94.00 per ton. This was up $13.00 from the September price, but $8.00 below the October 2019 price.