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

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.

Continue reading “November Milk Production Up In Iowa” →

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.

Continue reading “I-29 Moo University Winter Virtual Workshop Will Focus on Dairy Sustainability” →

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.

Continue reading “Boots in the Barn, a program for cattlewomen, to be offered in Emmetsburg” →

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.

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.

Continue reading “Upper Midwest Ag Lenders Hear Ag Outlooks and Share Snapshot of the Industry” →

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.