Rock Valley Hay Auction for Monday, Feb 20, 2017

Receipts:  31 loads    Last Week:  43 loads    Year Ago:   30 Loads

Compared to last week:  Market was sharply lower with quality average to poor.

Prices dollars per ton, except where noted.  All sales FOB Rock Valley, Iowa, vicinity.

One load Small Squares equals approximately 5 tons; Large Squares and Large Rounds range from 10-25 tons per load.

Alfalfa:  Fair:  Large Squares, 4 loads 77.50; Large Rounds, 4 loads 80.00-82.50.

Utility:  Large Rounds, 1 load 45.00.

Alfalfa/Grass Mixed:  Good:  Large Rounds, 1 load 90.00.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 1 load 72.50.

Grass:  Good:  Large Rounds, 1 load 85.00.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 7 loads 55.00-70.00; Small Squares, 1 load 72.50.  Utility:  Large Squares, 1 load 40.00; Large Rounds, 2 loads 45.00-50.00.

Straw:  Large Squares, 1 load 55.00.  Large Rounds, 3 loads 47.50-57.50.

Corn Stalks:  Large Rounds, 4 loads 40.00-42.50.

Come and visit the NW Iowa Ag Fair in Spencer today and visit me and other field specialists in the Extension booth.

Rock Valley Hay Auction for Thursday, Feb 16, 2017

Receipts:  97 loads    Last Week:  98 loads    Last Year:  100 loads

Compared to last week:   Market was 5.00 to 10.00 lower for all types of hay

and qualities.  All sales FOB Rock Valley, Iowa, vicinity.

One load Small Squares equals approximately 5 tons; Large Squares and Large Rounds range from 10-25 tons per load.

Alfalfa:  Premium:  Small Squares, 1 load 150.00.  Good:  Large Squares, 4 loads 90.00-95.00; Large Rounds, 7 loads 85.00-87.50.  Fair:  Large Squares, 8 loads 65.00-82.50; Large Rounds, 23 loads 60.00-80.00.  Utility:  Large Squares, 1 load 50.00; Large Rounds, 1 load 55.00.

Grass:  Premium:  Large Squares, 2 loads 80.00-87.50; Large Rounds, 10 loads 80.00-90.00.  Good:  Large Squares, 2 loads 65.00-70.00; Large Rounds, 17 loads 57.50-77.50.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 1 load 47.50.

Alfalfa/Grass Mix:  Good:  Large Squares, 1 load 80.00; Large Rounds, 3 loads 82.50-97.50.  Fair:  Large Rounds, 2 loads 60.00-67.50.  Utility:  Large Rounds 1 load 35.00.

Oat Hay:  Large Rounds, 1 load 72.50.

Straw:  Large Squares, 1 load 65.00.  Large Rounds, 6 loads 40.00-70.00, mostly 65.00-70.00.

Cornstalks:  Large Rounds, 5 loads 35.00-42.50.

As I have been traveling in NW Iowa, I’m seeing standing water in fields and am wondering what how unusual warm temperatures will effect the stands. ISUEO Agronomist Brian Lang send out this link- it has lots of good information:

HTTP://AGRONOMY.WISC.EDU/2014/09/04/FALL-ALFALFA-MANAGEMENT-CAN-MAKE-OR-BREAK-SURVIVAL-SAYS-DAN-UNDERSANDER/

There is some fear President Trump’s stance on immigration could heavily impact the availability of immigrants, it seems a new Senate bill will also be cause for concern. The new bill called the ‘Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act’ is sponsored by senators Tom Cotton (R-AK) and David Perdue (R-GA). The pair of senators say the bill aims to “reduce the influx of workers drastically in hopes to reserve jobs for low skilled American workers.”

If passed, the bill would make getting a visa harder, placing restrictions and caps on some visa categories and eliminating others all together. Proponents of the bill say it will provide opportunity for Americans who can’t currently find jobs. Those who oppose the bill are concerned with the bill as many well-paying jobs in the agriculture industry already go unfilled year after year.

“One thing is clear, jobs on the farm are not desirable to most American workers regardless of wage and benefits,” officials from the American Dairy Coalition say. “This bill restricts the ability of farmers to have access to a safe, legal workforce.”

The Coalition is urging dairy producers to contact their Senators to express concern with the bill.

An article in Feedstuffs noted that the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program has opened participation in its third component: FARM Environmental Stewardship (ES).

The ES module joins the FARM Program’s two other pillars, FARM Animal Care and FARM Antibiotic Stewardship. The voluntary FARM Environmental Stewardship program helps dairy producers augment their environmental management efforts by identifying ways to improve their on-farm sustainability.

“America’s dairy farmers have long been active stewards of the environment,” Jim Mulhern, president and chief executive officer of NMPF, said. “Farmers should be proud that, today, producing a gallon of milk uses 65% less water, requires 90% less land and has a 63% smaller carbon footprint than it did 70 years ago. The FARM Environmental Stewardship program captures more detailed data on these great advances while at the same time presenting farmers with useful information that can help them improve their farms efficiency and use fewer natural resources, all while saving money.”

FARM ES provides a comprehensive estimate of the greenhouse gas emissions and energy use per pound of milk produced on dairy farms by asking producers a limited set of questions. The tool is based on a life-cycle assessment of fluid milk conducted by the Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas that incorporates existing data from more than 500 dairy farms across the U.S.

By tracking advances in dairy production efficiency, NMPF said farmers can use FARM ES to assure dairy customers and consumers of their commitment to ongoing environmental progress. Producers can also use the results to identify opportunities for changes that could increase their farm’s sustainability and reduce their cost of production, the organization added.

Dairy cooperatives and farmers wishing to use the ES module can opt in through the existing FARM Program database, which allows FARM evaluators to see the assessment in the existing web and mobile applications. FARM has created a random sampling protocol for the organizations that choose to use the ES module. This voluntary protocol allows FARM Program milk handlers to randomly select farms for an assessment and provides instructions for how to document and promote the resulting improvements in their dairy supply chain.

The FARM Program has released several documents, videos and training to educate those interested in participating in the FARM ES program. They can be found at:

HTTP://WWW.NATIONALDAIRYFARM.COM

Key finding from a new study led by Tufts University scientists sheds light on limited research on the micronutrient requirements of honey bees, and provides potentially useful insight in support of increased health of the bee population – See more at: HTTPS://WWW.MORNINGAGCLIPS.COM/HONEY-BEES-FOLLOW-THEIR-NOSE/?UTM

Cherokee Ag Show is on Tuesday, Feb. 14.  I will be part of “meet the expert” at the ISU Extension booth.  Joel DeJong will be conducting PPAT from 9:30-11:30, so during that time I will be there to answer questions the general public might have about the dairy industry. The show will be at Western Iowa Tech Community College located at 200 Victory Dr., Cherokee.  If you are coming from the north or west on Hwy 59 or 3 it is on the north end of town.  Turn right at Holzhauer Motors and it is directly west.  You can’t miss it.  Parking to the south or west.

Come ask me a bee question if you are into bees!

The value of U.S. dairy product exports in 2016 was $4.8 billion, a 10 percent reduction from 2015. Mexico, Canada, and China remained the top three markets in terms of dairy export value, accounting for nearly half of the total value of dairy product exports in 2016.

Hoard’s Dairyman Intel had a great article today that puts it in perspective:

HTTP://HOARDS.COM/ARTICLE-20420-MEXICO-REMAINS-THE-TOP-US-DAIRY-CUSTOMER.HTML