The Chinese owner of Australia’s biggest and oldest dairy farming business is scrambling to sell off parts of the business after an investigation was launched into the conditions of farms.

The Van Dairy Group, which owns 23 farms in Tasmania, has been negotiating the sale of up to 10 of its 23 farms to a Melbourne-based investment manager, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

This comes after the Environmental Protection Agency launched an investigation following the revelation of shocking conditions on the farms, including claims of animal welfare abuse and overstocking of cattle that is causing effluent systems to fail and damaging nearby waterways.

A series of confidential documents, photographs and accounts from employees and locals showed the conditions deteriorated after the 2016 takeover by China’s Moon Lake.

But the bigger scandal is why it took so long for authorities to step up and do their job.

The shocking state of some of the farms, including the overcrowding of animals and serious effluent problems, didn’t happen overnight. This was five years in the making. It has left the local community up in arms and the problems continue.

An employee, who asked not to be named, described the past week as farcical. “The TDIA [Tasmanian Dairy Industry Authority] has been running around some farms and the only way to describe it is a shit show.”

He said he was disgusted that it took authorities so long to take action.

“Why did it take so long to get off their arses and come down? There’s still a lot to do to get this mess up. It’s about a band-aid solution at the moment,” he said. (ANI)

Source: news.webindia123.com

They’re not raising poultry but dairy farmers do face a chicken and egg question. What comes first — more dairy farms or more dairy plants?

It’s an issue for dairy producers like Mike Guenther. Milk from his farm has to be hauled about an hour and a half daily to be processed.

“Our milk has to cross state borders to find a home,” he said.

The state would like to grow the dairy industry, believing Nebraska has everything it takes to be successful

“We’ve got food source, abundant water, friendly climate for ag businesses in our state,” Gov. Pete Ricketts told us at the recent dairy convention.

But one thing Gov. Ricketts said is lacking is the processing capacity and that’s where that chicken or egg question comes for these dairy farmers.

“What comes first processing plant or dairies so we really benefit from having processing plant here. Milk is a perishable product, needs to be transported every day so the further you are from a plan that’s hours and miles, weather can be adverse to get a product to its home,” Guenther said.

AFAN, the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska is trying to attract dairy plants to the Cornhusker State.

Executive Director Steve Martin said, “It’s one of those processes that takes time, not an overnight thing. We’re building relationships and get processers convinced to come here.”

A 2014 legislative report points out dairy farming is labor intensive and requires more manpower than cattle feeding. Because of that it generates more local economic activity.

AFAN would like to encourage dairy farmers to relocate from states where zoning may be an issue to Nebraska where most counties are designated livestock friendly.

“With our regulatory standpoint from state and local level we’ve got things figured out,” Martin said.

The ingredients may be there but the state likely needs to grow both the herd and the processing.

Martin said, “I think if we get the interest of some processers we could really grow the dairy herd of Nebraska.”

The problem is especially acute in central Nebraska where a Ravenna cheese plant closed seven years ago leaving dairy farmers no choice but to haul milk several hours away.

Source: nebraska.tv

Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the reappointment of Serge Riendeau as CEO of the Canadian Dairy Commission for another one-year term.

Riendeu’s term will be effective from 14 May 2021. He was first appointed as CEO of the CDC in 2018. During his tenure, he has made significant contributions to the sector, including supporting the negotiations for the new Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and chairing the Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee.

Commenting on his reappointment, Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said:

“The Canadian Dairy Commission plays an important role in keeping the dairy sector competitive, productive and innovative. Under Mr. Riendeau’s watch, the CDC has a solid track record of delivering major programs, including the Direct Dairy Payment Program and added dairy surplus purchases during the pandemic. Having dedicated his entire working life to the industry, I am confident that Mr. Riendeau will continue to be a tremendous asset to the Commission and a strong leader for our hard working dairy producers.”

Prior to his appointment, he operated a dairy farm for over 40 years and served 26 years on the Board of Directors at Agropur, Canada’s largest dairy processor, including 15 years as president. Mr Riendeau is also an active supporter of charities for children facing bullying and violence.

With Mr Riendeau’s term ending in May 2022, the Government of Canada is launching appointment processes for a new full-time CEO and a part-time chairperson at the CDC. Please visit the Governor in Council appointments webpage to learn more and to apply to these opportunities.

Background information

• The Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) is a Crown corporation, established in 1966, with the mandate of coordinating federal and provincial dairy policies.
• The CDC Board of Directors is appointed by the Governor in Council upon the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
• Our country is stronger and more effective when decision makers reflect Canada’s diversity. In 2016, the Government of Canada implemented an open, transparent and merit-based process for selecting Governor in Council appointees. Appointees play a fundamental role in Canada’s democracy by serving on commissions, boards, Crown corporations, agencies and tribunals across the country.

Read Serge Riendeau’s full biography here. 

The European Commission believes EU-27 milk production could grow by 1% in 2021, according to the latest EU short-term outlook. This will be driven by an estimated 2% growth in milk yields, which is expected to outweigh the continuing decline in the EU dairy herd (-1% in 2021).

This is a slight increase (+0.2%) from the Commission’s previous estimate, but it is lower than the growth seen in 2020 (+1.7%). It comes despite EU heifer numbers at the start of 2021 being the lowest in 10 years, with milk yields lifting 2.8% in 2020. For 2021, milk yields are expected to continue this trend, assuming favourable spring weather conditions and good grass growth, which should outweigh concerns of rising feed costs.

During the second half of 2021, foodservice demand is expected to recover as lockdown restrictions are eased. As a result, butter consumption in the EU is expected to lift by 1% in the year. EU butter prices have lifted in recent months, although prices remain competitive on the world market. As such, the Commission anticipates 4% year-on-year lift in EU butter exports for 2021, as the global demand for butter continues to grow.

Similarly, the re-opening of foodservice is expected to support a 1% increase in EU cheese consumption, while cheese exports are anticipated to grow by 4% in 2021. The main driver for this is increased shipments to Japan, and the US, following the temporary lifting of additional tariffs on EU products.

Following an increase in cheese production, whey production is expected to increase by 2%, with exports expected to rise 5%, driven by increased demand from China.

EU SMP production is also expected to increase, up 3.5% year-on-year in 2021, following increased demand from South-East Asia. As such, EU exports of SMP are expected to grow 6% in 2021, further supporting the higher prices seen.

For WMP, EU production is expected to remain stable (+0.5%) on 2020 levels, to keep up with domestic and higher export demand seen last year.

Overall, the consumption of butter and cheese are expected to particularly benefit from the recovery of foodservice, with the retail sales of these products expected to remain above pre-COVID-19 levels. Meanwhile, the consumption of fresh dairy products is expected to fall in 2021 year-on-year, as more people continue to work from home, limiting the use of fresh dairy in cafes and cafeterias. However, consumption of fresh dairy products is expected to remain above 2019 levels.

Source: ahdb.org.uk

Dairy prices continue to be under pressure because of increased milk production around the country. The latest USDA Dairy Products Report shows production of butter, cheese and nonfat dry milk in February was the highest ever for the month. But helping ease some of that price pressure has been increasing demand from the food service industry as more restaurants have been reopening with increased seating capacity. Butter production in February was over 185 million pounds while cheese makers produced over a billion pounds in February.

USDA numbers show China is aggressively buying U.S. soybeans. In March they bought 7.77 million metric tons from us—a new monthly record. For the first half of the current marketing year, the Chinese have bought almost 47 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans. Grain traders expect their purchases for the year will top 100 million metric tons since the second half of the year is their biggest buying window.

USDA officials also say they will soon put in place the Dairy Donation Program called for in the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The program is designed to reimburse coops and other organizations for their production costs when they process and donate surplus milk supplies and production to feeding programs around the country. The program does include some minimum requirements for dairies to get involved.

June might be Dairy Month, but May is being celebrated as American Cheese month. Major events are being planned for the month all over the state with the culmination of activities to include a celebration of Wisconsin’s 180th anniversary of cheese making. Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, formerly known as the Wisconsin milk marketing Board, is leading the festivities across the state designed to get consumers involved in the history and importance of cheese making to the state. Cheese making first came to Wisconsin in 1831 with a farmstead cheese factory in Koshkonong near Fort Atkinson. In 1841, Anne Pickett started the state’s first cottage industry cheese factory using milk from her neighbor’s cows. In 1858, John Smith obtained the state’s first cheese vat and made cheese at his home in Sheboygan County. But most of Wisconsin’s early cheese makers were women.

Source: weau.com

What can 10 little Wisconsin dairy calves do?  Plenty when it comes to capturing the attention of classroom students and teachers around the United States!

The “Adopt a Cow” program created and administered through the Center for Dairy Excellence and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin adjusted things a bit to introduce K-8 students to 10 Wisconsin dairy calves.  The students got to monitor daily activities of the calves and the farm families caring for them, and became a part of classroom instruction about where food comes from, what farmers really are, and more.

Three of the calves featured came from Synergy Dairy Farm in Pulaski.  Sharlamagne – a red and white Holstein calf; Seroogy – a Jersey calf, and Dorito, a black and white Holstein.

This one program has reached more than 1 million students in all 50 states.

Source: omny.fm

The global production of sheep’s milk is one the rise, in the vast majority of cases used to produce cheese. However, a relatively large amount of milk is needed to produce it, so science is looking for ways to increase its yield; that is, to obtain more cheese using less milk.

Immersed in this task, a team from the Department of Animal Production at the University of Cordoba, led by Professor Ana Garzón, has collaborated with the University of Leon in the search for genetic parameters affecting the cheese production of milk from Churra sheep, one of the oldest and most rustic breeds on the Iberian Peninsula.

After analysing traits related to rennet and milk properties (pH, milk yield, fat and protein content) in a sample of more than 1,000 sheep, the research team found a low to moderate heritability of these traits, suggesting that their improvement can be achieved through genetic selection. In addition, the need to consider milk pH at the beginning of the coagulation process as a characteristic to be taken into accountas a selection index for the improvement of Churra quality was confirmed, as it will augment the ‘cheesemaking capacity’ of the milk from this breed.

The team,formed by Ana Garzón andthe researchers Antonio Figueroa and Javier Caballero-Villalobos, comprise the Dairy Laboratory, where the milk samples of this work were analysed, measuring their pH; the physical-chemical parameters of the milk, such as its proteins, fats, and lactose; and technological parameters, such as coagulation time and curd hardening speed; with the aim of providing information for the selection of values to be included in the genetic selection scheme of the Churra breed in order to obtain ewes that give milk with a higher yield in terms of cheese production.

The UCO Dairy Laboratory | The science that cares for milk

This service, part of the UCO’s Department of Animal Production, has been working since 2003 on the study of the composition, quality and technological parameters of ruminant milk with the aim of transferring knowledge to the livestock sector to improve milk quality, productivity and yields.

The Dairy Laboratory specialises in the study of the Manchega breed, which is the most important class of sheep in terms of product quality and economic weight in the sector. In this regard, the search for a faster, cheaper and more efficient method to measure the quality of milk according to its composition is one of their main lines of research, as they are trying to determine whether chromaticity can provide information sufficient for the livestock sector to evaluate milk quickly and cheaply.

They are also striving to solve the problem of water retention in curd, which reduces the milk’syield, thus requiring a lot of milk to obtain cheese. In their latest work, they develop mathematical models to achieve more efficient milk for cheese production. Finally, they analyse the correlation between the health of the sheep’s udder and these coagulation parameters of the milk slated for cheese production.

In short, this work directly transfers the science carried out in the Laboratory to the livestock sector, which benefits from improvements in the quality and efficiency of its dairy farms.

Source: eurekalert.org

Dairy farmers will have the opportunity to contract some of their next season’s milk at a Milk Exchange trading event later this month.

In Colorado, he said, his farm will be classified as a family farm and he will only need to meet the federal CAFO — concentrated animal feeding operation — guidelines instead of additional state and county regulations.

In Minnesota, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is one of the permitting authorities for any feedlot of 1,000 or more animal units. For Byington and other animal agriculture farmers in Winona County, that means once the MPCA is involved, feedlots can only go up another 500 animal units from that point.

Mitch Thompson, who bought Byington’s farm, expressed mixed feelings Thursday.

Dairy farmer Parker Byington, formerly of Lewiston, seen Thursday, April 8, 2021, at the farm he’d just sold, is moving his operation and a large number of his cattle to Colorado to continue his business. Byington, who moved to Winona County five years ago, said the county’s animal unit cap played a significant factor in his leaving. (Brian Todd/btodd@postbulletin.com)

“It’s bittersweet,” said Thompson, who owns a separate dairy farm less than a mile away and will operate both farms. “This allows me to expand my business, but I hate to see a good neighbor go.”

Winona County Commissioner Steve Jacob, who said the county’s animal unit cap needs to be reviewed and possibly changed, said the loss of business will hurt the county.

“It breaks my heart to see this happen,” Jacob said. “I so wish I could get my other three commissioners that represent the city of Winona to revisit this issue.”

The Post Bulletin reached out to those commissioners — Marie Kovecsi, Greg Olson and Chris Meyer — but two did not respond to messages and Kovecsi said she has been advised by the county attorney not to discuss the animal unit cap due to the ongoing case of Daley Farm vs. Winona County.

Dairy cows get loaded onto a trailer headed to Colorado Thursday, April 8, 2021, south of Lewiston. Parker Byington is moving his dairy operation and a large number of his cattle out of Winona County, saying the county’s animal unit cap played a significant factor in his leaving after moving to the farm south of Lewiston five years ago. (Brian Todd/btodd@postbulletin.com)

Jacob said that while he’s glad Thompson is taking over the dairy, the net loss of 245 cows will negatively impact the local economy.

According to the most recent Comprehensive Review of Iowa’s Dairy Industry, each dairy cow is worth about $25,000 in economic activity, meaning those 245 cows represent a loss of roughly $6.1 million to the county’s economy.

“This hurts all the taxpayers,” Jacob said. “Those economic drivers of our local economy are leaving us, literally, today. The rest of us need to pay more taxes to make up for the revenue stream.”

Steve Jacob

Jacob cited the Byington’s farm as a well-run, environmentally sustainable operation, adding that larger dairies have the financial capital needed to implement the kinds of environmental safeguards the county needs.

“They’re the answer to protecting the environment,” Jacob said. “The solution is to do things right in our community, and these are the kinds of people we should be supporting.”

A dairy cows peeks out from inside a livestock trailer Thursday, April 8, 2021, south of Lewiston. The animal, along with 244 others, is headed to Colorado. Parker Byington is moving his dairy operation and a large number of his cattle out of Winona County, saying the county’s animal unit cap played a significant factor in his leaving after moving to the farm south of Lewiston five years ago. (Brian Todd/btodd@postbulletin.com)

Dairy cows get loaded onto a trailer headed to Colorado Thursday, April 8, 2021, south of Lewiston. Parker Byington is moving his dairy operation and a large number of his cattle out of Winona County, saying the county’s animal unit cap played a significant factor in his leaving after moving to the farm south of Lewiston five years ago. (Brian Todd/btodd@postbulletin.com)

Source: Post Bulletin 

The Reisinger family in the dairy barn before the cows left. From left to right: son Brian, father Jim, mother Jean and daughter Malia. Image courtesy of Brian Reisinger.

A month ago, the Reisingers of Spring Green said farewell to 60 dairy cows after more than a century of milking on the homesteaded property in the Driftless Area.  

Jim Reisinger, choking up, reflected on the morning of March 12. He recalled the milkman had tears in his eyes leaving the Reisinger driveway with the last load of milk. He had been to the farm every morning for 25 years picking up the family’s milk. But while the milkman no longer takes the winding Schweppe Road every morning, the family continues to be a part of the dairy supply chain. 

“There is life after milking cows, and you can still farm without milking cows. Now it’s time for transitioning to make our life as good as it can be,” Jean Reisinger told WisBusiness.com at the farm. 

Jim and Jean are approaching their 70s, and the labor-intensive work of milking cows is getting tough. Jim added that contracting COVID-19 was a sign that it was time to slow down. A northern Wisconsin farm bought the cows, and the Reisinger family was pleased with the sale.

“They’re all together. That’s what I wanted,” Jim said. 

With their adult children Brian and Malia, and soon-to-be four grandchildren, the Sauk County farm continues to operate over 100 years after it was homesteaded by Jim’s grandfather in 1912.

The Reisingers tend to about 280 acres of hay, corn and soybeans. They will continue cash cropping. And while one would expect the farm to be silent without cows, the Reisingers keep about 80-head of cattle on-farm, raising steers and custom heifers as Reisinger Hilltop Heifers.

And last but not least, Jim keeps bees. His apiary produces Jim’s Hilltop Honey. 

Jean and Jim praised their son and daughter’s work organizing a new business model for the farm’s transition that allows the family to be profitable without milking. And Brian praised his parents for operating a small dairy farm debt-free for over 45 years that allowed him and his sister to develop a strategic plan for the family business. 

“Not everybody gets that chance,” said Brian, who is also the president and COO of Platform Communications. “Too many small farms are just going by the wayside.”

Small is the correct adjective for a 60-cow dairy farm these days. Jean explained that when the couple took over the dairy farm in 1976, they had 32 cows. That was a big operation then, she said. 

“Now 60 cows is a very small farm,” she continued. “Our goal was always to keep it as a family farm. Now farms have become more like a corporation. Everything has become numbers, and it’s a different world now. Farms have become more like factories than they have small families, and we wanted it to be a family farm, and that is what we continued. Everything we did was so the two of us could operate as a family and not have a lot of staff.”

Jean currently serves on the lobby organization FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative board. She’s also served on Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, the Farm Bureau Federation, and other farm boards and consumer cooperatives related to farming.

Citing USDA data, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the number of cows in Wisconsin has remained steady over the past 20 years. However, more and more of those cows are part of larger operations. The number of cows on small operations — one to 99 cows — has steadily decreased every five years since the late 90s.

“At our stage in life, we just kind of want to diversify and do what we can handle,” Jean said. “We want to be able to do what we can do and not necessarily turn our farm into a big corporation.”

More than just the size of the farm has changed since she and Jim started farming. Technology has become an essential part of a farm from total mixed ration mixers — making sure each cow gets the right nutrients — to robotic milkers. The Reisingers thought about getting a robotic milker, but Jim said it would have put the farm in debt. The price of technology requires a farm to have more cows to make more money.

And if a farm has more cows, it’s likely to need more machinery. Jean said she remembers being the first farm in the area with an air-conditioned cab on the tractor. Now that John Deere tractor looks antique next to the machinery on the market today. 

“If you found enough family members to become involved, a small farm would work,” Jean said when asked if there’s a place for small farms in today’s dairy economy. “But it’s a lot of hard physical work and not everybody wants to do that. With the price of land and machinery, it’s hard to do that.”

She noted that on Schweppe Road, everyone used to be milking cows. After the Reisingers sold their cows, just one dairy farm remains. 

Dairy farms had gone through multiple recessions over the years and all manner of weather. Jean said the worst summer on the farm was in 1975 when not one kernel of corn came out of the ground due to a drought. Other years brought ample rain. And dairy farmers had gone through years with great milk prices and years, such as the last five, when farmers’ finances were strapped.

Even though the Reisingers aren’t producing milk, they still remain a part of the supply chain by selling crops for feed and heifers to be bred as milk cows. And the family does their part to buy Wisconsin products, especially cheese. Their milk had gone to Cedar Grove Cheese, a small-scale cheese factory in Plain, just north of Spring Green, founded by Bob Wills. Its sister company is Clock Shadow Creamery in Milwaukee.

“The farmers in the state of Wisconsin that I know do a tremendously good job on the milk they produce,” Jean said. “I really want us to continue to have good quality products — milk, cheese and all those things. I want the consumers to understand that having the real thing is really wonderful.”

She added that she wants to see people respect farmers and the job they do — starting with learning and understanding the farming industry. 

“There’s no nobler thing to do than to farm the land that God gives you. We’re very fortunate to be able to stay here,” Jean said of her “slice of heaven” tucked away in the Driftless Area’s rolling hills. “Things are changing in farming more than ever and you have to go with the change.”

Source: wisbusiness.com

Despite having one fewer day in February 2021 compared to last year and U.S. suppliers still facing shipping delays, U.S. dairy exports surged in February.   

Total dairy export value climbed 7% year-over-year to reach $565.5 million and volume in milk solids equivalent (MSE) jumped 15%. February’s growth was driven primarily by resurgence in nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder (NFDM/SMP) to Mexico and Southeast Asia and whey products to China.

More information, data and charts on specific products and markets can be found here.

Below are our three main stories for the month:

NFDM/SMP exports an uplifting surprise

February’s NFDM/SMP export data surprised us. Frequent reports of shipping frustrations delaying exports have been the story for months. Logistics delays drove the declines we saw in U.S. NFDM/SMP exports in November, December and January. And the preliminary data suggested that was going to be the case in February.

USDA’s Dairy Product Report showed growing inventories of NFDM – reaching 156,766 MT in February. That figure was up 18,419 MT from January despite less NFDM/SMP produced. This suggests reduced commercial disappearance. And yet, NFDM/SMP exports grew substantially. Total NFDM/SMP exports grew 31% (+17,120 MT) over February 2020 with volumes gaining to both Southeast Asia (+38%, +8,421 MT) and Mexico (+30%, +5,936 MT).

From this, we can infer a few things:

First, domestic disappearance of NFDM was very weak in the first part of the year. Taken at face value, if production was down and exports were up but inventories still grew, then the culprit must have been reduced domestic disappearance.

Second, we can assume that the February exports were predominantly SMP produced in Q4 of last year that was able to make it onto a boat for export. The growing inventory figure from USDA only tracks NFDM, so to make the math work, the exported product must have been predominantly SMP.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, the surge in exports – particularly to Southeast Asia – suggests that international demand is better than the global trade figures implied over the past several months. Global NFDM/SMP trade declined five months in a row from September 2020 to January 2021, even as prices have steadily climbed. However, combine February’s robust exports, anecdotal reports that the product that is in inventory is sold, and the gain in Tuesday’s GDT, and the picture you get is of strong international demand for SMP, but shipping delays limiting the ability to fully meet that demand.

Looking ahead, this suggests that if U.S. exporters can secure booking with a carrier, there will be opportunities to grow exports.

Cheese volume highest in seven months

The U.S. exported 30,176 MT of cheese in February. It was the first time monthly volume exceeded 30,000 MT since last August – and it was done in a month with only 28 days. Adjusting for Leap Day, February 2021 U.S. cheese exports grew 1.1% over February 2020.

While cheese exports for the first two months still lag January-February 2019 and 2020, there were some optimistic signs in the February numbers.

Looking at individual market performance (NOT adjusted for Leap Day), U.S. suppliers saw broad-based geographical gains in February, led by a 70% increase in sales (+1,062 MT) to the Middle East/North Africa (primarily Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates). Exports were also strong to Japan (+263 MT), China (+201 MT), Oceania (+192 MT), Central America (+189 MT) and South Korea (+188 MT). (U.S. cheese exports to Japan and South Korea in the first two months were up 20% over the same period in 2020.)

That diversified success in February helped mitigate an 11% decline in cheese exports (-1,019 MT) to our No. 1 market, Mexico. It was the United States’ sixth consecutive year-over-year monthly decrease in cheese sales to Mexico, but at 8,591 MT, February was the largest volume since August 2020.

More competitive U.S. cheese pricing since December and progress in keeping COVID-19 in check in key markets in East Asia and the Middle East (and subsequent improved foodservice traffic in those markets) are creating a more optimistic outlook for U.S. cheese. But U.S. shipping issues and continued COVID-19 uncertainty remain strong headwinds to a full cheese rebound.

Continued strong whey exports

U.S. whey exports rose 29% (+11,500 MT) in February, continuing the march of strong global whey demand, and it comes as no surprise that China led the way. U.S. whey exports to China in February more than doubled, up 159% (+16,270 MT) compared to February 2020. Year-to-date total U.S. whey exports grew 22% (+17,700 MT) with year-to-date exports to China up 120% (+27,400 MT).

Along with the U.S., the EU is the other major provider of whey products to China; however, the EU product mix is weighted toward more high-value whey products where the U.S. is a primary provider of whey products used in feed in China. China’s continuing efforts to rebuild its swine herd has increased demand for whey in feed and as such has led to increased U.S. whey exports and rising U.S. market share.

Additionally, domestic milk prices in China are exceptionally high. Domestic demand for dairy products has risen at an increased rate with the growing popularity of dairy products and as the government backs the idea that milk consumption helps boost immunity – a persuasive message during a global pandemic. From this, raw milk prices in China reached levels above 2013 levels, which has made importing dairy products, like whey, more economically feasible as the country tries to meet demand.

Overall, both increased domestic demand for dairy products raising domestic milk prices and ongoing efforts to rebuild the swine herd has led China to dramatically increase whey imports. The U.S. continues to be a key beneficiary of this demand despite the supply chain constraints in moving product off the West Coast.

Source: USDEC

What’s it like to dairy in Peru or Ecuador?  This is a question Robbie Watson is uniquely qualified to answer. 

Today, he owns a dairy in Peru—and another in Ecuador.  And although Peru and Ecuador are neighboring countries in South America, dairying looks quite different in the two countries.

Watson studied animal husbandry in Lima, writing his thesis on dairy cattle.  Then, he added to his education by completing a Masters in Business Administration.  Using those skills, he worked for many years with a beauty company that took him all over the globe, averaging about 200 flights annually.  Every time he’s has the chance, he squeezes in a visit or two to local dairies. Add in another thirty trips to Madison for the World Dairy Expo and ten times to the Tulare Farm Show in California, and Watson can truly claim a fascinating international dairy perspective.

Watson started his first dairy, La Querencia, in Peru in 1987.  In 1989, he imported twenty-eight heifers from Ohio, “the seed stock,” as he calls them.  The farm is located 25 miles to Lima, Peru’s capital, which also accounts for 65-70% of the economy, and is home to 12-13 million of Peru’s 34 million habitants.  “People-wise, about one third of the country lives in Lima,” Watson notes. 

Peru is the nineteenth largest country in the world, he explains, with four completely different regions:  the Sierra/Mountains, Jungle, Coast and Islands.  Dairy cattle are mostly in the mountains and the high jungle, about 2,000 feet above sea level.  The coast of Peru is “a big desert,” as Watson puts it, and the country is cut by 52 rivers.  While farm land used to surround Lima, the city has taken over. 

“We have to haul feed for the cows.  It’s a trip of at least 60-95 miles for corn silage, or 370 miles for alfalfa.  And they are not easy miles, either–with a lot of traffic, too,” he says.  “It’s very expensive, and the cost of the feed increases because of the hauling.”

The location also gives them a competitive advantage.  “We are close to the market, and we can get a premium for the quality of milk we produce.”   For other farmers—who pay less for their feed—the problem is distribution of their product.  “It can take two to three days to get to the main cities, and you can’t get the milk out in fluid form.  They have to produce cheese.”

His dairy in Lima is not necessarily typical, he notes, mainly because he has constructed freestalls and uses stanchions.  “There are probably only three dairies with freestalls in all of Peru,” he says.  “We started over 25 years ago, and saw big improvements in production.  We have sprinklers in the parlor, and fans at the feed bunks.  It looks very much like a California-style barn, with sand and open corrals, no concrete because it doesn’t rain here. We have the best of two worlds:  forestalls with sand, and open corrals with no concrete.” 

He notes that they have tried to be “at the forefront of technology”.  They use a Delaval double twelve, milking three times each day. They are proud of their production, too, which is an average of 71 pounds of milk per cow per day.  Or, as Watson puts it as many around the world would: “It’s 12,000 liters (26,000 pounds) of milk produced per day, with 372 cows milking.” 

The climate in Lima is considered “mild”, but with high humidity, normally 90-95%.  The temperatures in the winter run 58-64 F, and in the summertime, 72-82, occasionally 86 F.  It can cause problems with pregnancy rates in the summer, which he’s happy if they can keep around 50%. “It’s the combination of the humidity and the heat,” he says. “It’s not as high as California or Arizona, but it’s not a dry heat.  That’s a big problem for the cows.” 

Their summer average is 66 pounds/cow/day, and winter is 81 pounds/cow/day.  They are higher than other farms in the country which is more towards 57 pounds/cow/day.  And, he is quick to point out that there are also different styles of dairying entirely.  “There are small family farms, with maybe eight to twelve cows, which are not dedicated to producing milk.  They get more like 26 pounds/cow/day.  They are feeding calves directly, usually using a dual-purpose breed, like a crossbred Holstein with Brown Swiss, Mount Billiard, Normandy or Fleckvieh.

“In the jungles of Peru, they use Jerseys because of the heat.  And water buffalo and Jir, a Brazilian breed, or a combination of Jir and Holstein, the Jirolando, a breed that started in Colombia and Brazil.  The Jirolando can achieve 66 pounds/cow/day, with really no body condition, and that’s becoming more coming in Peru’s hotter areas.”  

Watson feels they have learned to manage the heat of summer over time, now only losing about 8% due to heat stress.  “Before this, we had 40% production loss,” Watson says.  “Cow comfort is huge.” 

Watson notes that dairying in Peru looks a lot like the USA.  “Peru is very open to free trade, and protective of agriculture.  We import commodities, but pay higher prices.  Energy is very similar to the USA.  We can get almost 100% of the products that the USA has, just at a higher cost.  But the milk price is higher, too.” 

Source: GlobalCow

In an unprecedented year, USDA staff and dairy producers across the country worked together to protect dairy operations for the 2021 production year under USDA’s risk management program options – the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC), Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP), and Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Cattle (LGM) programs. Recent enrollment data for these programs indicate that dairy operations are proactively managing their risk.

“In a year rife with challenges, our staff worked diligently to improve customer service and seamlessly deliver programs to assist agricultural producers,” said Bill Northey, USDA’s Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation. “Through patience and perseverance on both sides of the virtual counter, as well as added resources made available to producers and staff for operating in a pandemic, producers were able to timely participate in these programs.”

Dairy Margin Coverage

Administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency, DMC offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.

Nearly three-quarters of all U.S. dairy operations with established production history are enrolled in DMC for the 2021 program year. Compared with 2020 enrollment of 13,532 operations, participation for 2021 increased to cover nearly 18,500 operations nationwide – meaning an additional 4,900 dairy operations recognized the value of DMC to their bottom line.

This enrollment success is a testament to the value of DMC to dairy operations. DMC is a cashflow-friendly program that offers enrolled operations the option to select a $4.00 catastrophic level of coverage with no premium fee or elect to buy up coverage. The premium on buy-up coverage is based on margin triggers between $4.50 and $9.50 on 5 to 95% of established production history. For coverage at the maximum margin trigger of $9.50, producers pay $0.15 per hundredweight of established milk production history.

To date, DMC has paid out more than $500 million in program benefits to dairy operations enrolled in calendar years 2019 and 2020. Margin payments triggered seven months in 2019 and four months, to date, for the 2020 DMC program year.

Additional Protection for Dairy

Approximately 3,000 operations purchased additional protection under DRP, which covers 30% of the milk supply and has provided more than $400 million in payments to covered operations since 2019. DRP, now in its second year, has grown from 2,500 policies in 2019. Additionally, 200 producers purchased coverage through LGM. Both LGM and DRP are managed by USDA’s Risk Management Agency.

While DRP insures against unexpected declines in the quarterly revenue from milk sales, LGM provides protection against the loss of gross margin (market value of milk minus feed costs) on the milk produced from dairy cows.

More Information

Enrollment for 2022 coverage for DMC will take place in the fall of 2021. For more information about DMC and to use the online program decision tool, visit the farmers.gov DMC webpage, or contact your local USDA Service Center. To locate your local office, visit farmers.gov/service-center-locator.

All Federal crop insurance policies are available from Approved Insurance Providers (AIP). To learn more about DRP and LGM and other crop and livestock insurance products, contact your local AIP. A list of AIPs is available at all USDA service centers and on the RMA website at the Agent Locator Page.

All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including those that restrict in-person visits or require appointments. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or any other Service Center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment. Service Centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel, and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors are also required to wear a face covering during their appointment. Our program delivery staff will continue to work with our producers by phone, email, and using online tools. More information on working with our Service Centers can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus

Source: osceolasun.com

The U.S. Heartland China Association recently hosted a roundtable discussion on the trading relationship between the U.S. and China. Agriculture and trade officials from both countries talked about ways to go about improving the relationship between the nations. Krysta Harden, President and CEO of the U.S Dairy Export Council, says America’s dairy farmers have a lot to offer to Chinese consumers.

“It really has been about our ingredients; that’s where we are advancing and accelerating in many key areas here. And hopefully, you’ll be able to dig a little deeper on some of these areas, but certainly talking about product nutrition and education, the innovation, the ideas of what consumers want, and how we can meet them in the marketplace. And I mentioned sustainability, about producing our products in a lasting way, making sure it’s also good for the planet. Those are key elements that really do drive our relationship and our exports to China.”

The recent trade war between the two countries took a toll on American dairy, but the good news is that dairy exports to China are bouncing back. “China is a very, very key market for U.S. dairy; number three. It’s a market that has been growing, a market that is important to us, and one that we would like to see improve over time. But the tariffs took a toll. There is absolutely no doubt, so we should look at the numbers and the recovery; you can see that we are making progress and things are coming back. But it was a very, very tough, difficult process for U.S. dairies through the tariffs.”

The Dairy Export Council is making inroads into China by forming partnerships to find out what Chinese consumers want in dairy. “The one thing we have done is try to join forces and build partnerships in-country to have programs that will help us spur product development, looking at what the Chinese consumers want. And their demand for health and well-being products is a growing area, and we know that we can help meet that. We’re working with the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology on different products and prototypes that might meet that growing demand. So, we were excited about working together to build these partnerships to find answers for your consumers.”

Dairy has also established a partnership with a prominent university in China to continue building on established relationships in the country. “We’ve had a great partnership with Yuhan University that we started by signing a Memorandum of Understanding in 2018, and it has been a great relationship. It continues to grow, and we continue to have a great relationship with the students working on different products, developing great ideas there, and we’re really excited about these relationships and what they might be in the future.”

Again, Krysta Harden is CEO and President of the U.S. Dairy Export Council.

Source: American Ag Network

‘Got Milk?’ It is a popular campaign slogan that families across the nation and in Texas are asking on a regular basis as need for the drink increases.

According to the Texas Association of Dairymen, 351 Texas Grade A Dairies, with an estimated 586,395 cows, produced more than 14.8 billion pounds of milk equating to more than 1.7 billion gallons, in 2020, up 7% from 2019.

The total economic impact of the Texas dairy industry in 2018 was estimated at almost $4.3 billion. Milk is ranked fourth in Texas agriculture commodities for its economic impact.

These are just a few of the facts that Copperas Cove High School students learned as the Copperas Cove FFA kicked off the celebration of National FFA Week with a presentation from Southwest Dairy Farms.

CCHS Agriculture and CTE classes rotated through the information workshop learning about dairy farms, healthy living, dairy cattle breeds, nutritional requirements and care of dairy cattle. Students witnessed a firsthand demonstration on the equipment used, milking procedures, and the process of milking dairy cows.

A Holstein cow, Katy Bell, was used for the milking demonstrations.

Some students were exposed to cattle in person for the first time.

“It was very entertaining,” Saymon Taylor said. “We got to learn about different types of cows and their many uses.”

According to the Texas Association of Dairymen, the average Texas dairy herd has 1,487 cows, and each cow produces an average of 2,861 gallons of milk per year, or about 7.84 gallons per day.

Both Texas milk production and milk output per cow rank fifth nationally. The total economic impact of the Texas dairy industry in 2018 was estimated at almost $4.3 billion. Dairy milk and cows brought in more than $2.4 billion in total cash receipts in 2019, with a $1.8 billion total contribution to Texas’ gross domestic product.

Milk is ranked fourth in Texas agriculture commodities for its economic impact. Milk produced in Texas in 2018 had an estimated value of almost $2 billion, which is 7.86 percent of the total value of all Texas agriculture commodity production.

Texas dairy exports totaled $321 million in 2019.

“The classes had an enjoyable time and learned some new things,” said FFA adviser, Danielle Sherwood. “The mobile dairy was a great start to the celebration of National FFA Week.”

Source: kdhnews.com

The dairy industry code of conduct, new contract arrangements for the majority of farmers and the COVID-19 pandemic have fundamentally altered the way dairy farmgate prices are set in Australia, according to Dairy Australia’s March 2021 Situation and Outlook report.

The report said this season had set a different pattern from the norm.

“Australian dollar denominated returns for dairy products have largely improved over the course of the current season, whilst competitiveness of imports has correspondingly declined,” it said.

This type of improving market would normally see southern milk producers receive step-up payments – based on the established practice where opening prices in southern regions form a conservative starting point in a given season.

“In contrast, what has been observed this season fits a different pattern, with aggressive opening prices to secure supply and a risk-averse approach to subsequent changes,” the report said.

“This is a pattern we can expect to see more in future years while excess milk processing capacity remains a factor.”

The report put this down to the Mandatory Dairy Industry Code of Conduct, introduced before the start of the 2020-21 milk season.

“The code is widely regarded as having concentrated the competitive period for milk supply to the start of the season, between minimum prices being disclosed and supply agreements being signed,” it said.

“As a result, opening prices were aggressive in the context of a depressed mid-2020 market, exceeding the more conservative expectations and forcing prompt changes for processors opening behind the pack.

“However, since that time there have been few changes in what looks like a rising market, leading to confused signals.”

Related reading:

• Opening farmgate milk prices
• Fonterra’s Australia arm delivers $NZ32m profit
• Ombudsman extends a helping hand to dairy farmers

The head of one of Australia’s largest processors, Fonterra managing director René Dedoncker agrees that the relationship between suppliers and processors has changed.

“If you look back through history, you will see typically processors open at 90 something per cent of where it might finish,” he said.

“Often we are in the 94 to 95 per cent of where we think it might finish and then we progressively step up through the year.

“That’s been turned upside down.

“It is a competitive milk pool and processors are opening closer to where they think they might finish and we are seeing that right now.”

Mr Dedoncker said as a result of the mandatory code, Fonterra now had a contract with every single farmer from whom it directly collected milk.

Previously most suppliers to most processors in southern milk regions were uncontracted.

“You could ring your processor and give them a few days notice of an intention to change processor and you could move … at very short notice,” he said.

“Now you are unable to do that.

“You are actually contracted to a processor for the period of the milk supply year and then you get the opportunity at the end of that contract to reassess.”

The benefit of the new arrangement was that farmers were now able to plan around a minimum price for the season, while processors had certainty of supply, he said.

But Australian Dairy Products Federation president Grant Crothers said it was difficult to see that the mandatory code had caused a fundamental change in most farmer/factory relationships.

“We do not see that the code has heightened competition nor significantly influenced prices announced on June 1, 2020,” he said.

“The supply of raw milk has been a very competitive space for some years now and the 2020/21 season saw this continue with high opening base prices announced on June 1, 2020.

“In prior years, processors who opened ‘behind the pack’ applied steps up and the market saw this happen in 2020, perhaps quicker than in the past, providing cash-flow benefits for some farmers.

“Experienced observers know well, it is the closing farmgate milk price that matters much more than the opening.”

Mr Crothers also challenged the proposition in the Situation and Outlook report that the market had been rising since June.

The report said anybody looking at a monthly dairy commodity price chart could be forgiven for largely overlooking the havoc that COVID-19 wreaked upon the world in 2020.

“The first few months did see volatility and lower product values as the initial shock of COVID-19 hit the market, but from the middle of the year onwards, prices gradually trended upward,” the report said.

But Mr Crothers said indicators clearly showed that the international market for dairy products significantly depreciated until February 2021.

“The NZX weekly spot value illustrates the deterioration in the Australian dollar Commodity Milk Value (CMV) from March ’20 to January ’21,” he said.

“Only in February ’21 did the CMV exceed the June 1 level of A$5.75/kg MS – at the same time as milk production volumes commence their decline into autumn and winter.”

Mr Dedoncker said Fonterra was only able to step up its price in March.

“We review our price every two months,” he said.

“In January, we were not in a position to make any moves.

“Since then we’ve seen a stabilisation in foreign exchange but importantly we’ve seen a steep rise in commodities.”

Mr Crothers said the code introduced uniform transparency and new disciplines for the buyers and sellers of raw milk.

“While there is significant risk that it will lead to more conservative opening prices only time will tell – that did not seem to happen in 2020,” he said.

“The size and timing of step ups will overbearingly be driven by market conditions and the ability of processors to extract value from milk in the various and diverse markets in which they operate.”

Source: farmonline.com.au

A survey of dairy farmers conducted by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) in December and January, found 63% of farmers struggled to recruit in the last five years.

This is up from 51% in 2016 and 40% in 2014 when the RABDF last surveyed farmers using repeated polls about labour.

It is something that is of increasing concern with almost all respondents (80%) saying staff recruitment was something that worried them and almost a third (32.5%) saying they would consider leaving the industry due to a lack of dairy labour.

Employers say unsocial working hours and not enough people interested in dairy farming are two of the main reasons for people not wanting to work on dairy farms, with 28% reporting staff leaving due to unsociable working hours.

This is despite 77% of employers saying they had made changes on their farm to make the workplace more attractive. Changes included creating dedicated staff facilities; offering more time off and not working weekends; attractive house packages and pensions, for example.

The difficulty in recruiting from the domestic workforce has seen the reliance on foreign labour remain with almost half of respondents (42.1%) employing foreign workers in the last five years. The reliance on foreign labour is concerning with access to any new foreign workers being restricted following Brexit.

RABDF Managing Director Matt Knight said: “Despite repeated calls to the Government to try and get dairy workers included on the Migration Advisory Committee’s Shortage Occupation List or included as a skilled worker, we have not had any luck in doing so. We need access to these skilled workers, especially in the short-term until longer-term solutions to the dairy labour issue are found.”

Encouragingly, half of the labour employed on dairy farms (54%) were aged between 16-34, with 75% of employees aged under 49 -well below the national average age in agriculture of 651. Apprentices make up a valuable part of the workforce with over half (57.5%) of survey respondents employing one and 86.5% saying they would consider taking on an apprentice.

Mr Knight adds: “These initiatives take time, which is why we’ve written to the MAC highlighting these results and requesting they reconsider including dairy workers on Shortage Occupation List or as a skilled worker.”

Source: farminglife.com

The USDA announced the creation of the Pandemic Assistance for Producers, a new initiative to offer financial assistance to farmers and ranchers affected by pandemic-related disruptions.

This endeavor will direct about $6 billion towards new outreach and support programs, with a particular focus on parts of the food system that were overlooked in previous rounds of assistance. This includes small and socially disadvantaged producers, specialty crop and organic producers, producers of renewable fuel, and local and regional food processing facilities. Pre-existing pandemic programs like the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which will be umbrellaed under the initiative, will receive additional funding, as will several other permanent UDSA programs. 

Throughout the pandemic, National Farmers Union (NFU) has urged USDA to ensure that aid is distributed “fairly and equitably” and that “payments are commensurate with demonstrated need.” In a statement, NFU President Rob Larew thanked the agency for reevaluating its methods and taking steps to serve farmers who were initially excluded.

“Federal assistance has been absolutely fundamental to the agriculture industry’s survival during the pandemic. Unfortunately, as National Farmers Union has pointed out, some farmers – particularly those who are socially disadvantaged, run smaller operations, grow specialty crops, or sell into local and value-added markets – have been largely unable to access the help they need due to inadequate outreach and structural flaws. Because those producers already tend to lack financial security, we were concerned that the lack of support could lead to a wave of farm closures.

“We appreciate USDA’s recognition of these issues and efforts to rectify them with the Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative. This sensible approach will help reach farmers who have previously been excluded from relief programs and keep them in business. As the agency implements this plan, we stand ready to provide further input on how to distribute resources in an effective and equitable manner.”

An in-depth explanation of the new initiative can be found here. 

Milk production and prices in New York were both down in February compared with the previous year.

The latest Northeast Region report prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that the state’s milk production in February totaled 1.20 billion pounds, down 1.8 percent from February 2020. The average milk price received by New York farmers in January 2021 was $17.10 per hundredweight, down $1.20 from December 2020 and down $2.70 from January a year ago.

New York’s 626,000 milking cows remained steady from the previous year.

Milk production in neighboring Pennsylvania and Vermont was also down.

Pennsylvania production during February 2021 totaled 798 million pounds, down 4.2 percent from February 2020, with the price per hundredweight was down $2.90 from January a year ago. Production in Vermont in February totaled 199 million pounds, down 7.0 percent from February 2020. The average milk price received by Vermont farmers in January 2021 was down $1.20 from December 2020 and down $2.50 from January a year ago.

Source: auburnpub.com

Agriculture has long been the bedrock of Vermont, combining food production and employment with rural economies and preservation of the state’s ecosystems and landscapes. 

Over the years, legislatures and governors have periodically commissioned reports to formulate plans to strengthen Vermont’s agriculture. The most recent of these appeared last month. It’s titled the “Vermont Agriculture and Food System Strategic Plan.”

The plan document, the product of “1,500 dedicated and passionate food system professionals and Vermont residents,” is informative and beautifully presented in full color. It urges that stabilizing and revitalizing Vermont’s agricultural industry requires “bold and decisive action.” The report recites some obvious challenges, such as “development pressure on farmland, generational transfer of farm assets, [and] changing consumer preferences and markets.”

But in its Vision Statement for 2030, the report wanders off into what might be called “Ceres in Wonderland.” That’s a collection of correct and happy outcomes, an exercise noticeably infused with political correctness. 

The 15 goals declare what must be made to happen — not only obvious things like “Demand for Vermont food will increase” but surprising things like “Food system organizations and stakeholders will prioritize racial equity” and “”At least 75% of Vermont residents will report that composting or managing food scraps is easy.”

Then come 34 “priority strategies” — one wonders what concern failed to be recognized as a priority. And here a curious feature appears.

Every one of the priorities begins not with a subject, but with a verb. The most popular verbs are fund, provide, establish, improve, rebuild, support, increase and expand. There’s never a hint about just who or what is supposed to deliver on these priorities.

A common theme runs through almost all of the 34 priorities. They require — wait for it — Funding! Investment! Allocating Resources! The report calls for a modest $9.7 million of one-time funding the first year, and $23.3 million a year for each of the 10 years to follow, to be distributed by 33 new state government employees overseeing achievement of the Visions.

Another obligatory inclusion is the fear of climate change, about which the report offers no support other than one unattributed chart purporting to show “projected” change in precipitation events between now and 2050.

One would think that friends of agriculture would welcome the increased crop productivity caused by carbon dioxide enrichment of the atmosphere, and the longer growing seasons predicted by the climate change authorities. But that would be wrongthink. Instead, the report advocates that somebody (who?) should make payments to farmers for carbon sequestration, which their fields, forests and crops have been doing for the past 200 years.

In sum, the report is a comprehensive and indeed elegant promotion for a Vision that appears to reward every “stakeholder” participating in its preparation. Its 164 supplementary pages contain much useful background information and a number of worthwhile ideas. 

But analyzing the verbs, one discovers that almost all of the many priorities require money to appear from somewhere, and it gives the strong impression that no acceptable agricultural system can exist without the all-embracing government planning, taxing, funding, directing and providing for its every component.

A more useful plan for Vermont agriculture would analyze and come to grips with the challenges faced by its most important component — the 600 dairy farms that produce 2.6 billion pounds of milk each year. The report does recognize the potential of forage-based milk production (“grass farming”) , but it doesn’t compare it to industrial-style free stall, capital-intensive, high-input-cost traditional production. 

How can Vermont dairies cope with changing consumer preferences and non-dairy milk biotechnology? 

What business model will allow which dairy farms to prosper when federal price supports sink below current levels — and what becomes of the others? 

What farming model will sharply curtail agriculture’s share of the phosphorus fouling our lakes and rivers? What model will protect the incalculable value of the soil, the responsible and humane management of livestock, and the well-being of migrant laborers? 

Which cost-effective technologies will successful dairy farms need to employ?

The report offers little or no practical discussion of these complicated questions, probably because most of the stakeholders understand little of the complex milk pricing system and the rapidly changing technology needed to keep farms competitive.

Instead, the report participants are transfixed by their glorious Vision of all the good things that could be made to happen by an all-knowing government directed by wise and right-thinking people — making use of millions of dollars raised from unidentified parties who shop at the farmers market and competently manage their food scraps.

Source: vtdigger.org

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION