Good and bad in Federal Order reform proposal

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued its draft decision of Federal Milk Marketing Orders. American Farm Bureau Federation chief economist Roger Cryan says important changes were made. “It increases the value returned to farmers for bottling milk through increases in the location values and some formula adjustments, but most importantly, it restores the higher of the cheese or butter powder values in the bottling milk price instead of the average plus price formula that was used since 2019,” Cryan said. “And there’s not-so-good stuff. The biggest issue is there are substantial reductions in all the class prices to allow for higher processing costs.” USDA’s FMMO plan does not include all of the Farm Bureau reform proposals. “We thought it was important to add 640-pound blocks of cheddar cheese to the product price list survey that sets the cheese milk price because in five or 10 years, there won’t be enough 40-pound blocks to set a fair price and USDA disagreed with that.”

Bill seeks to reverse WIC milk limits

A bill has been introduced in Congress to increase the maximum monthly allowance of milk available through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children program to its previous levels. This proposal would reverse a WIC rule that went into effect in mid-June. This bill was introduced by Republicans Elise Stefanik of New York and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin and Democrat Josh Harder of California.

Moderna to produce H5N1 vaccine

The federal government has awarded Moderna Inc. $176 million to produce a vaccine to address the H5N1 avian influenza. Moderna will be using the same messenger RNA technology used for its COVID vaccine. Since March, the H5N1 virus has affected 130 dairy herds in 12 states including Minnesota and South Dakota. This vaccine would potentially be used for farm workers and others at risk of exposure to the virus.

H5N1 relief available for affected dairy herds

Dairy farmers who suffer milk losses due to the H5N1 virus in their herds are being made eligible for the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-raised Fish Program. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said this assistance will offset a portion of the financial losses for the reduced milk production when cows are removed from the herd. “When you’re dealing with roughly 120-130 herds out of 24,000 herds the impact on milk volume is relatively very, very small; that’s the good news,” Vilsack said. “Obviously, to the individual producer, it’s difficult and devastating. That’s the reason why we put the ELAP program together as an indication we want to be partners with them as they deal and cope with this disease.” To be eligible, milk cows must be confirmed positive for the virus and initially removed from milk production. Payments will be calculated based on the monthly all-milk price and a standard number of days with reduced or no production. The final day to file a notice of loss with the Farm Service Agency is January 30, 2025.

Another human case of H5N1 confirmed

A dairy worker in Colorado is reporting mild symptoms, including pink eye. This is the fourth human case of bird flu in the United States.

New case in Minnesota

H5N1 influenza has been identified in Minnesota. This dairy herd was in Benton County. This is the seventh Minnesota cattle herd infected with the virus.

H5N1 remains a concern 

Seven Minnesota dairy cattle herds have been confirmed with the H5N1 virus since it was first identified in late March. While avian influenza results in high mortality in poultry operations, state veterinarian Brian Hoefs said that is not the case for dairy herds. “That being said, the virus certainly affects production in these animals.” Clinical signs include low appetite and reduced milk production. Hoefs urges farmers to take the virus seriously for the sake of more than just the dairy industry.

Ag commissioner assesses damage

Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen surveyed flood-related damage in southern Minnesota one day after taking an aerial tour of the Mankato area with Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. “Going from the Twin Cities to the Mankato, I didn’t see one good field anywhere.” Petersen said it is important for farmers to report their acres and provide damage reports to the county FSA office. That information will be used for a possible disaster declaration. Petersen said local infrastructure is also facing flood-related losses. “You hear about loads of gravel, the bridge infrastructure, the shoulders of the roads; these are all problems that counties and townships will need to fix. Townships sometimes get forgotten and I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Vilsack: farm bill needs a practical point of view

The farm bill seems to be in limbo. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said everyone wants to get the legislation wrapped up, but that will not happen until everyone involved adopts a practical point of view. “I think what we saw from the House Agriculture Committee is more of a political point of view.” The House Republican bill limits future increases to the so-called Thrifty Food Plan which calculates the amount of money SNAP recipients receive. Vilsack said that plan takes resources away from families in need and transfers a portion of the funding to increase farm reference prices that benefit only 22 out of the 100 commodities grown in the U.S. “The top 10% of those receiving the benefits receive 60% of the benefit; it creates a serious issue in terms of the fairness and equity of what we’re talking about.”

Department of Justice ramps up its ag anti-trust division in the Midwest

The DOJ is working with USDA to boost competition in the livestock industry. Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter said it is time to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act beyond poultry and focus on beef and other parts of the food supply chain. “That’s one reason why we are putting our money where our mouth is and hiring more lawyers and more experts related to agriculture,” Kanter said. “The lawyers I’m pleased to announce will be based in the Midwest and will focus on both civil and criminal ag enforcement at the anti-trust division.”

Second-crop alfalfa looks good

CROPLAN forage and alfalfa specialist Jeff Jackson says alfalfa weevils are starting to fizzle out but scouting before cutting is recommended. “There are a few farmers that are getting really close or starting on a second crop of alfalfa. If they hit the window right, a lot of those guys that were on the front side are set up nicely for a second crop that looks good.” The quality of the first cutting depended on the cutting timing. “The guys that got behind the curve trying to wait for dry weather or got cut late got less quality. The overall quality is better than expected with some of the field conditions that we had.”

Trivia challenge

Hot fudge is the most popular ice cream topping. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what was the largest cheeseburger ever made? We’ll have the answer in our next edition of the Dairy Star.

Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two sons, Tony and Sam, and five grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.