TheDairySite - 4 February 2011

TheDairySite Weekly Newsletter

Friday 4th February 2011

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: Unions Warn of Massive Cost-Price Deficit

This week a report from the British National Farmers' Union has revealed that there is a £330 million gap between the price paid for milk and the costs of producing it.

The Cost of Milk Production reveals that British dairy farmers are, on average, losing more than three pence on every litre of milk they produce.

With 11 billion litres of milk produced annually on dairy farms across the country this equals a massive £330 million gap between production costs and the price received by British dairy farmers.

As the NFU released its report, the UK's leading dairy company, Dairy Crest, reported in its latest investors' report that it has traded strongly over its third quarter.

The company said that despite a difficult economic environment, profit before tax for the nine months ended 31 December 2010 is in line with expectations.

It said that weekly milk&more sales are currently close to £1 million from just under £800,000 in September 2010.

In Ireland, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has called on the co-ops for an immediate 1.5 Euro cents per litre (¢/l) January milk price increase.

The IFA National Dairy Committee has identified a realistic 1.5¢/l January milk price increase as its first target for 2011.

Chairman Kevin Kiersey said this price increase was made possible by rapidly rising but sustainable dairy commodity returns, and made absolutely necessary by fast increasing input costs eating into barely recovered dairy farmers' margins.

In New Zealand, the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation have appointed FarmRight as an investment manager and acquired a dairy farm in West Otago as the first concrete steps in executing their Rural Land strategy.

As the weather eventually turns towards Spring in Europe, the Northern Irish Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew has repeated a warning to farmers to be vigilant over the threat of bluetongue.

The Minister said: “I am concerned that some in our industry seem to think that it is safe to import animals from areas not yet free from Bluetongue. Now is not the time to become complacent."

Chris Harris

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 4 new features this week:

Increased Calcium In Diet Reduces Phosphorus Movement
Recommended concentrations of dietary phosphorus (P) for lactating dairy cows have been reduced in recent years in order to reduce the excretion of P in manure, write Charlie Staples, Daniel Herrera, Willie Harris, Vimila Nair, and M. Josan, from the University of Florida.

Managing Endometritis In Dairy Cows
Endometritis or whites is defined as the presence of pus in a vaginal discharge 21 days or more after calving, typically about 15 per cent of cows are affected, says XL Veterinary Group.

Plan Now To Improve Calving Weight
With higher calf prices in the fall of 2010, there is a belief in the industry that the prices will hold going into the fall of 2011. Higher prices provide an incentive to increase calf weaning weights and dollars received per calf when this upcoming calf crop is sold.

Taking New Measures Against Ticks
Ticks are close relatives of mites, spiders and scorpions, but unlike these arachnids, ticks tend to stick around, warns the USDA ARS.