January 29, 2016
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11
Dairy
December brings wide swings in U.S. milk production
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
U.S. milk production was
all over the board in Decem-
ber, from a 13 percent year-
over-year increase in South
Dakota to a 6.2 percent de-
crease in New Mexico, ac-
cording to the National Agri-
cultural Statistics Service.
Milk production was gen-
erally up in the north and
down in the south, NASS re-
ported.
Milk production in the 23
major states was up 0.7 per-
cent to nearly 16.4 billion
pounds. Cow count was up
29,000 head year over year to
8.64 million, while milk per
cow was up an average of 6
pounds to 1,894 pounds.
Of the 23 states, 15 posted
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Cows feed in the sunshine at this dairy in Wendell, Idaho, last fall.
According to the USDA, milk production in the Pacific Northwest
increased in December.
increases in milk production,
with heavy hitters Wisconsin
and New York up 4.8 percent
and 3.5 percent, respectively.
South Dakota’s impressive
increase was on an additional
12,000 head and a 10-pound
jump per cow production to
1,900 pounds.
Wisconsin increased cow
numbers by 6,000 head to
1.28 million and bumped per-
cow production 80 pounds to
1,935 pounds.
New York also added cows,
up 5,000 head to 620,000, and
bettered milk per cow by 50
pounds to 1,940 pounds.
Michigan added 10,000
cows year over year and an-
other 35 pounds to per-cow
production, upping milk pro-
duction 4.8 percent to 876
million pounds.
Pacific Northwest states
also contributed to the overall
production increase, with out-
put rising 2.9 percent in Ore-
gon, 1.1 percent in Idaho and
0.4 percent in Washington.
Cow numbers were up
8,000 head in Idaho and 1,000
head in Oregon and held
steady in Washington. Milk
per cow was down 5 pounds
in Idaho, up 35 pounds in
Oregon and up 10 pounds in
Washington.
Production declines con-
tinued in the Southwest,
where top milk-maker Cali-
fornia posted its 13th consec-
utive month of year-over-year
declines. The state’s milk
production, at 3.36 million
pounds, was down 3 percent
on 4,000 fewer cows and a
drop of 55 pounds per cow.
New Mexico and Texas,
which took the brunt of winter
storm Goliath at year’s end,
were also down, New Mex-
ico for the 12th consecutive
month and Texas continuing
its downward trend since last
spring.
The storm brought snow
drifts of up to 10 feet in some
areas of New Mexico and
Texas, resulting in the death
of thousands of dairy cows,
interruptions of milk deliv-
eries and low yields, USDA
Economic Research Service
reported in its latest Live-
stock, Poultry and Dairy Out-
look.
Per-cow production in
New Mexico was down 105
pounds year over year, and
cow numbers were off by
4,000. Per-cow production in
Texas was down 20 pounds,
and cow count declined 9,000
head.
Disturbed lactation cycles
of surviving cows might po-
tentially contribute to lower
yields in those states for a pro-
longed period, ERS reported.
House bill proposes an option to EPA provides insight
Washington Ecology’s manure rules on dairy inspections
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Environmentalist
pans legislation
Capital Press
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — A dairy
industry-backed House bill
introduced Friday proposes
that the Washington Depart-
ment of Agriculture help de-
velop an alternative to ma-
nure-handling rules expected
soon from the state’s ecology
agency.
House Bill 2840 wouldn’t
stop the Department of Ecol-
ogy from issuing those rules,
which dairy lobbyists con-
tend could be a financially
crushing combination of state
and federal laws. But it would
direct DOE to also work with
the agriculture department on
a separate pollution-control
plan, with WSDA as the pri-
mary enforcer.
Dairies could operate un-
der either the new DOE reg-
ulations or under the rules
developed in collaboration
with WSDA, according to the
legislation sponsored by two
Democrats and two Repub-
licans on the House Agricul-
ture Committee.
HB 2840 doesn’t specify
how the programs would dif-
fer, though it directs WSDA
and DOE to set a policy for
identifying manure lagoons
that pose a significant risk to
groundwater. DOE’s prelim-
inary proposal assumes all
lagoons discharge pollutants
and subject to new regula-
tions. The dairy industry con-
tests that assumption.
Washington State Dairy
Federation spokesman Jay
Gordon said he hopes WSDA
and DOE would come up
with a simpler and less ex-
pensive plan for dairies to
follow. He said DOE’s pre-
liminary proposal would be
“tough for farms to imple-
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
A lagoon on a dairy in northwestern Washington holds manure that will fertilize fields in the spring. A
dairy industry-supported bill in the Legislature would direct the Department of Ecology to work with the
Department of Agriculture on manure-handling rules.
ment just from a bureaucratic
standpoint.”
The bill comes as DOE
nears completion of a
months-long effort to rewrite
its rules for concentrated an-
imal feeding operation per-
mits.
The updated rules will
incorporate U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency
requirements for preventing
surface-water pollution with
new regulations that DOE
says are needed to prevent
manure stored in lagoons or
spread on fields from con-
taminating groundwater.
Environmental lobbyist
Bruce Wishart said the bill
isn’t needed and could “poi-
son” ongoing negotiations
over DOE’s rules.
“It’s certainly going to
create discussions, but also
generate controversy. I think
it will cause things to be
more polarized,” said Wis-
hart, who represents the Sier-
ra Club and the Puget Sound-
keepers Alliance. “The bill
seems designed to limit en-
forcement of some important
water-quality laws.”
DOE and WSDA spokes-
men said their departments
are reviewing the bill and
have not taken positions.
Gordon said the bill would
let state policymakers retain
control over groundwater
protection, without EPA’s in-
volvement.
“It’s our right as a state,”
he said. “The process of hav-
ing legislation out there and
having the discussion is an
important process.”
EPA spokeswoman Judy
Smith said the agency is re-
viewing the bill.
Wishart criticized HB
2840 for not allowing citi-
zen lawsuits to enforce pol-
lution-control laws and for
assigning WSDA the job of
enforcing groundwater-pro-
tection rules.
“The Department of Agri-
culture is not a water-quality
agency, and we don’t have
confidence in their ability to
carry out this program,” he
said. “It’s the Department of
Ecology that should be in this
primary role.”
WSDA inspectors current-
ly enforce the state’s law on
how dairies manage manure.
“I think farmers appreci-
ate inspectors who have the
training and experience,”
Gordon said. “The thought
is there’s no sense in having
two different sets of inspec-
tors.”
TWIN FALLS, Idaho
— Expecting Environmen-
tal Protection Agency spot
inspections on dairies this
spring, the Idaho Dairymen’s
Association invited EPA
personnel to one of its dis-
trict meetings on Jan. 19 to
give dairymen a heads-up on
what to expect if an inspector
shows up on their farm.
EPA typically tries to pro-
vide some advance notice,
whether that’s a day or an
hour, but does reserve the
right to conduct an inspec-
tion without notice, said Nick
Peak, EPA Region 10 CAFO
coordinator.
“On-the-spot inspection is
part of the ballgame, especial-
ly when responding to a com-
plaint,” he said.
But the agency does try not
to disrupt the daily operation
too much, he said.
Even in a surprise inspec-
tion, dairymen do have the
ability to get the right person-
nel there for the inspection,
said Rick Naerebout, IDA di-
rector of operations.
If an inspector shows up,
he will ask for the person most
responsible for day-to-day
activities or Clean Water Act
compliance, and he will wait
for that person, Peak said.
Sometimes the agency
has contractors do spot in-
spections, but they will have
credentials. Inspectors are not
allowed to let anyone hold or
photocopy the credentials, but
they will show those creden-
tials. Dairymen should ask for
a business card or obtain the
name of the inspector and his
supervisor as well as a contact
number, he said.
If a dairyman can’t get
sufficient information, he can
deny access. But if access is
denied to an identified, legiti-
mate inspector, EPA will have
to get a warrant — and things
become onerous, he said.
“The last thing an inspec-
tor wants to do is get a war-
rant,” he said.
If the agency gets a com-
plaint of a discharge, it refers
the complaint to the state De-
partment of Agriculture. If it
gets multiple complaints, it
will respond and try to get an
inspector from the ag depart-
ment to come along, he said.
The inspector will care-
fully try to figure out if the
complaint is legitimate. He’ll
introduce himself, go through
what he wants to look at,
whether a sample is to be tak-
en, whether he wants to see
records, and answer any ques-
tions, he said.
If the inspector wants to
take photos, dairymen should
also take photos. The same
goes for taking samples. EPA
can take duplicate samples for
the dairyman, and that’s a rea-
sonable request, he said.
“If it were me, I’d be there
every step of the way,” he
said.
Most inspections don’t
take more than a morning
or afternoon and end with
an exit interview. Inspectors
will go through everything
with the producer and answer
questions. If a producer is too
busy, the exit interview can be
done another day. But it’s one
of the most important compo-
nents, and producers should
definitely follow up on it, he
said.
Inspectors will never make
a compliance decision in the
field. Instead, they write up a
report that goes to a compli-
ance officer. They will, how-
ever, go over compliance con-
cerns in the exit interview and
are allowed to provide com-
pliance assistance, he said.
There could be some fol-
low-up calls by the inspector
and sometimes a return visit,
he said.
Cheese, butter prices mixed
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
C
ash Cheddar block
cheese closed the Mar-
tin Luther King Day
holiday-shortened week at
$1.46 per pound, down 3
1/2-cents on the week and 2
cents below a year ago.
The Cheddar barrels closed
at $1.43, down 9 1/2-cents on
the week and 1 1/2-cents be-
low a year ago. Only three cars
of block and eight of barrel
traded hands last week at the
CME.
Traders had the weekend
to digest Friday afternoon’s
December Milk Production
and Cold Storage reports, both
viewed as bearish for the most
part, but they left the blocks
and the barrels unchanged
Monday and Tuesday, with no
activity.
Midwest cheese makers in-
dicate a slowdown in commer-
cial cheese sales, according
to Dairy Market News: “Milk
supplies are readily available
and cheese production is ac-
tive. Cheese inventories are
building, which is typical for
early First Quarter, and most
cheese makers are not very
Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
concerned about rising inven-
tories.”
Meanwhile, last weekend’s
snow storm boosted local re-
tail milk sales and adversely
impacted dairy cows and dairy
operations. Milk was reported-
ly dumped as the storm shut
down roads to milk pickups.
Cash butter, after plunging
11 3/4-cents Tuesday, regained
three-quarters Thursday and 3
cents Friday, to finish at $2.17
per pound, down 8 cents on the
week but 62 cents above a year
ago. Eight cars sold last week
at the CME.
The yellow gold inched
down a half-cent Monday but
jumped 2 1/2-cents Tuesday,
on four trades, to $2.19 per
pound, with a bid at that price
going unfilled.
Central butter production is
reported as active as cream is
readily available from sources
within and outside the region,
according to DMN. Food ser-
vice orders are unchanged.
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