14 CapitalPress.com February 12, 2016 Dairy/Livestock Subscribe to our weekly dairy or livestock email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Glanbia names top-quality producers Capital Press Kowz R Us Dairy, owned and operated by Harry Hoogland at Castleford, Idaho, has been named Glanbia’s 2015 Quality Patron of the Year. The award comes with a commemorative plaque and an all-expense paid trip for two to Ireland. “It’s all about consistency,” Hoogland stated in a Glanbia press release. “Our team works closely with the veterinarian, nutri- tionist, employees and our in- side-outside foremen. If we ind our somatic cell count increas- ing or if we have several new employees, we will pull together milk training,” he said. That training is facilitated by the Castleford High School ag- riculture teacher, who provides a translator. The training helps everyone understand the ex- pectations of running the dairy, Hoogland said. The annual patron award rotates between small, medium and large dairies. To be rec- ognized for the award, Glan- bia’s milk suppliers must meet strict quality standards over 12 months, paying close attention to all facets of dairy operations, Glanbia stated. “Kowz R Us Dairy is a cul- mination of many years of dairy experience in Idaho.” said Russ De Kruyf, Glanbia’s director of milk procurement. A photograph from the “Public Lands Hunt Club” Facebook page. Multiple Facebook posters have criticized the page and asked that it be taken down. Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Harry Hoogland, right, talks with John Brubaker during an Idaho Dairymen’s Association district meeting in Twin Falls in January. Hoogland has been named Glanbia’s 2015 Quaity Patron of the Year. Brubaker was also recognized as one of Glanbia’s top quality milk producers. Hoogland and his family were among the early trans- plants from California in the late 1960s. They saw the potential for the dairy industry in Idaho and paved the way for those who followed, he said. “Harry and (wife) Vicki have been very successful and are well respected in the Buhl and Castleford area. They surround themselves with excellent part- ners, managers and employees. Harry has some of the most dedicated long-term employees, and it is evident in their milk quality,” he said. The Hooglands have been Glanbia patrons for the last 10 years, and Glanbia has had the privilege of Hoogland’s insight and advice on its patron adviso- ry board for most of that time, said Daragh Maccabee, Glanbia senior vice president of procure- ment and dairy economics. “We would like to thank Harry, Vicki and all at Kowz R Us Dairy for their commitment to excellence over the years and congratulate them on their rich- ly deserved award for 2015,” he said. The grand prize drawing for an additional all-expenses paid trip for two to Ireland was awarded to Lael and Justine Schoessler of No-View Dairy of Kimberly, which was also rec- ognized for quality production. Other dairies recognized with awards for quality milk production were: Buhl: Alania Dairy, Knott- Run Farms, Kral Dairy and Robert and Monica De Kruyf. Gooding: Ballard Dairy and Big Sky West Jerome: Aardema-St. Brid- get Dairy, Aardema Dairy No. 7, Millenkamp Milkers No. 1, Ted Baar Dairy, Toledo-T3 Dairy, Toledo Dairy and Valen- cia Dairy. Richield: Bill Johnston Dairy, R and L Lezamiz Dairy, and Robinson & Sorensen Dairy. Shoshone: 4 Bros Dairy No. 1, 4 Bros Dairy No. 3, 4 Bros Dairy No. 5, U.S. Dairy Terreton: Sunview Dairy No. 3 Twin Falls: Lane Franco Dairy, Manuel Faria Dairy Wendell: DeJong Dairy, Dinis Dairy No. 1, Dinis Dairy No. 2, Rietkerk Dairy No. 2, Sunview Dairy No. 2, Toledo T&F Dairy, Van Dyk & Sons Dairy and West Point Dairy. Washington cattlemen in beef over promotion fees By DON JENKINS Capital Press Don Jenkins/Capital Press Washington Sen. Brian Dansel, shown at a Senate Agriculture Committee meeting Feb. 2, says he doubts a majority of producers supports doubling fees that support the state Beef Commission. Beef Board. The other dollar goes to the Washington Beef Com- mission, a state agency that received a little more than $1 million last year and dipped into reserves to cover a slight budget deicit. The commission’s execu- tive director, Patti Brumbach, said in an interview that inla- tion and declining cattle sales have eroded the agency’s an- nual advertising budget over the past eight years to about $320,00 from $600,000. To adjust, the commis- sion has narrowed its target audience to young parents in Western Washington and shifted advertising from radio and TV to social media web- sites, she said. Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Jack Field told the Senate Agricul- ture Committee that doubling support for the Beef Com- mission was embraced at the group’s state convention in November. Several ranchers vouched for that position, telling sena- tors that the Beef Commission was a valuable advocate, par- ticularly to urban audiences. “There are groups out here that just as soon the cattle industry go away, and we’re ighting that daily,” Snohom- ish County Cattlemen’s Asso- ciation President Jerry Labish said. The Cattle Feeders’ execu- tive director, Ed Field, said in an interview that his organiza- tion also sees the commission as a wise investment. “We are totally in support of the increase,” he said. Dansel questioned wheth- er the fee hike really had 7-1/#4x OLYMPIA — Cattlemen hotly debated a bill Thursday to double the fees ranchers pay to support the Washington Beef Commission. The Washington Cat- tlemen’s Association and Washington Cattle Feeders Association support raising the per-head assessment that cattle sellers pay to the com- mission to $2 from $1. The Cattle Producers of Washington, however, oppos- es the increase, and a north- east Washington lawmaker said he’s heard from “hun- dreds” of cattlemen in the past few days who don’t want to pay more to the commission. “I think if you had a poll done of the cattle producers throughout the state of Wash- ington, this would fail misera- bly,” said Sen. Brian Dansel, R-Republic. The rift was exposed at a hearing on Senate Bill 6638, which would authorize raising the beef checkoff. For the past 15 years, cat- tle sellers have paid $1.50 a head, with 50 cents support- ing the national Cattlemen’s widespread support, espe- cially after Moses Lake cattle breeder Mark Ellis read to the committee names of ranchers from several counties who he said opposed the fee increase. The Cattle Producers’ trea- surer, Nate Hare, told senators that the fee increase was far more than the commission needed to balance its budget. He questioned whether the Beef Commission was the an- swer to cattlemen’s problems and said that the commission hasn’t explained how it would spend the new revenue. “We haven’t heard where it’s go- ing, and where it’s going to be spent,” he said. Doubling the fees could be expected to bring the commis- sion another $1 million. The commission board’s goals include promoting beef’s nu- tritional value and burnishing the industry’s image, but it hasn’t made a detailed plan on how it would spend the mon- ey, Brumbach said. “I think the majority would go toward advertising,” she said. The Senate committee’s chairwoman, Moses Lake Republican Judy Warnick, passed the bill through her committee Thursday. Other- wise, the bill would have died for this year. The bill must still be approved by the full Senate before going to the House, and Warnick said she hoped the cattlemen’s groups could resolve their differences. Dansel opposed keeping the fee increase alive. He said that in the past few days, as more ranchers learned about proposal, “hundreds of cat- tle producers (have been) calling, emailing, text mes- saging, saying to oppose this whole-heartedly.” By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press A Facebook page that mockingly calls for shooting cattle that are illegally grazing on public land has riled pro- ducers and generated dozens of heated responses. But all indications are it’s fake, a parody intended to make people angry in the wake of the Ammon Bundy group taking over the Malheur Na- tional Wildlife Refuge south of Burns, Ore. Among other things, the occupiers demand- ed that federally managed land be turned over to the people and urged ranchers to tear up their grazing permits. The “Public Lands Hunt Club” page is an apparent re- sponse. “Since the Bundy Militia has secured public lands for the good of the people all Fed- eral restrictions are null and void. Cattle season is open!” it says. The hunt club “rules” go on to say “members” should only target cattle owned by ranch- ers who have renounced their public-land grazing permits, and that cattle that are grazing legally should be left alone. Cattle found in areas near “militia occupied lands” are “fair game,” however. “Shoot straight. Be safe. Have fun,” the club page con- cludes. The page includes posts from people claiming to have shot cattle. Photos of supposed hunters and their “prey” ap- pear to have been badly Pho- toshopped. One poster on the page links to a news account of two men arrested in Umatilla County on charges of killing a cow on private property. How- ever, an Oregon State Police account of the arrests indicates they were local residents who partially butchered the animal. Otherwise, OSP has no in- formation of any cows illegal- ly killed or “anything related to that FB page,” spokesman Lt. Bill Fugate said in an email. Multiple Facebook posters have criticized the page and asked that it be taken down. The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association is monitoring the page, spokeswoman Kayli Hanley said. The OCA has provided information to “authorities” about the “illegal message” on the Facebook page, she said. She would not elaborate. “We encourage our mem- bers to continue to post their own positive experiences of ranching through their own pages and avoid engaging with groups like this one,” Hanley said by email. The Capital Press sent a Facebook message to the page, asking for an explana- tion, but received no reply. Cheese holding, butter slipping By LEE MIELKE For the Capital Press C ash dairy prices showed some strength the irst week of February de- spite the week’s GDT auction plunge, but expectations ar- en’t so strong. CME cash Cheddar blocks closed Friday at $1.47 per pound, up a penny on the week but 6 1/2-cents below a year ago. The barrels inished at $1.4650, up 3 1/2-cents on the week and 1 3/4-cents below a year ago. Two cars of block traded hands on the week and none of barrel. The blocks and barrels were unchanged both Monday and Tuesday. Midwestern cheese pro- duction remains active with a more than adequate milk sup- ply, according to Dairy Mar- ket News. The ever-resilient butter, after dropping 12 1/4-cents Monday, regained 10 1/4 cents, then lost 3 cents on Friday, to close at $2.17, 5 cents lower on the week but 37 1/2-cents above a year ago. Twenty-three cars traded hands on the week. The spot gave up another Dairy Markets Lee Mielke penny and a half Monday and 2 cents Tuesday, slipping to $2.1350 per pound. Eyes were particularly on last week’s sales, in view of the CME’s change of policy requiring the Double A Grade on product offered there but Jerry Dryer, editor of the Dairy and Food Market Analyst, said in Friday’s DairyLine that he didn’t believe the pol- icy change caused Monday’s dip or the following rebound. He doesn’t see a huge falloff after the Super Bowl, at least not on butter, because Easter is early this year. CME Grade A nonfat dry milk dropped 2 1/4-cents by Tuesday but gained it back and then some, closing Fri- day at 75 cents per pound, up 3 1/4-cents from the previ- ous week but 31 cents below a year ago, with 16 cars sold last week. The powder was un- changed Monday but lost 2 cents Tuesday and slipped to 73 cents per pound. ROP-32-52-2/#17 Bill would double Beef Commission’s state revenue Cattlemen criticize phony ‘Hunt Club’ Facebook page 7-1/#4x