December 2, 2016
CapitalPress.com
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Greener
Pastures
Doug Warnock
Laboratory
tracks down
poisonous
plants
By DOUG WARNOCK
For the Capital Press
P
oisoning by plants can result in
serious economic losses to live-
stock producers in the Western
United States.
The Poisonous Plant Research
Laboratory (PPRL) has continued to
develop better understanding of how
certain plants become toxic to animals
and how livestock managers can take
action to minimize the impact on their
livestock.
A review of the history and future
plans of PPRL was included in a recent
issue of Rangelands, a publication of
the Society for Range Management.
In 1895, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture established a Western re-
search program to investigate livestock
losses from plant poisoning. This pro-
gram took several forms over the years
and was located in several places, but
in 1955 resulted in the formal creation
of the PPRL within the Agricultural
Research Service. It is located on the
campus of Utah State University in Lo-
gan, Utah, where the 10 scientists and
17 support staff operate in a modern
facility.
Livestock losses from plant toxic-
ity result from reduced weight gains,
lower conception rates, abortion, re-
duced male infertility, lowered general
disease resistance and death. It is esti-
mated that livestock poisoning causes
over $500 million in losses to livestock
operations in the 17 states in the west-
ern U.S. In recent years great advances
have been made, but plant toxicity still
takes a toll and is far from being under
complete control.
The work done at the research
station focuses on developing sci-
ence-based guidelines for grazing live-
stock on rangelands with toxic plants,
determining ways to reduce livestock
losses from poisonous plants, improv-
ing feed and food safety by improving
testing methods and safety guidelines,
developing guidelines to reduce nega-
tive impacts on livestock reproduction
and fetal growth, and improving animal
performance and safety by develop-
ing parameters for genetic-based herd
management decisions.
Through this research, good prog-
ress has been made in reducing the
negative impacts of the following poi-
sonous plants: veratrum, halogeton, lu-
pine, locoweed, and larkspur.
An important consideration in deal-
ing with toxic plants is the compatibil-
ity of animals to the environment in
which they graze. It is possible to se-
lect animals on the basis of their adap-
tation to the rangeland and their ability
to resist or tolerate the toxic plants in
that location. Another area of research
is the development of a diagnostic tool
to identify the guilty plant when a dead
animal is found through analysis of the
stomach contents.
Research is needed to find ways to
identify animal products that contain
materials potentially harmful to hu-
mans consuming them. Certain alka-
loids can be harmful to humans if eaten
by the animals providing the meat or
milk being consumed by humans.
One way to reduce the effect of
toxic plants in areas with lower quali-
ty grazing is to find ways to establish
palatable, adapted perennial plants in
those areas.
An example is the Channel Scab-
lands of Eastern Washington that has
a consistent problem with crooked calf
syndrome caused by certain species of
lupine. The researchers are currently
studying the possibility of seeding for-
age kochia in those plant communities
to provide a more reliable alternative to
the lupine and the poorer forage plants
found in those areas.
In past years, USDA’s PPRL has
made good strides in alleviating the
costly impact of poisonous plants on
livestock grazing Western rangelands.
More needs to be done and the scien-
tists and staff at PPRL are in a position
to make great progress as advanced sci-
ence and new techniques become avail-
able and applicable.
Information on poisonous plants is
available from PPRL and your local
Extension office.
Doug Warnock, retired from Wash-
ington State University Extension,
lives on a ranch in the Touchet River
Valley where he writes about and
teaches grazing management. He can
be contacted at dwarnockgreenerpas-
tures@gmail.com.
13
Dairy/Livestock
East Idaho producer inducted
into Idaho Dairy Hall of Fame
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — Idaho Falls dairyman
Lynn Dean Pack was both honored
and surprised to be named the new-
est member of the Idaho Dairy Hall
of Fame.
“It’s exciting but it’s extremely
humbling at the same time when
you look at some of the names on
the list,” said Pack, who was in-
ducted into the hall of fame Nov.
17 during the United Dairymen of
Idaho annual meeting.
Pack said he can remember his
father and grandfather talking about
some of the old-timers whose names
are now alongside his in the hall of
fame. His grandfather, Don Pack,
was inducted into the hall in 1974.
Pack, 62, was raised on a dairy
Lynn Dean Pack
and has been in-
volved in the in-
dustry since his
earliest memo-
ries.
“My
love
for the industry
started when I
was just a little
kid,” he told the
Capital Press.
“It’s in my blood.”
UDI CEO Karianne Fallow said
Pack’s long history of serving on lo-
cal, state and national dairy industry
boards and organizations stands out.
He has been an active member of
the Idaho Holstein Association since
1976 and was elected to the Western
Dairymen Cooperative Inc. board,
which helped create the Dairy Farm-
ers of America cooperative.
He served on the DFA board and
as a DFA area council member for
20 years.
He was the youngest person to
receive the Idaho State Holstein
Association’s young breeder, senior
breeder and master breeder awards
and has judged 4-H and FFA dairy
shows for 20 years.
Pack’s operation is small com-
pared to most other Idaho dairies
— he averaged 110 cows between
1976-2014 but downsized to about
50 in 2015.
He started with one cow to his
name in 1976 and currently ships
about 60,000 pounds of milk per
month.
“He has been a long-time
farmer dedicated to seeing our
industry prosper,” Fallow said.
“And while his operation is rela-
tively small, he’s been an active
part of the dairy community for
years.”
Pack said his success shows that
dairy producers shouldn’t be judged
on their cow-herd size but on their
will to succeed and participate in
the industry.
“Whether you’re milking 5,000
cows or 50 cows, we should support
them and help them in any way we
can to fulfill their dream,” he said.
He said his grandfather and fa-
ther taught him a critical lesson that
has helped him get through the lean
times.
“They said when times get real
crappy, just grab onto a cow’s tail
and she’ll pull you through it,” he
said. “To this day, those cows have
pulled me through everything I’ve
been through.”
Expert: Dairymen should get ready for rising milk prices
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — As the U.S. economy
continues to improve, so will milk
prices and dairymen need to make
sure they are ready for that oppor-
tunity, an economist told producers
during the United Dairymen of Ida-
ho’s annual meeting last week.
“The U.S. economy is going up,
the global economy is going up and
milk prices are going up,” ITR Eco-
nomics CEO Brian Beaulieu said to
loud applause.
Beaulieu told Capital Press lat-
er that a dozen leading economic
indicators point to rising milk pric-
es and that an improving U.S. and
global economy has historically
meant higher milk prices.
The most recent average Idaho
monthly milk price of $16.30 per
hundredweight is 2 percent above
last year, he said.
“A stronger economy gets us
better milk prices and we’re moving
toward a stronger economy,” Beau-
lieu said. “The economy is growing
at a faster rate and it’s going to con-
tinue to grow.”
With prices on the upswing, pro-
ducers need to position themselves
now to take advantage of that op-
portunity, he said. That means en-
Courtesy of United Dairymen of Idaho
Economist Brian Beaulieu told dairy producers during the United Dairymen of
Idaho annual meeting that an improving U.S. and global economy point to rising
milk prices over the next several years.
suring they have enough capital,
equipment and labor.
“The next four to five years
look to be up years,” he said. “Are
you ready for those up years? You
have to ask yourselves, do you
have enough of whatever it is you
need....”
With interest rates still at histori-
cally low levels, now is a good time
for producers to borrow money or
invest in new technology if they de-
cide to go that route, Beaulieu said.
“Make it happen, now, before the
prices go up,” he said.
Twin Falls dairyman Willy
Bokma said any dairymen who are
thinking about making major in-
vestments in new technology are
keenly aware of how the economic
outlook will impact their bottom
line and Beaulieu’s forecast bodes
well for the industry.
New technology such as dairy
Lawyer: Idaho’s open
range laws complicated
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Idaho’s open
range laws have come under a lot of scru-
tiny the last couple of years, and there’s a
lot of misunderstanding and misinforma-
tion about those laws among the public
and even ranchers.
It’s a complicated area due to the cross-
current of federal, state and local laws,
said Bill Myers, a public lands and natural
resources attorney with Holland and Hart.
The scrutiny came to a head with the
shooting of rancher Jack Yantis, Myers
said during the Idaho Cattle Association
annual convention.
Yantis was killed by two Adams Coun-
ty sheriff’s deputies in November 2015
after he was called to put down his bull
that had been struck by a car on Highway
95 near Council. The owners of the car are
now calling for change to Idaho’s open
range laws.
There are “lots of wrinkles” in open
range laws, and ranchers should pay at-
tention to any proposed changes, Myers
said.
The laws are difficult to wade through,
and immunity on federal highways is un-
clear. But Idaho is a “fence-out” state —
it’s up to landowners to fence livestock
out of their land. Ranchers are not liable
for damage or injury resulting from an
accident involving wandering livestock,
Myers said.
“But herd districts turn that on its
head,” he said.
Herd districts are a legislative ex-
ception, wherein livestock owners must
fence in their land to prevent livestock
from roaming off their property and are
potentially liable for any damage caused
by their livestock.
Herd districts can be created through
a petition of landowners to their county
commission, or commissioners can simply
do it by ordinance — not a herd district per
se but a controlling of livestock, Myers
said.
Herd districts cannot include state or
federal land or impose liability on a high-
way district for damage or injury result-
ing from livestock. Nor can they prohibit
trailing of livestock on a public highway
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Bill Myers, a public lands and natural
resources attorney with Holland and Hart,
spoke about the complexity of Idaho open
range laws during the recent Idaho Cattle
Association annual convention.
or hold the livestock owner liable for any
harm while trailing, he said.
Herd districts require a lot of fencing
and cattle guards, and property owners
within the district are on the hook for the
cost through county taxes, he said.
“It can be a fairly significant tax bur-
den,” he said.
Taxpayers pay the full cost of con-
structing and maintaining legal fences
and cattle guards on the district’s border,
including on private property, and 75 per-
cent of the cost of construction within the
interior of the district.
Maintenance of interior fences and cattle
guards on private property falls to the prop-
erty owner. Construction and maintenance
after the creation or modification of the dis-
trict also fall to the property owner.
There are approximately 300 herd dis-
tricts in Idaho, with more of them in areas of
higher populations, Myers said.
If an accident occurs outside an open
range area, there is a presumption of neg-
ligence. That can be rebutted if a livestock
owner had a legal fence in good repair. The
vehicle owner could also be liable for con-
tributory negligence if, for instance, he
wasn’t driving properly, he said.
robotics is expensive and individu-
al producers have to weigh whether
investing in it will pay off in a rea-
sonable amount of time, he said.
“The economic outlook is very,
very crucial to our consideration of
those things,” Bokma said. “Those
types of things are really important
for us to think about.”
UDI CEO Karianne Fallow said
dairymen are hopeful that milk pric-
es have turned a corner and there is
already a lot of investment occurring
within the industry.
“I’ve been out visiting dairies
over the year and there is a lot of in-
vestment happening — new barns,
new technologies, innovation, robot-
ics,” she said. “Dairy farmers are in-
vesting, which tells me that they are
taking advice like Brian’s seriously.”
Beaulieu said the biggest threat
to rising milk prices would be if
the policies of the new Trump ad-
ministration resulted in a trade war
or negatively affected current trade
agreements.
“That’s the single biggest risk,”
he said. “A trade war would be detri-
mental to our economy.”
But if President-elect Donald
Trump follows through on his vow to
lower taxes and rein in regulations,
“it will help the economy grow fast-
er,” Beaulieu said.
Weak week for cheese prices
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
T
raders had to weigh the
October Milk Production
and Cold Storage reports
in the shortened Thanksgiving
Week last week.
They took the CME ched-
dar blocks to $1.9150 per
pound Tuesday but they closed
Wednesday at $1.86, down a
nickel on the week but 28 cents
above a year ago.
The barrels finished at
$1.69, down 6 cents on the
week, 14 cents above a year
ago, but at an unsustainable 17
cents below the blocks.
The blocks started this week
losing a penny and a half and
then dropped 6 1/2 cents Tues-
day, to $1.78 per pound, the
lowest spot price since Hallow-
een.
The barrels also lost a pen-
ny and a half Monday and were
down 2 cents Tuesday, slipping
to $1.6550, still at a larger than
normal spread of 12 1/2 cents.
There isn’t much for the
markets to feed on this week in
the way of USDA reports and
traders await the next Global
Dairy Trade auction, which is
Dec. 6.
Dairy Market News reports
that much of the milk freed up
by the Thanksgiving holiday
was finding its way into cheese
vats. But “contacts say domes-
tic retail demand has remained
strong through the early stages
of the holiday shopping season.
Some suggest that food service
orders have dipped somewhat
in response to the holiday and
from supply pipelines getting
filled. Inventories are long for
barrels and cheese used for pro-
cessing, but much tighter for
fresh blocks.”
Western cheese output is
also “active and a lot of milk is
moving through cheese vats,”
DMN said. “Cheesemakers re-
port strong seasonal retail de-
mand for cheese, but also note
buyers are starting to push back
Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
against the higher prices.”
DMN adds that “although
supplies of fresh blocks of
American style cheese are low
or at least committed, some end
users see the passing of Thanks-
giving and the fast-approaching
winter holidays as a signal to
slow their purchasing. Invento-
ries of blocks and barrels used
for processing are readily avail-
able. Because manufacturers
are eager to keep older blocks
and barrels moving out of their
warehouses, some end users
are making buys at heavily dis-
counted prices.”
Cash butter closed Wednes-
day at $2.0475 per pound, up
1 3/4-cents on the week but 85
1/4-cents below year ago.
Butter jumped 5 1/4-cents
Monday but was unchanged
Tuesday, holding at $2.10 per
pound, highest price since Aug.
30.
Butter requests from some
restaurants are active, says
DMN. “At this point, churn-
ers are focusing operational
schedules on year-end holiday
manufacturing needs. Butter
processors indicated that cream
availability was improving
as the week advanced. Some
buyers are finding spot loads
of bulk butter hard to find as
inventories are heavily com-
mitted.”
Western butter makers are
“actively seeking cream to
churn,” DMN said. “Cream
has tightened as processors
are eager to make print butter
to meet holiday needs. Inven-
tories continue to decrease
due to the strong holiday de-
mand.”
Cash Grade A nonfat dry
milk finished the short week
at 90 1/2-cents per pound, up
a half-cent on the week and 17
1/4-cents above a year ago.