14 CapitalPress.com
July 21, 2017
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Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
Cash cheese
prices
continue to
strengthen
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
C
ash cheese prices
strengthened the sec-
ond week of July. The
cheddar blocks finished Fri-
day at $1.6750 per pound, up
12 1/4-cents, the highest price
since June 2 and a penny and
a half above a year ago.
Monday saw the blocks
climb 2 cents and a penny
and a half on Tuesday, hitting
$1.71, as traders absorbed the
Global Dairy Trade auction
and awaited Thursday’s June
Milk Production report.
The barrels closed Friday
at $1.4750 per pound, up a
dime on the week and 27
cents below a year ago. Sev-
enteen cars of block traded
hands last week at the CME
and 50 of barrel.
The barrels were up a pen-
ny Monday and stayed there
Tuesday, at $1.4850, with the
spread growing to a whopping
22 1/2-cents.
Milk intakes are mixed
among cheesemakers in the
Midwest, according to Dairy
Market News. Some report
milk is still available, al-
though storage capacity con-
cerns are hindering some
producers from taking extra
milk. Others report taking
spot milk from flat market to
$3.00 under Class III. Cheese
sales generally range steady
to slow but the block to barrel
price gap is “distressing for
the overall market.”
Western
cheesemakers
report active manufacturing,
although milk production
is slowing to some extent.
Stocks are still long, but de-
mand is starting to catch up
to production. Marketers re-
main hopeful that the lower
U.S. cheese prices, compared
to world markets, may boost
export opportunities.
Lots of butter made its
way to Chicago last week and
the price dipped to $2.5850
per pound Wednesday. But it
closed Friday at $2.60, up a
penny and a half on the week
and 28 cents above a year
ago, with 67 cars sold on the
week, highest volume in over
10 years.
The spot price gained a
penny and a half Monday and
was up 3 cents Tuesday, to
$2.6450.
FC Stone broker Dave
Kurzawski wrote in his July
13 Early Morning Update,
“U.S. butter weakness seems
counter-intuitive in the face
of the recent strengthening
of EU prices, and discount
to those of Oceania, as the
growing spread in values will
attract export interests which
would constrain future do-
mestic supplies.”
DMN says butter sales are
“steady to strong.” Western
butter makers report steady to
lower production.
Cash Grade A nonfat dry
milk closed Friday at 86
1/4-cents per pound, down
a half-cent on the week and
1 1/4-cents below a year
ago. Sixty-one cars sold last
week, highest weekly vol-
ume ever and included a sin-
gle-day record of 31 loads on
Tuesday.
The powder was down a
penny Monday and held there
Tuesday at 85 1/4-cents per
pound.
GDT reverses
Tuesday’s Global Dairy
Trade auction reversed two
events of decline. The weight-
ed average for all products
offered inched up 0.2 percent,
following a 0.4 percent slip
on July 4 and 0.8 percent on
June 20.
Butter led the gains, up 3.4
percent, after it slipped 0.1
percent last time.
Cheddar was up 1.6 per-
cent, after it dropped 3.2 per-
cent last time. Whole milk
powder was up 0.3 percent,
following a 2.6 percent ad-
vance last time.
Dairy/Livestock
Dairymen to tee off for charity
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
TWIN FALLS, Idaho —
Dairy producers will be en-
joying an afternoon of golf
and camaraderie while raising
money for a good cause —
fighting domestic violence
and sexual abuse and support-
ing victims in their communi-
ty.
The goal is to raise $25,000
for Voices Against Violence,
a Magic Valley nonprofit or-
ganization that provides free
shelter and services to vic-
tims, said Todd Cook, rela-
tionship manager with Rabo
AgriFinance.
Rabo and Western States
Caterpillar are sponsoring the
VAV Invitational golf tour-
nament with $10,000 each,
and 25 teams of dairy pro-
ducers are putting up a $500
entry fee. Other sponsors in
the community are contrib-
uting as well, and there will
be plenty of opportunities for
golfers to donate additional
funds on the course through
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Todd Cook, left, relationship manager at Rabobank in Twin Falls,
and Evan Roth, agricultural law attorney and board member for
Voices Against Violence, wrap up some details on July 18 for a
dairy producers’ charity golf tournament to raise funds for VAV.
competitive challenges and
hole sponsorships.
Dairy producers support
their community in many
ways, but the charity golf
tournament is a means to
reach out in a big way, Cook
said.
It’s a “great way to show
the willingness of our clients”
to be a part of what VAV does
for the community, he said.
Cook teamed up with
local attorney Evan Roth,
a VAV board member and
fourth-generation dairy farm-
er, who brought the needs of
the organization to his atten-
tion.
VAV provides shelter,
clothing, meals, counseling,
case management, legal ad-
vocacy and other services and
resources for victims — and
those numbers are staggering,
Roth said.
“We always run at a deficit
and never have as much mon-
ey as we need,” he said.
The organization operates
on federal money, in-kind do-
nations and cash donations,
which are important in the
event of inconsistent federal
funding so VAV can keep the
doors open and operations
going, said Donna Graybill,
VAV executive director.
In 2016, VAV served near-
ly 1,500 individuals impacted
by violence, and cash dona-
tions accounted for $115,000,
she said.
“We are very much indebt-
ed to the support of dairymen
and agriculture; they are our
No. 1 source of cash dona-
tions,” she said.
In addition to its secure
short-term shelter, VAV is
opening a new facility for lon-
ger-term independent living,
Roth said.
“We’re providing more
and more services every year
and have to keep increasing
funding. As the community
grows, the need grows,” he
said.
It’s huge for a group like
Rabo’s dairy clients to want
to help fill that need, and the
golf tournament is providing
an opportunity for dairymen
to participate, he said.
The tournament isn’t just
about the funds it will raise.
it’s also about raising aware-
ness to the issue. VAV will
have a booth set up at the
event to tell players what the
organization is about, Cook
said.
“It’s not a fundraiser, it’s a
friend-raiser,” Roth said.
Dairymen and other farm-
ers have really rallied around
the event, and everything
about it will focus on VAV,
Cook said.
The event will be at Blue
Lakes Country Club on July
31 with lunch at 11 a.m., tee
time at 1 p.m. and dinner fol-
lowing the tournament.
For more information, call
Cook at (208) 316- 8076 or
Roth at (208) 954-3955.
Dairyman gets cows back;
animal abuse charges reduced
Veterinarian says
confiscated cows
looked OK
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Courtesy of Washington State Dept. of Agriculture
Water with high levels of fecal coliform surround homes March 1 in Outlook, Wash. The Washington
State Department of Agriculture has cleared one dairy and continues to investigate a second dairy
involved in the incident.
In flood’s wake, WSDA urges
dairy to block off manure
Flood cited in
federal lawsuit
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Washington State
Department of Agriculture
has ended its investigation
into the release of fecal
coliform-laced water that
flooded a Yakima Coun-
ty community last winter,
recommending that a dairy
block off a manure compost
pile or move it to higher
ground.
Snipes Mountain Dairy
was not fined or ordered to
take action, but WSDA will
inspect the farm in the fall,
department spokesman Hec-
tor Castro said Thursday.
If the dairy doesn’t re-
spond to WSDA’s concerns,
the department could refer
the case to the Department
of Ecology, which also has
jurisdiction over the dairy.
The dairy also could face
more severe penalties by
WSDA if it discharges pol-
luted water again. “It cer-
tainly would be a factor,”
Castro said.
WSDA’s notice to Snipes
dairy stems from a March
1 flood that actually began
on another farm, DeRuyter
Brothers Dairy.
Melting snow breached
a berm around a DeRuyter
field and flowed onto the
Snipes dairy. The floodwa-
ter wasn’t polluted until it
washed into the pile of ma-
nure, according to WSDA’s
investigation. The contami-
nated water eventually sur-
rounded several homes a
half mile away in Outlook.
WSDA
cleared
the
DeRuyter dairy of any viola-
tion, saying the breach was
caused by severe weather,
not human error.
WSDA, however, issued
Snipes a formal notice that
recommends moving the
compost pile or building a
berm to shield it from water.
Snipes dairy owner Henry
Haak declined to comment
Thursday.
According to WSDA’s
investigation, the water also
covered a field of triticale at
the Snipes dairy. But no ma-
nure had been applied on the
field since May 2016, and
the field was not the source
of the pollution, according to
WSDA.
Snipes is the target of a
federal lawsuit filed in April
in U.S. District Court for
Eastern Washington by the
Community Association for
Restoration of the Environ-
ment and Friends of Toppen-
shish Creek.
The two groups, which
have sued other Yakima
County dairies, notified the
dairy and government agen-
cies in early February that
they planned to sue, alleging
manure from the dairy is pol-
luting groundwater.
The groups reference the
March 1 flood in their com-
plaint. The dairy has yet to file
a response.
The case has been assigned
to Judge Thomas Rice, who
ruled in 2015 that manure
could be considered discard-
ed solid waste and subject to
the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act. The ruling
led dairies to agree to a cost-
ly settlement, which includes
double-lining manure lagoons
with synthetic material.
A Washington dairy farm-
er accused of abusing live-
stock will get four calves and
two cows back and have one
year to show he can take care
of his animals, according to
an agreement with Whatcom
County prosecutors.
Seth Daniel Snook, 35,
of Ferndale was charged in
April with five counts of fel-
ony animal cruelty after the
Whatcom County Humane
Society seized two dozen cat-
tle from his dairy. Authorities
said the animals were starving
to death, and most of the ani-
mals were euthanized.
Snook’s attorney, Emily
Beschen, argued that the Hu-
mane Society put down the
animals before their condi-
tions could be fully evaluated.
In a deal finalized Tuesday,
prosecutors dropped three
counts of first-degree ani-
mal cruelty and downgraded
the other two counts to sec-
ond-degree animal cruelty, a
gross misdemeanor.
The remaining two counts
— involving cows that a vet-
erinarian examined in late
June and declared healthy —
will be dropped in a year if
Snook’s dairy passes monthly
inspections.
A veterinarian inspect-
ed the dairy Tuesday morn-
ing and said it was in good
shape to take the cows. Su-
perior Court Judge Raquel
Montoya-Lewis
approved
the agreement Tuesday after-
noon and ordered the animals
returned to Snook within 48
hours.
Beschen said Wednesday
that she was confident Snook
would have been exonerated
at a trial, but the agreement
will allow him to get animals
back from the Humane Soci-
ety this week.
A trial was set for the end
of July, but could have been
delayed, she said.
“We didn’t want to have
the cows held up for that pe-
riod of time,” Beschen said.
“He’s very happy that the
cows are coming home.”
Deputy Prosecutor Eric
Richey declined to say why he
agreed to reduce the charges.
“Given our case, we made
a reasonable agreement to re-
solve this,” he said. “There’s a
plan to make sure the animals
are safe.”
Snook’s arrest drew the at-
tention of dairy groups, which
lauded the investigation into
allegations of months-long
neglect at Snook’s dairy.
Authorities said Snook had
failed to follow through on
offers from other dairy farm-
ers to help.
At a court hearing, the de-
fense said Snook struggled
to keep up the dairy after his
wife underwent surgery last
year, The Bellingham Herald
reported.
Snook’s defense reprint-
ed in a court document text
messages between Snook and
an animal-control officer sug-
gesting Snook was preparing
to auction his animals short-
ly before authorities seized
them.
Animal-control officers,
acting on a tip from a USDA
Farm Service Agency loan
officer, went to the dairy
March 29 and reported
seeing emaciated animals,
according to court records.
Animal-control
officers
seized cows and calves on
April 19.
While most of the ani-
mals were euthanized, six
went to an animal refuge
in Snohomish County. A
veterinarian who watched
videos taken April 20 and
21 declared in a court doc-
ument that they appeared
to be “bright, alert and re-
sponsive with good temper-
aments.”
Snook has filed a claim
against Whatcom County,
seeking unspecified damages
and alleging authorities de-
famed him and illegally inter-
fered with his business. The
county has yet to respond.
Settlement suspends grazing in Sawtooth allotments
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
KETCHUM, Idaho — The
settlement of a conservation
group’s lawsuit has forced a
minimum two-year suspension
of livestock grazing within two
scenic allotments along the
Salmon River.
The 2016 lawsuit, filed in
federal district court by Hai-
ley-based Western Watersheds
Project, alleged the U.S. For-
est Service allowed ranchers
to violate environmental laws
and disregard provisions of the
forest plan governing the Up-
per and Lower East Fork allot-
ments on the river.
As a result, stream health
standards have been compro-
mised, affecting endangered
salmon, steelhead and bull
trout, the lawsuit alleged.
Grazing organizations that
have followed the case, howev-
er, argue it’s yet another exam-
ple of conservationists seeking
to overwhelm the Forest Ser-
vice with litigation, seeking
to end public lands grazing
through “death by 1,000 cuts.”
“What we’ve learned over
and over again is it is never
going to be enough for these
(environmental)
groups,”
said Ethan Lane, execu-
tive director with the Wash-
ington, D.C.-based Public
Lands Council. “The only
thing they’re interested in is
removing human activity.”
Under the July 3 settlement,
cattle will be kept off the allot-
ments this year and in 2018,
and they won’t be allowed
to return until stream health
standards are met. The Forest
Service also agreed to pay the
plaintiffs $35,000 in legal fees.
Four ranchers had leas-
es within the two allotments,
grazing an unspecified number
of cattle. According to the law-
suit, the Forest Service renewed
grazing permits in 2012 and
2013, even though the ranchers
allowed cattle to trespass into
closed areas, continue grazing
during unauthorized times and
overgraze vegetation.
“For a really long time,
the Forest Service on the East
Fork has been managing live-
stock grazing really to optimize
ranching operations at the ex-
pense of fish habitat, and now
they’ll have to reverse that cal-
culus and prioritize conserva-
tion of stream habitat for native
fish first,” said Erik Molvar,
executive director of Western
Watersheds.
The allotments are within
the Sawtooth National Rec-
reation Area, and portions of
them lie within the new White
Clouds Wilderness.
Idaho Cattle Association
policy director Karen Williams
said both allotments are eligible
under the wilderness legislation
for voluntary buy-outs to per-
manently retire grazing allot-
ments.
“This is how the extrem-
ists are able to create what are
called willing sellers,” Wil-
liams said, adding at least one
of the permit holders plans to
sell.
If ranches fail due to the
loss of public lands grazing,
Williams said the private ranch
land could be subdivided for
housing.
Kirk Flannigan, area ranger
for the Sawtooth National Rec-
reation Area, said the ranchers
were involved in settlement
discussions and had ample
notice to make arrangements
for their cattle before the
agreement was finalized.