September 1, 2017
Milk production down
in Northwest, California
CapitalPress.com
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Washington agency pictures more
elk; farmers see more damage
Capital Press
By DON JENKINS
5
Capital Press
U.S. milk production in
July at 18.2 billion pounds
was up 1.8 percent year over
year on an additional 74,000
cows and an extra 20 pounds
per cow, according to the lat-
est report from USDA Na-
tional Agricultural Statistic
Service.
However, production in
the Northwest and California,
was down, with fewer cows
and lower milk production
per cow reported in Washing-
ton and Oregon, fewer cows
in California and lower pro-
duction per cow in Idaho.
The cow count in Ida-
ho increased 2,000 head to
601,000, but monthly milk
production per cow was off
10 pounds to 2,155 pounds.
That dropped total production
by 0.2 percent.
The main reason is a long,
hot summer that’s dragged on
for a couple of months, said
Tony VanderHulst, a Wendell
dairyman and president of the
Idaho Dairymen’s Associa-
tion.
“Cows are tired. They’re
recovering from a long win-
ter, and then they get a hot
summer. It hammered on
them; it’s a double-wham-
my,” he said.
Feed quality is fine, but
cows are weary, milk prices
are low and everybody’s just
trying to buckle down. It’s a
roller coaster ride, he said.
Mornings have been
cooling off the last couple
of weeks, but it’s been a hot
couple of months and milk
production isn’t going to
turn around overnight. Fall is
coming on, and cows will be
using their energy to put on
winter coats, he said.
“So they’re getting over
one winter and getting ready
for another, and the Farmers’
Almanac is expecting it to be
another rough one,” he said.
California’s steady decline
in milk production tapered off
a bit in July, down only 0.2
percent. Cow numbers are
still heading south — down
13,000 in July year over year
to 1.75 million — but milk per
cow saw a 10-pound boost.
Oregon was down only
1,000 cows from a year
ago, but per-cow production
dropped 40 pounds. Washing-
ton was down 2,000 cows and
30 pounds per cow.
Production was up mark-
Capital Press File
Milk production in the Pacific
Northwest and California is
down this year, but it’s up in the
rest of the U.S., according to
the USDA.
edly in other Western states,
with New Mexico up 8.4 per-
cent, Arizona up 6.3 percent,
Colorado up 6.8 percent and
Utah up 9.6 percent.
Texas was up 14.8 percent
and has posted double-digit
increases all year. Cow num-
bers in July were up 25,000
head year over year, and pro-
duction per cow was up 130
pounds.
Some of the Lone Star
State’s impressive increases
this year are reflective of the
industry’s recovery from win-
ter storm Goliath that hit in
late December 2015, but pro-
ducers have expanded herd
size beyond pre-Goliath num-
bers, said Ellen Jordan, dairy
specialist with Texas A&M
AgriLife Extension Service.
The cow count on Texas
dairies — 461,000 in De-
cember 2015 — dropped to
455,000 in January 2016. In
July, it was up to 515,000, ac-
cording to USDA.
Herd growth was some-
what subdued last year.
Growers refilled their pens
after Goliath but have contin-
ued to add cows. A couple of
good crop years have allowed
them to finish filling their fa-
cilities. They might have add-
ed some pens, but there aren’t
any new facilities or parlor
expansions, she said.
“So I think we’ll continue
with slow growth but not at
this pace,” she said.
In addition to the North-
west and California, produc-
tion declines in July were
seen in four other of the 23
reporting states. Production
was down slightly in New
York, where the cow count
was up 4,000 head but milk
per cow was down 15 pounds.
Losses in Ohio, Pennsylvania
and Virginia were due to few-
er cows.
Washington wildlife man-
agers are circulating a plan
to enlarge the state’s north-
ernmost elk herd by more
than 50 percent, raising con-
cerns about more damaged
crops and broken fences.
Skagit County Farm Bu-
reau President Bill Schmidt
said farmers have been cop-
ing with the growing North
Cascades herd for years and
that the new management
plan proposed by the Wash-
ington Department of Fish
and Wildlife doesn’t offer
relief.
“It’s pretty much the
same old, same old to me,”
Schmidt said. “Not much has
been done from our point of
view.”
The elk, known as the
Nooksack herd, occupy
more than 4,600 square
miles, mostly in Skagit and
Whatcom counties. The herd
has grown from 300 to more
than 1,200 animals in the
past 15 years, according to
WDFW. The department,
which has an agreement to
co-manage the herd with
nine tribes, has a goal of
increasing the population to
1,950.
WDFW acknowledges
that complaints have in-
creased in the past decade
and has made reducing
the number elk on farm-
land a goal in the plan.
The proposal, however,
doesn’t include any new
approaches.
“We need to talk to land-
owners, the Farm Bureau
and tribes to develop strat-
egies. It’s a big priority for
us,” WDFW district biolo-
gist Fenner Yarborough said.
“I don’t think we can get all
the elk off, but we can sure
limit them and help some of
those folks who are having a
problem.”
The elk have damaged
orchards, vineyards, berry
fields, pastures, row crops
and tree farms, and livestock
occasionally escape through
broken fences, according to
the department.
Schmidt said he’s count-
ed 110 elk in his 10-acre al-
falfa field. “They just wiped
it out,” he said. “They’ve
become very domesticated
on this flatland.”
According to the depart-
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking comments on a plan to manage the North
Cascades elk herd in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Farmers say the expanding herd is damaging
crops.
ment’s proposal, the herd’s
population peaked at about
1,700 in 1984, but then
dwindled to a few hundred,
partly because of overhunt-
ing. To reverse the herd’s
decline, WDFW and tribes
prohibited hunting in some
places and imported nearly
100 elk captured near Mount
St. Helens.
Skagit County grower
Larry Jensen said that two
years ago he quit growing
potatoes on 100 acres where
elk congregated.
“They got real good at
digging up potatoes with
their horns and having a bite
or two and moving on,” he
said.
Besides direct crop loss-
es, Jensen said he became
increasingly concerned that
defecating elk would cause
him to fail food-safety audits
and lose customers.
“Those
two
things
weren’t moving in the
right direction,” he said.
“I said, ‘The heck with
this.’”
WDFW has a program to
compensate farmers for crop
damage, but Jensen said that
filing a claim was difficult
and time-consuming.
According to department
policy, the farmer must hire
an adjuster and provide
WDFW with tax, business
and insurance records to
substantiate a claim. WDFW
reports paying 14 claims to-
taling $67,412 since 2002
for agricultural damage
caused by the herd.
In some years, WDFW
has paid no claims because
the Legislature didn’t ap-
propriate money. WDFW
will take comments on the
proposal until Sept. 7. The
plan and how to submit
comments can be found on-
line at wdfw.wa.gov/news/
jul2517b/
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