September 8, 2017
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Dairy/Livestock
Washington dairies not reporting cow sales online
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
Washington dairies are not
using an online system to report
cow sales, apparently leaving a
hole in the state Department of
Agriculture’s ability to trace the
source and spread of livestock
diseases, according to a new
report.
The WSDA report released
Aug. 29 says only one of the
state’s nearly 400 diaries has
used the system, which the
department set up at the begin-
ning of 2016 at the industry’s
request to help producers meet
reporting requirements.
“Sometimes new things are
slow to catch on,” Washington
State Dairy Federation Execu-
tive Director Dan Wood said.
“It’s in everybody’s interest to
report transactions.”
WSDA launched the system
at the same time it began requir-
ing dairies to report all sales of
unbranded female cows.
Previously, sales of 15 or
fewer head didn’t have to be
reported. WSDA says it needs
to track all cows to respond
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
The Washington State Department of Agriculture reports an online
system set up at the dairy industry’s request to report sales of
unbranded female cows has been used by one dairy in the last
year and a half.
quickly to disease outbreaks
and minimize economic dam-
age to the cattle industry.
The system, seen as a more
convenient and cheaper al-
ternative to in-person brand
inspections, has gone unused
despite “extensive outreach,”
according to WSDA. The de-
partment mailed postcards and
letters to dairies, posted infor-
mation online and handed out
fact sheets at dairy conferences.
Seven dairies registered to
use the system. One dairy re-
ported two sales involving a
total of 31 cows, according to
the report.
The report did not say
whether dairies have been
reporting sales through the
more-expensive brand-inspec-
tion program. Further informa-
tion from WSDA was unavail-
able Thursday. The department
estimates electronic reporting
will cost producers half as
much as brand inspections in
some cases.
WSDA said in its report that
it will work with the industry
to “increase awareness that the
do-nothing approach is no lon-
ger viable.”
WSDA spent $15,000 to de-
velop the system and says it will
cost $1,500 a year to maintain.
So far, the system has collected
$40 in fees. “It is apparent that
licensed dairy producers are not
using (electronic reporting) as
an alternative to livestock brand
inspections,” according to the
report. “Without increased use,
the program cannot continue to
operate (electronic reporting)
at a loss.”
Wood said the dairy feder-
ation will continue to promote
electronic reporting.
“It’s a great opportunity
that I think people will get
comfortable with in time and
needs to remain an option,” he
said.
Cattle Producers of Wash-
ington President Scott Nielsen
said the electronic-reporting
system has failed to live up to
the dairy industry’s promises.
“I don’t really like to beat
up on our dairy producers,” he
said. “They have it worse than
we do as far as having (gov-
ernment) oversight on their
operations.”
Still, he said, “if you’re try-
ing to do animal-disease trace-
ability, you better need to know
where those animals are going.
... They (state agriculture offi-
cials) need to put dairies under
the brand department.”
Fees on cattle sales also fund
the Washington Beef Commis-
sion and WSDA’s brand-in-
spection program. Both the
commission and WSDA say
the fees are not keeping up with
expenses.
Washington Cattle Feeders
Association Executive Direc-
tor Jack Field said he was dis-
appointed electronic reporting
hasn’t been used more, but that
he hopes WSDA doesn’t give
up on the system. Some in the
beef industry are interested in
using electronic reporting, he
said.
“It may have a spot in the
future,” Field said. “I would
hate to just scrap it.
“Obviously, the outreach
was not as effective as it could
have been,” he said. “I’m not
going to call it a failure. I’m
going to call it an opportunity
to learn.”
To report sales, dairy pro-
ducers register online with
WSDA.
“I haven’t heard any nega-
tives about it,” Wood said.
WSDA compiled the report
at the request of the Legislature.
Cowgirl Camp helps build skills, network among women ranchers
Program mixes
sustainable
management,
hands-on experience
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
CHENEY, Wash. — Eight
women new to ranching spent
last week learning the intrica-
cies of tending livestock and
managing the land.
The instructors were
ranchers Beth Robinette and
Sandy Matheson, who taught
the unique five-day New
Cowgirl Camp, a pilot course
they offered only to women.
Robinette taught partici-
pants everything from how to
plan livestock grazing through
the year to how to climb over
barb-wire fences.
The camp took place Aug.
28- Sept. 1 at Robinette’s
ranch in Cheney, Wash. Rob-
inette said Aug. 31 the camp
had “far surpassed” her “wild-
est expectations.”
She and Matheson wanted
to mix the theory of sustain-
able livestock management
with hands-on practical skills,
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Cheney, Wash., rancher Beth Robinette shows participants in the new Cowgirl Camp an abandoned
blackbird nest she found on wetlands. She keeps her cattle away from the area through mid-July.
Robinette showed participants different parts of the land and how to plan managed grazing Aug. 31.
developing the actual tools
ranchers need to have, she
said.
“And then we had this
twist where we really want-
ed to focus on women, both
being women in agriculture
and seeing women are really
underrepresented in agricul-
ture,” she said. “There’s no
reason for it to be that way.”
Rosle Dyre was one of
the students. Originally from
Denmark, she now works at
a ranch in British Columbia.
She previously worked at a
Savory Institute hub ranch
— the organization promotes
holistic ranch management
— in Chile, where she got
interested in sustainable farm-
ing. Robinette’s ranch is also
a learning site for an institute
hub.
“That’s what I want to do
with my life,” Dyre said. “I
saw this course and I thought,
‘That’s pretty close.’”
She wanted to learn more
about using animals as a
tool in managing the land
and hopes to have a cattle
and sheep ranch in her home
country.
Joan Becich, of Ashland,
Ore., owns a small ranch, but
doesn’t have an agricultural
background and hasn’t been
involved in its management.
She participated in the camp
to get exposure to the right
techniques, she said.
Over the course of several
days, Becich said, she became
less fearful about the under-
taking.
“I know there’s going to be
help out there,” she said.
Bonnie Buxton of Med-
ford, Ore., participated be-
cause she, her husband and
her husband’s family went
into business with property
where the pastures had been
poorly managed. No one
knew anything about cattle
ranching, she said, so she’s
been taking courses to learn
more about grazing and rota-
tional management.
“Seeing practical applica-
tion of what I’ve been reading
in the books is very helpful,”
Buxton said.
A retired veterinarian,
Matheson said it’s been amaz-
ing to watch the students try
new things and build connec-
tions.
One of the participants
isn’t interested in ranching,
but wanted to learn more
about the leather supply
chain. Robinette and another
participant helped her plan a
business presentation.
Analyst: More exports needed to offset growing beef supplies
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The U.S. beef industry will
be dealing with large supplies
in the near future and domestic
consumption that’s at, or near,
its peak. To keep supply and
demand in balance, analysts
say beef exports will need to
grow by 19 to 21 percent from
2016 levels by 2022.
That means exports will
need to grow above the his-
torical ceiling of 10 percent of
total U.S. beef production (on
a carcass-weight basis) to as
high as 13 percent, Rabobank
analysts said this week in their
long-term outlook for U.S.
beef and cattle.
Expansion of the U.S. beef
cow herd, which began in
2014, is expected to continue
for the next two to three years,
growing 1.6 percent to 2.2 per-
cent.
That growth will result in
an 8 to 10 percent spike in beef
production over 2016 levels by
2021 and 2022, they said.
While domestic consump-
tion is expected to grow by
7.8 percent through 2022, U.S.
production will exceed domes-
tic demand, said Don Close,
7
RaboResearch senior analyst
of animal protein.
“As a result, exports will
increase. While that is a good
thing, there are pitfalls as
well,” he said.
The increase in exports
isn’t a large amount, but a crit-
ical component is that it will
put the U.S. over the line from
a net importer of beef to a net
exporter — and game-chang-
ing dynamics go along with
that, he said.
“No doubt volatility has
increased in recent years and
as we become a net exporter,
there are inherent volatility
issues such as global politics,
trade policies and global ani-
mal health issues,” he said.
“In the past, when the U.S.
was a net importer of beef, we
had the luxury of ebb and flow
of imported product to offset
domestic production. As a net
exporter, we will be more ex-
posed to market volatility,” he
said.
But the analysts are “abso-
lutely looking for the U.S. to
be a more substantial exporter”
going forward, he said.
“Given the current and pro-
jected production levels and a
mature domestic market, we
have to be a larger exporter
to clear the level of produc-
tion. The second driver is we
do see additional growth, not
only with existing customers
in Southeast Asia but with
the development of trade with
China,” he said.
“We are not only looking at
the increase in U.S. production
but looking at the increase in
cattle quality characteristics,”
he said.
There’s been a sharp increase
in cattle grading rates in the U.S.
in the last 10 years, from 60 per-
cent grading choice or better to
80 percent, he said.
Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
Butter
melting;
cheese
recovering
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
D
airy prices plunged the
last week of August as
traders weighed the
heavy stocks of cheese in stor-
age.
The block cheddar closed
Sept. 1 at $1.54 per pound,
down 11 cents on the week
after losing 10 1/2-cents the
previous week, 14 cents below
a year ago, and 24 3/4-cents
below the Aug. 1 level.
The markets were closed
Monday for Labor Day but
Tuesday saw the blocks jump
5 3/4-cents, to $1.5975, as
traders considered the morn-
ing’s GDT and anticipated
Tuesday afternoon’s July
Dairy Products report.
The barrels closed Friday
at $1.52, down 3 3/4-cents
on the week, 12 cents below
a year ago and down 14 cents
on the month.
They gained 3 3/4-cents
Tuesday, hitting $1.5575,
with 20 cars selling on the
day.
The lower prices and
weakening dollar lead many
to believe exports should be
multiplying. Dairy Market
News says milk is “fairly
available for cheese process-
ing in the Midwest,” and spot
milk prices are $1 under to $1
over class.
Western producers are not
having trouble finding milk,
and cheese output is robust.
Cheese demand is mixed
and inventories are building
slightly. With school start-
ups and the unofficial end of
summer at hand, consumer
grilling demand is slowing,
but cut and wrap demand is
solid. Contacts suggest some
requests for mozzarella and
other pizza cheeses have yet
to develop, leading some
to speculate that end users
bought supplies earlier in the
summer.
Cash butter was also
caught in last week’s down-
draft, closing Friday at
$2.5075 per pound, down
12 cents on the week, 45
3/4-cents above a year ago,
and down 17 1/2-cents on
the month, but is the cheapest
butter on the planet.
Tuesday took the but-
ter down another 7 cents, to
$2.4375, lowest price since
June 1, 2017.
Butter demand continues
to be positive but Central pro-
ducers report more interest
in unsalted butter, as global
prices are markedly higher
than domestic rates. Butter
output remains active and the
market tone has been fairly
steady though contacts who
thought a $3 market price was
a near-term possibility have
tempered their expectations.
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