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February 23, 2018 Cheese prices still climbing By LEE MIELKE Dairy Markets C ash block Cheddar cheese closed Valen- tine week at a slight- ly more romantic $1.54 per pound, up 3 cents on the week but 4 cents below a year ago. The barrels closed at $1.48, up 12 cents on the week and 14 cents below a year ago, with 13 cars of block trading places and 38 of barrel. The markets were closed Monday for President’s Day and, after traders ab- sorbed Tuesday morning’s Global Dairy Trade auction and anticipated Wednesday afternoon’s January Milk Production report, took the blocks up a half-cent, to $1.5450, while the barrels inched a quarter-cent high- er, to $1.4825, 6 1/4-cents below the blocks. Midwest cheese makers are reporting some positive trends in cheese demand, according to Dairy Market News. “Barrel sellers have reported that inventories are limited, and buyers search- ing for loads produced as recently as early 2018 are out of luck.” Cheddar de- mand, along with Ched- dar inventories, vary from plant to plant. Spot milk into cheese production was widely available, as it has 9 Dairy Subscribe to our weekly dairy or livestock email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters For the Capital Press CapitalPress.com Lee Mielke been most of the year and spot milk prices ranged from flat to $3 under Class III. Cheese makers in the West report relatively steady domestic demand. Although a few manufac- turers have seen the typi- cal seasonal slowdown of orders for finished goods, overall, cheese is moving without a lot of discount- ing. Higher cheese prices in the EU and Oceania are helping generate good sales opportunities in some inter- national markets. Cheese production is active while there is an abundance of milk. Cheese inventories are generally heavy. Butter had a better week after dipping to the low- est price since November 2016 the previous week. It climbed to $2.15 per pound Thursday but lost a nickel Friday to close at $2.10, still up 7 1/4-cents on the week but 5 3/4-cents below a year ago, with a whop- ping 72 cars unloaded last week, 32 on Friday alone. The butter jumped 4 cents Tuesday on 14 trades and hit $2.14 per pound. Senate bill would exempt ag from Superfund reporting By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate would exempt agricultural op- erations from having to report manure emissions under laws that govern toxic Superfund sites. The bill clarifies that farmers and ranchers are exempt from reporting ani- mal waste emissions under the Compre- hensive Environmental Response, Com- pensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Emergency Planning and Com- munity Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Introduced last week by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., the Fair Agricultural Reporting Method (FARM) Act, S. 2421, has the support of 10 Democratic and 10 Repub- lican senators. The bill would fix a problem the feder- al D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals created for agriculture last April when it rejected the 2008 rule by EPA exempting farmers from reporting emissions. That decision set a Nov. 15, 2017, compliance deadline. After petitions from EPA, the court twice delayed the deadline, which now stands at May 1. Under the current law, an estimated 200,000 farms and ranches would have to report emissions to the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Response Center and EPA. The senators said the emission re- quirements were not intended to affect Capital Press File A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would restore a 10-year-old EPA exemption for agriculture on reporting animal waste emissions that was vacated by a federal court last year. animal agriculture and were instead meant to address dangerous industrial pollution, chemical plant explosions and the release of hazardous materials into the environment. A host of agricultural groups agree, releasing statements following the bill’s introduction. “Farming and ranching are challeng- ing enough without having to report, un- der threat of law, something that is a rou- tine part of raising animals but is nearly impossible to predict or measure,” said Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation president. National Milk Producers Federation said the bill would prevent farms from having to generate meaningless air emis- sions data that regulatory agencies don’t want and won’t use. “Congress needs to stipulate that this burdensome regulatory overreach serves no legitimate health or safety purpose and needs to stop,” said Jim Mulhern, the fed- eration’s president and CEO. Kevin Kester, president of National Cattlemen’s Association, said there’s not a lot of truly bipartisan legislation in Wash- ington, D.C., these days. “But one thing that pretty much every- one can agree on is that a responsibly run cattle ranch isn’t a toxic Superfund site,” he said. Ken Maschhoff, president of Nation- al Pork Producers Council, said “routine emissions from hog manure do not consti- tute a hazardous emergency that requires the Coast Guard to activate a national cleanup response.” The National Association of State De- partments of Agriculture said the report- ing would not advance environmental protection and serves no useful purpose to the Coast Guard, “The farms and ranches producing our food and fiber should not be regulated as toxic Superfund sites,” said Barbara Glen, the association’s CEO. Scott Yager, chief environmental coun- sel for National Cattlemen’s Beef Associ- ation, said it’s going to take some “heavy lifting” to get the bill through Congress before the May 1 compliance deadline. NCBA will be meeting with other sen- ators to get them on board, and producers should contact their senators to support the bill, he said. USDA, dairy industry team up on environmental stewardship Capital Press USDA and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy have entered into a memorandum of understanding to jointly promote and enhance envi- ronmental sustainability in the dairy industry. The pact extends and builds upon an MOU origi- nally signed in 2009, accord- ing to a joint press release from USDA and Dairy Man- agement Inc. — which man- ages checkoff funding along with state and national pro- motion groups and founded the Innovation Center. USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue signed the MOU with Arizona dairy farmer Paul Rovey, chairman of Dairy Management Inc. and an In- novation Center board mem- ber, at DeGroot Dairies in Hanford, Calif., on Feb. 14. “USDA and the Innova- tion Center will continue to work together to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies and increase energy efficiency improve- ments on U.S. dairy farms,” Perdue said in the press re- lease. USDA has resources that can help the dairy industry be successful, but in many cases they are difficult to find because they are spread out through various agencies, he said. “This MOU hopefully will be a potential navigator to the Innovation Center and give a ‘green light’ to interact with our agencies and centralize our various research and vol- untary conservation efforts to reach their goals,” he said. USDA will continue to work on enhancing the appli- cation and approval process for Natural Resource Conser- vation Service programs to make the process more effi- cient and tailored for produc- er convenience. The agency will also continue to examine ways to expand the award of con- servation grants for sustain- ability initiatives proposed by producers, cooperatives, non-governmental organiza- tions and state and local gov- ernments. Courtesy Dairy Management Inc. Arizona dairy farmer Paul Rovey, chairman of Dairy Management Inc. and an Innovation Center board member, signs a Memoran- dum of Understanding with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, right, on Feb. 14. Improve your field of job applicants. Use Capital Press Employment Ads. Call today to place your ad. 1-800-882-6789 CapitalPress.com 8-1/HOU