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10 CapitalPress.com April 27, 2018 Dairy/Livestock Subscribe to our weekly dairy or livestock email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Sheep head to high country for summer grazing By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Dairy West Dairy West dietitian Chelsea Schoenfelder. Dairy West dietitian honored by peers Capital Press The Idaho Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has recognized Chelsea Schoen- felder as Idaho’s Young Di- etitian of the Year. Schoenfelder is a regis- tered dietitian with Dairy West, which manages the marketing and promotion work for Idaho and Utah dairy farm families, accord- ing to a press release from Dairy West. She oversees the nutri- tion education materials and curriculum provided to all health and school pro- fessionals. As health and wellness manager, she also serves as a vital link sup- porting nutrition science and research to educators, school foodservice profes- sionals and health profes- sionals. “We are very proud of Chelsea and the work she does on behalf of dairy farm families to promote nutri- tion and healthy activities throughout the state,” Crys- tal Wilson, Dairy West vice president of health and well- ness, said. “Not only is Chelsea de- serving of this recognition, she is a role model for other young dietitians in her pas- sion and enthusiasm for her role in the fields of food and nutrition,” she said. Previous to her work with Dairy West and the Ida- ho Dairy Council, Schoen- felder worked at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Boise as a community out- reach and clinical dietitian and at Ennis Endocrinology Clinic in Meridian as an out- patient dietitian. She currently serves as secretary for the Idaho Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and as co-chair- woman of Treasure Valley Dietitians. She previously represented the state as its 21st Century Liaison to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Southwest Idaho sheep rancher Frank Shirts likes the look of this year’s lambs. “They’re healthy. The feed has been pretty good,” said Shirts, whose operation is based near Wild- er. “The lambs are good lambs.” His sheep drew a crowd April 20, when they crossed the busy in- tersection of the north-south Idaho Highway 55 and Beacon Light Road north of Eagle, a quickly growing community in the Boise metro area. Pedestrians and motorists stopped to view the annual spectacle as more than 2,000 animals, and a crew of herders and dogs, trekked to higher pasture. Shirts moves the sheep from low ground near Wilder to high-eleva- tion pasture east and north, on state and U.S. Forest Service land in the Idaho City-Atlanta area. He said the lambs will “follow the green in the high country” and stay until August, when they will be shipped to mar- ket. The lambs’ weight gain can change from year to year, depend- ing on range conditions. A late frost can kill flowers and forbs the lambs eat, reducing the animals’ content- ment and weight. “Right now, everything looks good and they will just keep climb- ing, following the feed,” Shirts said. His lambs had a good winter, with favorable weather and a strong survival rate, he said. Last year’s class also was good despite an un- usually snowy January that prompt- ed the rancher to feed them for an extra month. What the sheep rancher does not want is snow and rain in the first couple of months of the calendar Brad Carlson/Capital Press Sheep rancher Frank Shirts, center, and herder-tender Mario Inga, left, guide animals across busy Idaho Highway 55 north of Eagle, Idaho, on April 20. Brad Carlson/Capital Press Sheep herder and tender Mario Inga helps guide animals owned by Wilder, Idaho-ar- ea rancher Frank Shirts across busy Idaho Highway 55 north of Eagle on April 20. year. “That’s hard on the lambs,” Shirts said. Though January 2017 saw the most snow in southwest Idaho in decades, the lack of a traditional thaw that month helped the lambs, he said. Shirts is running 2,300 to 2,400 sheep to the high country. Head- count will be 1,600 to 1,700 after he sells lambs this summer. Then, two groups of ewes will be combined into a single winter band and joined by bucks. Ewes will graze on differ- ent routes. They will head back to lower ground starting around Oct. 10 and eventually start grazing al- falfa. Ewe shearing is expected near the end of October. He has downsized total opera- tions by about a third in the past few years because of environmen- tal and other regulatory concerns, labor issues and global market fac- tors including unrestricted lamb imports, he said. “The sheep are the best environ- mental tool in the forest, but the en- vironmentalists don’t agree,” Shirts said. Their grazing helps remove fire fuels such as forbs, brush and weeds, he said. Nominations open for Young Cattle Producer Conference By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press University of Idaho Exten- sion and the Idaho Cattle As- sociation are calling for par- ticipant nominations for the second annual Young Cattle Producer Conference. The conference will give young cattle producers an op- portunity to receive in-depth education on the cattle indus- try in Idaho. Participating in this conference will provide valuable tools that will help young producers be success- ful in the cattle business, or- ganizers said. The program will be of- fered annually to young producers between the ages of 18 and 40. Anyone can nominate a young producer or nominate themselves for the free conference. Only 20 participants will be selected to attend. This year’s conference Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File A Young Cattle Producer Conference will take place June 20-22 in Caldwell, Idaho. It is sponsored by the University of Idaho Exten- sion and the Idaho Cattle Association. will be June 20-22 in Cald- well and the surrounding area. It will begin at 1 p.m. on June 20 with an overview of the cattle industry in Ida- ho. Speakers include repre- sentatives from the packing, feedlot, stocker, cow-calf and purebred industries. The af- ternoon will conclude with a panel discussion on marketing beef cattle and a steak dinner. The next day, partici- pants will hear speakers from Northwest Farm Credit Ser- vices, University of Idaho Ex- tension and the Public Lands Council to learn about current issues facing the cattle in- dustry, including financing a cattle operation, risk manage- ment and public land issues. A meat cutting demon- stration and taste testing will be conducted before lunch. In the afternoon, participants will load a bus for a tour of the cattle industry in western Idaho. Stops include a feed- lot, packing facility and a Treasure Valley purebred op- eration. The evening will conclude with a barbecue dinner at Shaw Cattle Company and a round table discussion with members of the Idaho Cattle Association and University of Idaho Extension faculty. Friday, June 22, will begin early with a session on “how to become involved” with speakers from the Idaho Cat- tle Association, Idaho Beef Council, Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission and Idaho Farm Bureau. Following the morning session, participants will be recognized in a short gradu- ation ceremony, and the con- ference will adjourn at 11 a.m. Nomination forms are available from Jim Church, University of Idaho Ex- tension, (208) 983-2667, jchurch@uidaho.edu or a lo- cal University of Idaho Ex- tension office. Nominations are due on May 10. There are also opportuni- ties to contribute to this pro- gram by becoming a program sponsor or to sponsor an at- tendee by contacting Church. Sponsorship forms are also available at www.idahocattle. org . Spring flush pushes cheese production 15-5/16 x 10 x 2 18-3/4 x 14-3/8 x 3 ROP-17-2-3/106 By LEE MIELKE CALL FOR PRICING AND AVAILABILITY. Delivery Available 503-588-8313 2561 Pringle Rd. SE Salem, OR For the Capital Press D airy prices were most- ly higher last week as the Midwest dug out from an unusual Mid- April blizzard. Cheddar block cheese climbed to $1.6350 per pound Thursday but closed Friday at $1.6025, down a quarter-cent on the week and 5 3/4-cents above a year ago, as traders awaited the after- noon’s March Milk Produc- tion report. Dairy Markets Lee Mielke The barrels closed at $1.50, up 4 cents on the week and 7 1/4-cents above a year ago, with 55 cars sell- ing on the week and just 5 of block. The blocks were up 2 3/4-cents Monday, as trad- ers anticipated the afternoon’s March Cold Storage report, but inched back a quarter-cent Tuesday to $1.6275. The barrels were down a penny Monday and also lost a quar- ter-cent Tuesday, slipping to $1.4875, 14 cents below the blocks. Midwest cheese contacts tell Dairy Market News that demand has been solid but, with increasing spring flush milk production and spot milk loads regularly available at $2 to $3 under class, manufactur- ers report “active production.” Western cheese output is SAGE Fact #147 17-2/101 17-1/106 A tow of four wheat barges holds the equivalent of about 480 semi-trucks carrying the same cargo. following normal seasonal trends, with most plants at full capacity due to the spring flush. Cheese supplies are heavy, but manageable, says DMN. “U.S. cheese prices are competitive with international prices and export interest re- mains active.” Cash butter closed Fri- day at $2.3150 per pound, up 2 3/4-cents on the week and 22 1/2-cents above a year ago, with 39 cars exchanging hands last week. Monday’s butter inched a half-cent higher and jumped 5 1/2-cents Tuesday to $2.3750, highest price since Oct. 18, 2017, with 10 cars sold Monday and 23 Tuesday. DMN says Class II proces- sors are pulling more milk fat volumes, but cream is readily available for butter manu- facturing and most regional balancing plant operators are actively producing butter. U.S. butter prices are still be- low international values and “could represent a possible export opportunity for some domestic processors/traders.” Western butter output is at a steady clip with ample supplies of cream, though volumes have eased slightly in the southern parts of the re- gion. Some international buy- ers are looking at the favor- able U.S. butter price points compared to European and Oceania prices.