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Friday, January 18, 2019 Subscribe to our weekly dairy or livestock email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Grandin offers insights into animal behavior By DOUG WARNOCK For the Capital Press R GREENER PASTURES Doug educing stress on Warnock livestock during handling will help reduce sickness, minimize mals perceive the situations the time off feed and help in which we put them. maintain meat quality. Because livestock has Dr. Temple Grandin, wide-angle vision, loading animal scientist at Colorado ramps and handling chutes State University, encour- should have solid sides to ages livestock handlers prevent animals from see- to reduce animal stress, ing distractions outside which will improve live- the chute. Moving objects stock health and productiv- and people seen through ity. Grandin will be the sides of a chute a keynote speaker can cause balking at the Resilience for or frighten live- stock. Also, live- Land and Livestock stock working Grazing Confer- ence, March 27-28 areas should have at the Pendleton uniform lighting. Convention Center Shadows and bright in Pendleton, Ore. spots should be Temple Grandin is rec- minimized. Grandin ognized interna- Noise also tionally for her knowledge causes distress. Most ani- of animal behavior and its mals, especially cattle and application in reducing live- sheep, are more sensitive to stock stress and improving high frequency noise. Loud effectiveness of animal han- or shrill noises should be dling facilities. She says, avoided. being a person with autism, Another important con- it is easy for her to under- cept in livestock handling stand how animals think, is flight zone. The flight because her thinking pro- zone is the animal’s per- cesses are like an animal’s. sonal space. When a per- Her thoughts are in pictures son enters the flight zone, and are not language-based. the animal moves away. “I have learned that there Just outside the flight zone is a whole continuum of is a zone of awareness, or thinking styles, from totally pressure zone. Animals visual thinkers like me to will each have their own totally verbal thinkers,” she individual flight zone and says. “People with autism pressure zone, which will and animals both think by depend upon their temper- making visual associations. ament and past experience. These associations are like Experienced livestock han- snapshots of events and dlers will be able to deter- mine an animal’s flight zone tend to be very specific. “Animals also tend to and pressure zone soon make place-specific asso- after encountering the ani- ciations. This means that mal in a particular situation. Understanding the if a horse has a bad expe- rience in a barn with sky- behavior of livestock will lights, he may fear all barns enhance handling tech- with skylights, but will be nique, reduce stress and fine in barns with solid improve both handler safety roofs. This is why it is so and animal welfare. Lower important that an animal’s stress levels result in more first association with some- productivity and healthier thing new is a good first animals. experience.” Livestock manag- Grandin points out that ers have an opportunity to fear is a major emotion in learn more about animal animals such as horses and behavior and animal man- cattle. Objects that make agement from Grandin at sudden movements cause the Grazing Conference in the most fear. In the wild, Pendleton in March. Chris sudden movement is feared, Schachtschneider, an Ore- because predators make gon State University Exten- sudden movements when sion Specialist, will conduct a live demonstration on low attacking their prey. Both genetics and expe- stress handling as well. For rience determine how an more information go to individual will behave in rootsofresilience.org. a fear-provoking situation. Doug Warnock, retired Animals with high-strung, from Washington State Uni- nervous temperaments are versity Extension, lives on a generally more fearful and ranch in the Touchet River tend to form stronger fear Valley where he writes about memories than the more and teaches grazing man- placid, calm types. People agement. He can be con- working with animals need tacted at dwarnockgreener- to think about how the ani- pastures@gmail.com. GDT auction jumps 4.2 percent By LEE MIELKE For the Capital Press T he second Global Dairy Trade auction of 2019 got another boost in its weighted aver- age of products offered, jumping 4.2 percent Tues- day, following the Jan. 2 gain of 2.8 percent. It was the fourth con- secutive session of gain. All products, except rennet casein, were in the black, led by skim milk powder, up 10.3 percent, after it climbed 7.9 percent in the last event and 3.4 percent in the event before that. Lactose followed, up 7.9 percent. Butter was up 4.6 percent, after a 3.9 per- cent climb last time. Cheddar was up 4.2 percent, following a 3.2 percent increase, and anhydrous milkfat was up 3.2 percent following a 3.9 percent gain. Whole milk powder rounded up the gains with a 3.0 percent increase after it was up 1.2 percent in the DAIRY MARKETS Lee Mielke last event. Rennet casein was down 1.4 percent. FC Stone equates the GDT 80 percent butter- fat butter price to $1.8860 per pound U.S., up 8.2 cents from the last session. CME butter closed Tues- day at $2.2575. GDT Cheddar cheese equated to $1.5893 per pound, up 6 cents from the last event and compares to Tuesday’s CME block Cheddar at $1.4175. GDT skim milk powder aver- aged $1.0907 per pound, up from 99.82 cents last time and the first time it topped $1 per pound since June 20, 2017. Whole milk pow- der averaged $1.2597, up from $1.2269. CME Grade A nonfat dry milk closed Tuesday at $1.0450 per pound. CapitalPress.com 9 Dairy/Livestock Milk spigot slows, but outlook uncertain By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Growth in milk produc- tion in the major exporting regions is expected to slow to a trickle in the first half of 2019 to less than 0.5 percent, bringing some recovery in milk prices. But there’s a lot of uncer- tainty in world markets, according to Rabobank analysts. “I think we’re going to be better than ’18, which is no great shakes, but I don’t think we’re going to be as high as we were in ’17,” Mary Ledman, Rabobank global strategist, told Capi- tal Press. Rabobank is forecasting no more than a $1 per hun- dredweight increase in the Class III milk price, bring- ing the average in 2019 to $15.55, she said. Markets are poised to move higher, but there’s a lot of uncertainty, includ- ing Brexit in the EU, eco- nomic instability in South America and trade wars in Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press File A bank analyst says the outlook for U.S. dairy exports is uncertain. the U.S., she said. “China is the real wild- card for trade,” she said. The trade war with the U.S. has resulted in devalua- tion of the Chinese currency and lessened its purchasing power. As a result, Rabobank lowered its forecast for Chi- nese dairy imports in 2018 from an increase of 14 per- cent to an increase of 8 per- cent, she said. The positive news is that China has depleted its stocks, and imports should be up 11 percent in 2019, she said. An improvement in prices can’t come soon enough for U.S. dairy producers, but it’s not going to be as much as they’d like. A $17 Class III price is not in the forecast, she said. The last three years have been brutal — especially for smaller dairy producers, who have faced headwind after headwind, Tom Bai- ley, Rabobank senior analyst, said. While the new farm bill will help smaller produc- ers still in business, there are challenges ahead. Demand hasn’t been great for domes- tic retail sales. Natural cheese was the only category to increase year-over-year sales in November. All the others, even butter, continue to con- tract, he said. Foodservice sales con- tinue to grow, however. While those sales reports don’t break out dairy, total sales were up 7 percent in October year over year and would include a lot of natu- ral cheese, cream, butter and whey in the form of baked goods, he said. Domestic disappearance has contracted marginally, but Rabobank expects it to grow 0.5 to 0.8 percent in the next 12 to 18 months if eco- nomic shocks don’t change things, he said. Exports are doing well, even with the fallout from China’s retaliatory tariffs. But they could face head- winds with the appreciat- ing value of the dollar, mak- ing the U.S. less competitive compared with the EU and New Zealand, he said. In addition, the economic climate is worrisome. The U.S. is overdue for a reces- sion based on historical data, and there are warning bells going off, he said. Small-scale cattle producers step onto bigger stage By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press The folks at the 21-cow Mi-Hud Angus Ranch in Kuna, Idaho, are taking their small operation to a much larger stage. Owner Mike Relk and 10 of his fellow small-scale cat- tle producers in the greater Boise area are getting their genetically strong breed- ing stock in front of more prospective buyers via the internet. The group put together the online High Desert Select Bull and Female Sale with help from JBS Auctions. “It’s a way for the small producer to put together a number of bulls of high-qual- ity genetics and market them,” Relk said. “It’s an opportunity for us to show- case our animals.” The High Desert effort exemplifies the genetic gap narrowing between large and small breeders as technology and data advance. Big opera- tors have more total chances to produce a breeding bull good enough to grace the pages of sire directories. But smaller players say they can Brad Carlson/Capital Press Mike Relk of Mi-Hud Angus Ranch in Kuna, Idaho, says small operators are producing big-time genetics. He and several other small producers have put together an online auction. also offer excellent genet- ics, in part by accessing these same superstar bulls through artificial insemination. “We continue to improve our herd, through specific genetic matings, to have effi- cient cattle to bring to our customers,” Relk said. Mi-Hud’s registered Black Angus cattle are bred from high-quality “AI” sires for calving ease, feed-to- growth efficiency and beef carcass traits. The herd orig- inates from cows he acquired five years ago from a large Idaho breeder known for strong genetics. “I was comfortable with the quality of the cattle right off the bat, but for the small producer, there is no plat- form to market these good genetics,” said Relk, who historically made most sales through word-of-mouth or advertising. The online auction, which opened for viewing Jan. 4 and closes at 1 p.m. Moun- tain Feb. 25, “is a way for the small producer to put together a number of bulls of high-quality genetics, and market them,” he said, add- ing that the format also fig- ures to provide “true price discovery.” Eligible animals pass parentage-verification and breeding-soundness tests. Buyers can purchase insur- ance on bulls for the breed- ing season, and share that cost with sellers. “I promise you, some- body from Butte, Mont., doesn’t know about the bulls we have in the Trea- sure Valley,” Relk said. “This gives them an oppor- tunity to look at the genetics we have.” Zach Raptosh, a cat- tle producer and veterinar- ian in south Nampa, Idaho, said he expects the group to field about three dozen bulls in the auction. All will be DNA-tested to give buyers confidence about parentage. “Every bull in our sale is sired by some of the indus- try’s top genetics,” he said. “We are all really passionate about cattle. We are all aim- ing to be progressive breed- ers and to raise animals that are in the upper echelon of the breed.” Analyst: Cattle markets spark optimism By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Strong beef demand and timely marketing of finished cattle in 2018 are two key factors setting the stage for a good year in the cattle busi- ness. But other positive indi- cators should also keep cat- tle producers in the black. “I am pretty optimis- tic for this business, for the industry as we start 2019,” John Nalivka, owner of Ster- ling Marketing in Vale, Ore., said. Ending the year with fed cattle trading at $122 to $123 per hundredweight is a pretty good start, he said. The number of cattle on feed has been large, but the on-feed inventory coming into the year is in good order — up just 1 percent year over year, he said. “I don’t think we have a huge supply to work through, he said. Feedlots have stayed current with marketings, and they didn’t let carcass weights run up — and there was opportunity to do that with favorable feed costs, he said. “I thought possibly weights would pick up. But feedlots kept current and weights didn’t get away. That makes a world of dif- ference,” he said. Other positive factors for markets are strong demand for beef and consistent qual- ity, with choice grade run- ning 82 to 85 percent of slaughter, he said. “We’ve got the equal- ity, markets stayed in tack, the economy is good, unem- ployment is down sharply, wages are starting to gain and there are plenty of jobs. People have money, they like beef and they’re buying beef,” he said. In addition, exports have been strong all year. If things keep clicking along as they are, it spells a pretty good year in the cattle business, he said. The industry also sent a lot of cows to slaughter, up 12 percent year over year at certain times, he said. “The bottom line is we killed a lot of beef cows. At the same time, we didn’t bring a lot of heifers in (for replacement). So we stalled expansion,” he said. Combined with higher dairy cow slaughter in the fourth quarter of 2018, total cattle inventory should only be up about 0.5 percent year over year at the start of 2019, he said. “We slowed the rate of increase in expansion in the beef herd and reduced the size of the dairy herd,” he said. Based on data through November, beef cow slaugh- ter should be up 9 percent year over year and account for 9.7 percent of the beef cow herd — the highest rate since 2013 when the indus- try was liquidating, he said. “I don’t see any liquida- tion, but we kind of stalled expansion,” he said. He thinks the Jan. 1 beef cow herd will be even with a year earlier. He also thinks the 2018 calf crop will come in with a 1.4 percent increase year over year, lower than USDA’s forecast of a 2 per- cent increase. 2-2-3/104
