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CapitalPress.com
Friday, November 1, 2019
Dairy
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Large dairy’s expansion plan approved in SW Idaho
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
The Canyon County
Planning and Zoning Com-
mission on Oct. 17 approved
a conditional-use permit
allowing southwest Idaho’s
SunRidge Dairy to expand its
waste handling system and in
turn its cattle headcount, to
5,700 from the current 5,400.
The 510-acre facility is
at 4910 Dry Lake Road,
Nampa.
The commission autho-
rized SunRidge to add two
lagoons, two manure storage
ponds and a composting area
to its existing Confined Ani-
mal Feeding Operation, and
to increase cow headcount by
300. Conditional-use permits
and variances do not need
Board of County Commis-
sioners approval.
Matthew
Thompson,
waste-management
engi-
neer with Twin Falls-based
AgTech, said in a letter to
Canyon County planners that
SunRidge wants to add young
stock, and be permitted for
3,000 milking cows as well
as 2,700 head of dry cows
and replacements. Proposed
changes are not expected to
increase employment.
The existing waste-han-
dling system has adequate
capacity for normal years,
“but there are some limita-
tions in the current design
that have caused some exces-
sive costs to the operation
during bad-weather periods
that the owners would like
to change,” he wrote. “The
requested changes would
allow the facility to better
handle and distribute waste-
water during especially bad-
weather periods to minimize
impacts to the environment
and the neighborhood.”
A report by county plan-
ners said the SunRidge Dairy
expansion must comply with
an Idaho State Department
of Agriculture nutrient-man-
Brad Carlson/Capital Press
Part of SunRidge Dairy south of Nampa, Idaho.
agement plan approved in
December 2018; mitiga-
tion steps and best-manage-
ment practices identified in
an August 2019 report by
a CAFO siting team that
included ISDA and state
Department of Environmen-
tal Quality staff; state ani-
mal-handling, stock water
and water-rights rules; and
county setback and other
building requirements.
Dairy is a major contrib-
utor to the economy of the
state, where about 70% of
milk produced is made into
cheese, ISDA said.
DairyWest, which pro-
motes the industry and its
products, estimates the
industry employs more than
22,700 people in the state in
producing, processing, trans-
porting and distributing milk
and milk products. Allied
industries employ an addi-
tional 13,400 such as feed
and equipment suppliers and
the animal health segment.
Thompson, in his letter
to Canyon County planners,
said every dollar of cheese
sales generates about $2.47
in sales directly and indi-
rectly in the state’s economy.
SunRidge generates enough
milk to produce about 8.7
million pounds of cheese
annually.
The University of Idaho
reported the state in 2018
ranked third in the U.S. for
milk production, with 15 bil-
lion pounds of output. Milk
was the top source of cash
receipts — $2.4 billion —
from agricultural production
in the state. The state’s milk-
cow inventory was about
600,000 head at the start of
2018.
Cream of the crop: Oregon cheese named best in the world
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
CENTRAL POINT, Ore.
— A Southern Oregon
creamery was the cream of
the crop at the 2019 World
Cheese Awards in Italy.
Rogue River Blue, an
artisan blue cheese made
by Rogue Creamery in Cen-
tral Point, Ore., was crowned
the world’s best cheese by a
panel of 260 judges from 25
countries at the annual com-
petition Oct. 18.
David Gremmels, pres-
ident of Rogue Creamery,
created the recipe for the
cheese in 2002, capturing
regional flavors of the Rogue
Valley. The milk comes from
pasture-fed Holstein and
Brown Swiss cows raised at
the creamery’s own organic
dairy, and the cheese is hand-
wrapped in organic Syrah
vines as well as the orchards.”
Gremmels said he was
humbled and filled with
gratitude for the global rec-
ognition. More than 3,800
cheeses from 41 countries
were entered into this year’s
World Cheese Awards, held
in Bergamo, Italy, during
the city’s FORME cheese
festival.
Both Rogue River Blue
and a 24-month aged Parmi-
giano Reggiano from Italy
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press File received perfect scores of
David Gremmels, owner of the Rogue Creamery in 100 points from the judges.
Central Point, Ore., took over the company in 2002 Nigel Barden, a food broad-
with partner Cary Bryant. The company has since won caster and chairman of
international acclaim.
the judging panel, cast the
deciding vote for Rogue
grape leaves from Cow- to wrapping each wheel of River Blue. It is the first time
horn Vineyard & Garden in Rogue River Blue.
a U.S. cheese has won the
nearby Jacksonville, Ore.
“The flavor of this cheese top award.
The grape leaves are also really captures the terroir of
“This is a cheese made
soaked in a pear liqueur our valley,” Gremmels said. with passion by the entire
made by Organic Alco- “It’s an expression of the team here at Rogue Cream-
hol Co. in Ashland, prior milk, of our pastures, of the ery,” Gremmels said. “It’s
worth every bit of work we
put into the cheese.”
Rogue River Blue also
received the award for best
blue cheese at the 2003 World
Cheese Awards in London.
U.S. cheeses received 131
honors at this year’s compe-
tition, including 17 gold, 40
silver, 67 bronze and seven
“super gold” medals.
Angelique
Hollister,
executive director of the
USA Cheese Guild, said
markets worldwide are dis-
covering the quality of U.S.
cheese.
“We put a concerted
effort into raising the pro-
file of U.S. cheese by tell-
ing our story,” Hollister
said in a statement. “And
the global community has
embraced what sets us apart
— our legacy of excellence,
forged from experience, but
unbound by tradition.”
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S150007-1
DAIRY
MARKETS
Lee
Mielke
Traders
push
cheese
prices
skyward
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
T
raders appeared to
ignore last week’s
bearish September
Milk Production and Cold
Storage reports and took the
Cheddar blocks to a Friday
close at $2.1225 per pound,
up 15.5 cents on the week
and 60.75 cents above a
year ago.
The barrels caught fire
last week and closed at
$2.25, up 25 cents on the
week, primarily on unfilled
bids, the highest barrel price
since Sept. 26, 2014, and $1
per pound above a year ago.
Twenty-one cars of block
traded hands last week at
the CME and only 9 of bar-
rel, all on Friday morning.
The blocks added 2 cents
Monday and a penny Tues-
day, climbing to $2.1525.
The barrels inched a quar-
ter-cent higher Monday
and stayed there Tuesday
at $2.2525, an inverted 10
cents above the blocks.
Midwest cheesemakers
continue to report a lack of
spot milk, says Dairy Mar-
ket News, but are keeping a
close eye on how much to
take on due to production
capacity and potential resale
concerns. Demand reports
continue to be steady but
slower than a few weeks
ago, and inventories in
the region are “mostly in
balance.”
Western cheese output is
active and cheese demand
is “steady, but not phenom-
enal.” Holiday orders are
starting to come but are not
impressive. Some contacts
suggest that government
purchases could be help-
ing support cheese prices.
Fiscal 2019 purchases of
cheese products are up
about 14% from 2018 and
processed cheese buys are
up nearly 40%.
CME butter fell to
$2.0575 per pound last
Thursday but closed Friday
at $2.06, down 5.5 cents on
the week and 17.25 cents
below a year ago on 13
sales.
Monday’s butter jumped
2.25 cents and it inched a
half-cent higher Tuesday,
creeping to $2.0875.
Cream is slightly less
available in the Central
region and some suggest it
may soon be out of reach
for churning. Demand is
steady, meeting seasonal
expectations, but mar-
ket tones are, relative to
their typical steadfastness,
“slightly in flux.”
Analysts tell DMN they
expect a slightly bear-
ish 2020 butter market as
higher imports and stocks
put a bearish slant on the
overall tone. Still, butter is
expected to remain in its
range-bound status.
Retail butter orders
in the West have been
strong the past days, says
DMN, but stockrooms are
full and, so far, incoming
orders for the holiday seem
lower than usual. But-
ter output is steady to up a
bit due to readily accessi-
ble and reasonably priced
cream.
FC Stone points out
that 2019 will likely mark
the 7th year that National
Dairy Product Sales butter
prices have averaged above
$2.00.
Grade nonfat dry milk
closed Friday at $1.1525
per pound, down 1.75 cents
on the week but 28.5 cents
above a year ago.
Monday’s powder was
unchanged but it gained a
half-cent Tuesday, climbing
to $1.1575.