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CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 26, 2021
Dairy/Livestock
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S. Idaho dairy, owner sentenced for Clean Water Act violation
Capital Press
An Idaho dairy and its
owner have been ﬁ ned
$130,000 for discharging
manure into a water of the
U.S. during a ﬂ ood that
inundated the farm in 2017.
The discharge is a mis-
demeanor violation of the
Clean Water Act, accord-
ing to Acting U.S. Attorney
Rafael M. Gonzalez Jr.
U.S. Magistrate Judge
Candy W. Dale ordered 4
Brothers Dairy Inc. to pay
a $95,000 ﬁ ne and Andrew
Fitzgerald, 60, of Shoshone,
Idaho, to pay a $35,000 ﬁ ne.
They pleaded guilty last fall
under a plea agreement.
The incident took place
during
record-breaking
snow, rain and ﬂ ooding in
February of 2017.
Under the plea agree-
ment, 4 Bros. also agreed
to obtain a National Pol-
lution Discharge Elimina-
tion System permit, which
is issued under the Clean
Water Act by the Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
NPDES permits are
designed to control water
pollution by regulating point
sources, such as large dair-
ies, that discharge pollutants
into waters of the U.S.
Dale also imposed one
year of probation on 4 Bros.
during the sentencing.
Capital Press File
A ﬁ eld near American Falls, Idaho, is covered with stand-
ing water on Feb. 10, 2017. Widespread ﬂ ooding dam-
aged crops and ﬁ elds and inundated farms. A southern
Idaho dairy and its owner were ﬁ ned for allowing ma-
nure to ﬂ ow into a nearby canal during the ﬂ ooding.
According to court
records, the dairy has at
least 1,000 head of cattle
and maintains wastewater
lagoons adjacent to the Mil-
ner-Gooding Canal, which
ﬂ ows into the Malad River
and on to the Snake River.
In the winter of 2017,
record precipitation, snow-
pack and ﬂ ooding caused
extreme runoﬀ at the 4
Bros. dairy. During that
ﬂ ooding, 4 Bros. and Fitz-
gerald negligently caused
discharges of manure-
laden water into the Mil-
ner Gooding Canal at three
locations, according to
court records.
On Feb. 10, 2017, a
catchment area on the east
side of the dairy over-
topped,
inadvertently
breached and discharged
snowmelt and manure
into the canal. 4 Bros. and
Fitzgerald were aware of
the discharge but did not
attempt to repair the lagoon
until Feb. 23. They admit-
ted in the plea agreement
that failing to repair the
discharge for 14 days was
criminally negligent under
the circumstances.
Two other discharges
occurred between Feb. 19
and Feb. 22. On the west
side of the dairy, 4 Bros.
used earth-moving equip-
ment to cut open a berm
and lined it with plastic to
cause manure-laden waste-
water from a lagoon to ﬂ ow
into the canal.
Pasture improvement Livestock hauling bill introduced
during springtime
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
By DOUG WARNOCK
Greener Pastures
T
he snow and cold tem-
peratures we’ve been
having make it seem
like spring is far away. But
spring weather really isn’t that
far away and it’s not too early
to be thinking about pasture
improvement.
Have you met your long-
term goals for pasture qual-
ity? Most of us probably have
not, because we’re continually
seeking that very high target of
top quality. Pasture productiv-
ity is linked closely with pas-
ture quality. Usually, a mixture
of vigorous, perennial plants
will provide the most optimum
forage production for livestock.
If you want to enhance your
pasture quality and forage
quantity, spring is a good time
to do it. It’s easier to do where
adequate moisture is available.
Irrigated pastures and those
in higher rainfall areas can be
improved faster than pastures
in arid or semi-arid range areas.
Once a goal has been set,
it is time to determine which
actions, those that are practical
and aﬀ ordable, will help you
achieve it.
We can add desirable plants
by seeding. This is the most
direct way to increase the pop-
ulation of the more desirable,
better producing forage species.
With the high quality, good
performing no-till drills that are
available now, it is not neces-
sary to till the soil before seed-
ing. Being able to seed right
into the existing plant commu-
nity is less costly and doesn’t
take the pasture completely out
of production as when tillage
is involved. Some conserva-
tion districts have no-till drills
that are available for members
to use.
When planting into existing
sod, it is best to have the stand-
ing forage as short as possi-
ble to allow the seed to be dis-
tributed as evenly as possible.
This will help to get the seed
in contact with the soil. It’s
best to limit seeding depth to a
Greener
Pastures
Doug Warnock
half-inch. Sprouts from seeds
planted deeper than that may
never reach the soil surface.
Seeding is best done when
there is good moisture available
to support germination. Mois-
ture is one of the prime factors
in choosing the time to plant.
The soil needs to have enough
moisture for germination and to
support the new plant’s growth
to ensure survival.
Selection of the types of
grass and legumes to match
the soil type, slope, elevation
and moisture norms is import-
ant. Your local Extension oﬃ ce
and Natural Resources Conser-
vation Service oﬃ ce can be of
help in recommending speciﬁ c
grass and legume species.
If possible, it is wise to
select a combination of grasses
and legumes to provide the
diversity that will enhance both
forage production and livestock
nutrition. The grasses produce
more during the cooler spring
and fall, while legumes pro-
duce more during the warmer
summer temperatures. Period-
ically there will be new grass
and legume cultivars available,
but it is best to check with an
experienced Extension educa-
tor or NRCS technician before
trying new ones.
Improved pastures can
increase forage production,
enhance forage quality and
result in higher proﬁ t from your
livestock grazing operation.
A well made plan will include
tapping into the good resources
available from your Extension
educators, NRCS range spe-
cialists and the local conserva-
tion district oﬃ ce.
Doug Warnock, retired from
Washington State University
Extension, lives on a ranch in
the Touchet River Valley where
he writes about and teaches
grazing management. He can
be contacted at dwarnock-
greenerpastures@gmail.com.
FC TC CENTER-PIVOT
A bipartisan bill to provide more
ﬂ exibility to haulers of agricultural
commodities and livestock was rein-
troduced in the Senate on March 18.
The Haulers of Agriculture and
Livestock Safety (HAULS) Act was
introduced by Sens. Deb Fischer,
R-Neb.; Jon Tester, D-Mont.; Tina
Smith, D-Minn.; and Roger Wicker,
R-Miss.
The bill would add a 150-air mile
exemption from drive-time require-
ments on the back end of hauls for
transporting livestock or agricultural
commodities. It would also elim-
inate the requirement that exemp-
tions from hours-of-service rules
only apply during state-designated
planting and harvest seasons.
Current hours-of-service require-
ments allow for 11 hours of drive
time and 14 hours of on-duty time
followed by 10 hours of rest.
National Cattlemen’s Beef Asso-
ciation has long pushed for greater
ﬂ exibility for livestock haulers, con-
tending one-size-ﬁ ts-all regulations
don’t work when hauling live ani-
mals. Truckers say a livestock hauler
can’t just pull of the road and park
his load for 10 hours.
NCBA member Margaret Ann
Smith, owner of Southlex Cattle Co.,
Glasgow, Va., said her feeder cat-
tle and cattle procurement business
ships cattle to 22 states.
“The HAULS Act will give us
some more ﬂ exibility to handle a
perishable live commodity,” she said
during the latest “Beltway Beef”
podcast.
Maegan Murray/EO Media Group File
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate would make current hours-
of-service exemptions for livestock haulers permanent.
Her operation buys cattle in the
Mid-Atlantic states and ships them
to western states — 1,000 to 1,200
miles. Storms or other events could
happen on the road to change where
the drivers are going to unload cat-
tle, she said.
The cattle might be only 50 or 60
miles from the destination, but under
current rules the driver might have to
stop if he’s out of time, she said.
“That’s not feasible when you
just need another hour to get the cat-
tle unloaded, rather than waiting for
10 hours to get the cattle unloaded,”
she said.
It becomes an animal welfare
issue. The right thing to do is allow
the driver to go another hour or hour
and a half, she said.
Livestock drivers have been
working under the hours-of-service
exemptions during the pandemic for
the last 14 to 15 months, getting ani-
mals down the road safely and in a
timely manner, she said.
The HAULS Act would make the
exemptions permanent and allow
haulers to do what’s right for them-
selves and the animal, she said.
“Our haulers are very, very spe-
cial and very unique and have a dif-
ferent skill set than a freight hauler,”
she said.
They have to be trained and cer-
tiﬁ ed in things such as animal han-
dling and the Beef Quality Assur-
ance program, she said.
“They have to have those certiﬁ -
cations in order to be able to haul.
And they know what they’re doing
to make sure that animal gets there
safely,” she said.
There are also logistical issues.
There are not a lot of places to safely
and reliably unload cattle along the
journey or get them back on the
truck after 10 hours, she said.
Fairlife opens new plant in Arizona
Capital Press
Chicago-based fairlife LLC has
opened a new 300,000-square-foot
production and distribution facility
in Goodyear, Ariz.
The facility boasts advanced
manufacturing technologies and
equipment to enable continued
growth more eﬃ ciently, while sup-
porting the increased demand for
fairlife products, the company said
in a press release on Wednesday.
The company, a unit of Coca-
Cola Co., produces ultra-ﬁ ltered
milk and other products.
“With cases now rolling oﬀ
the line in Goodyear, today is an
exciting day for fairlife and the
consumers who love our prod-
ucts,” said Neil Betteridge, fair-
life senior vice president of global
manufacturing.
“This
new
state-of-the-art
facility allows us to signiﬁ cantly
increase our production capabili-
ties in the West region and beyond
while also bringing hundreds of
jobs to Arizonians,” he said.
In addition to the more than
Mower Conditioners
100 positions already ﬁ lled at the
Goodyear facility, fairlife has also
partnered with United Dairymen of
Arizona to buy milk from numer-
ous dairy farmers in the West
Valley.
“With shared values of animal
care and great nutrition, our part-
nership with the UDA has been a
seamless and enjoyable part of
opening this new plant in beautiful
Arizona,” Betteridge said.
The new plant will manufacture
nearly all products in the fairlife
portfolio.
Milk production keeps rising
10’2” - 14’4” working widths
By LEE MIELKE
For the Capital Press
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S228057-1
he Agriculture
Department’s pre-
liminary data reports
February milk output hit
17.63 billion pounds, down
1.5% from February 2020.
However, February 2020
had an extra “Leap Day,” so
adjusting for that, February
output was actually up 2.0%
from 2020. Output in the
top 24 states was up 2.3%,
when adjusted.
Revisions in January
output were a big factor
of interest in this report as
January’s preliminary esti-
mate was raised by 155 mil-
lion pounds to 19.3 bil-
lion, up 2.4%, instead of the
originally reported 1.6%
increase.
February cow numbers
were up for the eighth con-
secutive month, totaling
9.46 million head in the 50
states, up 3,000 from Jan-
uary’s count, which was
revised up 5,000 head.
The February herd was up
81,000 from February 2020.
February output per cow
averaged 1,864 pounds, up
Dairy
Markets
Lee Mielke
22 pounds or 1.2% from a
year ago.
California’s February out-
put was up 2.1% from a year
ago, when adjusted, thanks
to a 43-pound gain per
cow, but with 3,000 fewer
cows. The January total
was revised up 94 million
pounds, resulting in a 2.0%
increase from January 2020,
instead of the originally
reported 0.7% decrease.
Wisconsin was up 3.2%
in February on a 57-pound
gain per cow but 2,000
fewer cows. January output
was revised up 12 million
pounds, resulting in a 3.6%
gain from January 2020,
instead of 3.1%.
Idaho was up 0.4%,
despite a 2-pound drop per
cow, but cow numbers were
up 3,000 head. Revisions
added 14 million pounds
to Idaho’s January output,
up 0.7% from a year ago,
instead of the 0.3% drop
originally reported.