Friday, July 30, 2021
CapitalPress.com 7
Milk production slows; cow numbers decline slightly in June
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The latest milk produc-
tion report from USDA
brought some good news,
with a slowing of the milk
spigot.
June’s milk production
was up 2.9% year-over-year
after increasing 4.7% year-
over-year in May.
Even though May’s milk
production was gauged
against a low comparable
— with May 2020 being up
only 0.8% year over year —
June’s output was quite an
improvement when it comes
to slowing milk production,
said Bob Cropp, an econo-
mist with the University of
Wisconsin.
More good news is that
cow numbers in June showed
a slight decline from May
after increasing monthly
since July 2020. There are
still a lot of cows, about
153,000 more than a year
ago, but production per cow
was more normal with only
a 1.3% increase year-over-
year, he said during the lat-
est “Dairy Situation and Out-
look” podcast.
“It is an improvement but,
boy, we’ve had a head of
steam up and we still have a
lot of cows,” said Mark Ste-
phenson, fellow economist at
the university.
But there have been all
kinds of problems in the
West with heat, drought, fi res
and water rationing, he said,
and he wonders if production
levels will hold in the region.
The Midwest is now see-
ing heat as well, and the feed
situation is not good. Large
herds have nutritionists who
stocks haven’t blown up and
milk prices are OK, Stephen-
son said.
“But I’m a little concerned
about margins on farms, par-
ticularly those farms in the
West,” he said.
If they’re not able to water
and harvest alfalfa, purchas-
ing it is going to be expen-
sive. The same goes for other
crops, he said.
“Those margins are look-
ing pretty tight. We’ll have to
see what that does for milk
production,” he said.
There’s a lot of uncer-
tainty, but USDA is forecast-
ing a 2.5% increase in milk
production this year. That’s a
lot of milk, and it’s going to
keep pressure on milk prices,
Cropp said.
But milk production
does decrease seasonally in
the summer. Things getting
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
U.S. milk production slowed in June.
can balance rations to temper
the impact, but the heat will
have an impact, Cropp said.
“So I look for milk pro-
duction to continue to slow,
which I hope it does,” he
said.
He expects cow num-
bers to decrease slowly, but
maybe not until next year, he
said.
The U.S. has seen big
milk production and big
dairy product production, but
back to normal with in-per-
son school and events should
help demand. Dairy exports
have been doing great, and
the holidays should bring a
boost in demand for butter
and cheese, he said.
July’s Class III milk
prices are looking like they’ll
be in the low $16s a hun-
dredweight, down from $17
in June. But the cheese mar-
ket has really taken a hit in
the last couple of weeks. If
cheese prices don’t improve,
Class III milk could drop
below $16, he said.
But if milk production
continues to slow, schools
and event get back to nor-
mal and exports stay strong,
he expects Class III milk to
get in the $17 by October. If
milk production slows even
more, prices could move
into the high $17s, he said.
Wheat tied to corn
prices as more of it
enters feed market
Farmers might see higher
prices for wheat, but if they
have poor yields because of
Wheat prices will be tied drought, they may need to
to the corn market for the fi le insurance claims.
next few months as more of
“It’s going to be very
it goes for livestock feed, a farm-specifi c this year, in
Washington State University terms of crop insurance pay-
economist say.
ments, whether you do or
When corn prices
don’t get hit with a
are high, wheat
discount because of
begins to enter the
protein, and what
livestock feed mar-
your
individual
ket, Randy Forten-
yields are,” Forten-
bery, WSU small
bery said.
grains
economist,
Fortenbery is also
told the Capital Press.
watching the labor
Randy
The higher prices
picture.
mean less export Fortenbery
Much of the
volume, Fortenbery
Pacifi c Northwest,
added. Current export projec- particularly fruit producers,
tions are less than at the same rely on migrant or seasonal
time last year, but that’s off set labor. Immigration concerns
by higher feed use.
are likely to be the biggest
“We’re in the fi rst quar- issues into next year, Forten-
ter of the marketing year,” he bery said.
said. “This is a very unsettling
The trucking industry is
time because we’ve started having a hard time attracting
(harvesting), but we don’t truckers, and the food service
really know what we have, industry is having diffi culty
and we don’t know the qual- hiring employees, he added.
ity yet of what we have.”
Some employees have
Some Northwest farmers been drawn to other indus-
may be interested in storing tries by higher wages or
their wheat, but Fortenbery more schedule fl exibility.
considers that risky.
“If you can’t eff ectively
“Our prices are already move product, prices tend to
pretty strong relative to other go up at the retail level and
parts of the country,” he said. they kind of go down at the
If the corn crop outlook farm level,” Fortenbery said.
improves, the price of futures
Fortenbery isn’t sure
may decrease. USDA’s corn there’s a specifi c solution to
yield projections may be the problem.
high relative to crop prog-
“I think we’re adjusting
ress reports. The fi rst corn to a new normal,” he said.
fi eld report will be in August, “I don’t think we’ve arrived
Fortenbery said.
there yet.”
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
EPA fi ne sours Yakima
cold-storage owner
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The Environmental Pro-
tection Agency has levied
six-fi gure fi nes against two
Yakima County cold-stor-
age enterprises for missing
the annual deadline for fi l-
ing two-page forms report-
ing that their facilities store
anhydrous ammonia.
Stadelman Fruit LLC
was fi ned $238,875, while
Hollingbery and Sons Inc.
and the related Hollingbery
CA and Cold Storage LLC
were penalized a total of
$118,200.
The federal Emergency
Planning and Community
Right-To-Know Act requires
companies that store hazard-
ous chemicals to submit the
forms, mostly a checklist, by
March 1 to state and local
emergency planners, and the
local fi re department.
Bud Hollingbery, presi-
dent of the Hollingbery com-
panies, said Friday his busi-
nesses have been sending in
the information for years. In
2020, the employee who fi les
the forms had a family emer-
gency, and the forms weren’t
submitted until May 12, he
said.
By then, according to
EPA, the Hollingbery com-
panies had committed 12
violations — three late forms
for four cold-storage facili-
ties in Yakima.
The maximum poten-
tial fi ne for each violation
was $59,017, for a total of
$708,204 for the 12.
Bud Hollingbery said
he spent about $12,000 on
an attorney to negotiate a
smaller fi ne, but didn’t admit
to any of the allegations.
“The amount of money
we would have had to spend
(in court) would have been
prohibitive, and we’d still
have been at risk, that’s why
we quit,” he said. “You argue
it down as much as you can
and pay. It leaves a really bad
taste in your mouth.
“The fi ne was not com-
mensurate with the infrac-
tion,” Bud Hollingbery said.
“This didn’t impact the risk
to the community at all. The
only impact was that the
paperwork was late.”
Stadelman Fruit also was
fi ned for missing the March
1, 2020, reporting dead-
line for its four cold-storage
facilities in Zillah. Stadel-
man agreed to settle, but also
did not admit to the allega-
tions. Eff orts to obtain com-
ment from the company Fri-
day were unsuccessful.
The EPA announced the
fi nes in a press release. “Zil-
lah and Yakima families
deserve better protection
from chemical hazards,” the
agency stated.
Congress passed the
Right-To-Know Act in 1986,
two years after a chemical
disaster in Bhopal, India,
killed thousands.
Capital Press File
A hemp plant.
Idaho hemp plan makes progress
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
Idaho aims to submit
its hemp plan to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
by Sept. 1.
“From there, we expect
a fairly quick turnaround
time on the review by
USDA,”
Idaho
State
Department of Agriculture
Deputy Director Chanel
Tewalt said.
ISDA could accept
license applications from
growers and handler-pro-
cessors from mid-Octo-
ber through year’s end if
USDA approval comes
when anticipated, she said.
First, ISDA will deliver
the plan in early August
to Gov. Brad Little and
the Idaho State Police
— involved because the
2018 Farm Bill requires
it and the state’s new law
addresses transport — for
review and approval. Draft
administrative rules and
other supporting docu-
ments will be included.
The Idaho Legislature
this year approved indus-
trial hemp production, to
be overseen by ISDA. The
Legislature in 2022 would
review related administra-
tive rules. First plantings
could come in the spring
of 2022.
The law allows produc-
tion and transport of hemp
containing tetrahydrocan-
nabinol up to the 2018
Farm Bill’s limit but does
not allow in-state posses-
sion or sale of THC-con-
taining products.
Tewalt said USDA
must approve Idaho’s plan
including the state stat-
ute and proposed admin-
istrative rules. USDA also
must verify the state can
fulfi ll requirements of fed-
eral hemp rules.
ISDA
negotiat-
ed-rule-making meetings
with stakeholders June 23
and June 30 each drew
about 40 people, she said.
Braden Jensen, of the
Idaho Farm Bureau Fed-
eration, said the sessions
attracted more prospective
handler-processors than
growers, “which is good
because processing and
capacity can be a bottle-
neck in the system.”
“There is a handling
portion of the (draft) rule
because the new Idaho
law references handling,”
Tewalt said. “We need to
ensure the product can get
from the farm to a drying
facility or grain facility. So
we have accounted for that
in the process.”
She said the draft rule
calls for a $100 applica-
tion fee. Applicants would
report GPS coordinates
of fi elds or facilities, and
complete a backgroudn
check.
Growers would pay
$500 for an annual license
and $250 per lot for
inspection. Handler-pro-
cessors would pay $1,000
for a license and $500 for
an annual inspection.
“Inspection is required
in the federal rule and
will be in the state rule,”
Tewalt said. Inspections
will include verifying
paperwork and pulling
samples tested for THC
content. A crop exceeding
the allowed limit would
have to be destroyed or
remediated.
Tim Cornie of 1000
Springs Mill participated
in rule-making sessions.
The Buhl business plans to
apply for a state license to
handle hemp grain.
“Everything is totally
manageable,” he said of
the draft rule.
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