🍨 Climate change increases ice cream consumption 💰 USDA looking for organic pricing data 🧑‍🔬 Scientists concerned by HPAI response

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Calf enrichment benefits calves and industry (3 minute read)

Calf well-being includes not only making sure that they are healthy and productive, but also that they “have good lives.” Enrichments are only valuable if they serve a purpose for the calf, but may convey additional benefits in the form of reduced stress and public perception of the dairy industry. There are five areas to focus on calf enrichment: 1) sensory (e.g. brushes); 2) social (e.g. social housing); 3) nutritional (e.g. suckling behavior); 4) occupational (e.g. exercise); 5) physical (e.g. opportunity for isolation).

Climate change is increasing ice cream consumption (1 minute read)

Traditionally, the transition from warm to cool seasons has brought with it a change in food consumption patterns, trading the likes of ice cream for soup. Over the past 25 years, Spanish households have shown a clear increase in ice cream intake and decrease in soup consumption. Sales data combined with temperature data shows soup sales decrease when temperatures remain warmer than expected in cooler months; likewise, ice cream sales remain elevated when temperatures are warmer than expected.

CattleFax fills USDA inventory reporting void (2 minute read)

The USDA typically provides a mid-year snapshot of cattle inventories, but the report was canceled this year due to budgetary constraints. CattleFax has stepped in to provide estimates based on other data sets. A table of estimated inventories is available in the article.

AMS looking for organic dairy pricing data (1 minute read)

The USDA Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) is asking organic dairy producers in Pennsylvania and Maryland to share anonymous pricing data. The goal is to better understand how organic milk is priced, an area where the USDA has little information. The USDA currently uses conventional milk pricing in its programs, like Dairy Margin Coverage, and the hope is that better insight into the pricing of organic milk will allow the USDA to create programs that are tailored to the needs of the organic market.

Mexico export growth critical for U.S. dairy (3 minute read)

Between 2014 and 2023, U.S. dairy exports to Mexico grew by 59% and are expected to continue growing through 2024, making Mexico an important outlet for U.S. dairy products as demand from Asian countries decreases. Favorable trade agreements and geographical proximity have benefited the relationship. Although cheese exports to Mexico are expected to decrease with higher cheese prices and a weak Mexican Peso, non-fat and skim milk powder exports are expected to increase as Mexican processors look to make more cheese, rather than import it.

New microchip could help reduce milk waste (1 minute read)

Around 10,000 liters (22,700 lbs) of milk is discarded every day in the process of cleaning milk lines on-farm. Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), with three industry partners, have developed a new optical spectrometer that can monitor the contents of milk lines, allowing less milk to be discarded in the cleaning process. Similar technology is available and used in milk processing plants, but is prohibitively expensive; the microchip developed by DTU is expected to be much more affordable.

Processing methods impact dairy digestibility (3 minute read)

The longstanding assumption has been that milks with similar nutrient composition will deliver similar nutrients to the consumer, but recent research shows that how the milk is processed impacts nutrient digestion and uptake. For example, proteins in UHT milk are digested the fastest and those in raw milk the slowest. Lipids and other solids in milk are also digested differently, depending on how the milk has been processed. A better understanding of the impacts of processing on digestion and nutrient absorption could lead to the creation of value-added dairy products.

Review finds shortcomings in measures to control avian flu in mammals (2 minute read)

In the past, rapid sharing of data has allowed US cattle producers to rapidly eliminate diseases (e.g., FMD), but when in comes to HPAI in cattle, researchers, veterinarians, and policymakers are in the dark. Narrow testing criteria, fear of authorities, and limited resources are preventing adequate insight into the spread of HPAI in cattle. Influenza A viruses (like HPAI) have triggered more human pandemics than any other pathogen, with pigs historically serving as the intermediary host. Changes in the ecology of H5N1 creates the possibility of new pathways to humans and the lack of data on the current HPAI outbreaks worries scientists that transmission paths may go undetected.

Danone and Zoetis partner to improve sustainability through genetics (3 minute read)

Zoetis and Danone have announced a plan to use genetic selection as a means of improving dairy sustainability. The plan will focus on integrating sustainable practices into dairy genetics and selection with an emphasis on productive life and animal health.

Michigan dairy highlights long-term challenges of HPAI (5 minute read)

Nathan Brearly, a Michigan dairy farmer, estimates HPAI cost the dairy $100,000. SmaxTec boluses detected nearly half his cows with elevated temperatures as the first sign of the outbreak, followed by a 25% drop in milk, from which they haven’t fully recovered six-months later. Despite treating 300 cows twice daily, 5% of the herd was culled. Looking back Brearly, says he would have pushed more water to the cows and added electrolytes.

Federal Dairy Margin Coverage program paid out record amount in 2023 (3 minute read)

The Federal Dairy Margin Coverage program (DMC) allows dairy producers to insure a margin between $4.00 and $9.50/cwt. In 2023 a sharp drop in milk prices caused the milk margin to drop below $4.00/cwt, resulting in all operations participating in the DMC program (nearly 75% of licensed dairies) to receive payments. On average operations received $74,097 in support payments, with a total disbursement of nearly $1.3 billion. Additional program payment history is described in the article.

California has second-highest number of HPAI outbreaks (1 minute read)

Despite being the most recently affected state, California has jumped to the second highest number of affected herds (34), behind Colorado. The California outbreaks have been concentrated in the Central Valley. State agriculture officials have been relying on enhanced surveillance of dairies with connections to earlier-infected herds to identify new cases.

Commodity	Price	Change (1 wk.)
Class III Milk	23.30	- 0.02
Corn	4.13	+ 0.08
Soybeans	10.41	+ 0.28
Live Cattle	1.84	+ 0.05
Feeder Cattle	2.45	+ 0.01