Milk Price

Changes Coming

In previous newsletters I have discussed how the mailbox milk price is related to the blend price, and how the blend price is related to the Basic Formula Price (BFP). The BFP fell $1.24 in October, and experts expect it to fall another $1.50 or more in November. How and when will this affect mailbox milk prices to Florida dairymen?

The blend price is the weighted average of the Class I, Class II and Class III prices, the weights being the portion of Florida milk used in each class. There is very little Class III milk in Florida, it being only shrink, bad loads, diverted milk, etc. Therefore, we normally think of the blend as mainly determined by Class I and Class II prices.

The Class I minimum price is computed as the BFP plus a location differential, so if the BPF falls, the Class I price will fall by the same amount. But the Class I price is set two months in advance from the current month's BFP. This means that the October drop in the BFP will cause a drop in the December Class I price. The Class II minimum price is the BFP plus $.30. But, again, the price from two months earlier is used so the October BFP drop will effect the Class II price in December.

Our monthly graph of the mailbox and blend shows that the blend price continued to increase in October, even though the October BFP fell. This is because the October Class I and Class II prices were computed from the August BFP which was up $.45 from July. The impact of the BFP will be felt in the December blend price. The blend should be down about 1.24 in December (not exactly because there is a little Class III milk).

The effect of all this on your mailbox milk price will depend on what happens to the premium. We discussed the premium last month, but it partly accounts for differences between federal order minimum prices and prices warranted by market conditions. A question is: in Florida, where the market is predominantly a Class I (fluid milk) market, does it make sense to have our milk price reflecting volatility in cheese markets in the Upper Midwest? These cheese markets caused the large rise in the BFP over the last 5 months, and are causing the rapid falling in two months. These markets are affected by buying strategies for products that can be stored. Until we have a pricing mechanism in Florida which decouples our milk price from the BFP, it is the role of the premium to reflect our market conditions and the true cost of obtaining milk from the closest available alternative supply.
- Michael DeLorenzo

Is What You Feed What They Get?

You've heard that there are at least three rations on every farm: the one the nutritionist formulates, the one mixed for the cows, and the one the cows eat. If you want to make sure that cows get the nutrients they need so they can stay healthy and productive, don't let the three ration system take over on your dairy. You can avoid it by practicing good feed management:

• Test feed dry matter, weekly on wet feeds. Change the amount of feed delivered to adjust for changes in dry matter content.
• Keep track of inventory. If cows are meant to get a certain amount of a commodity or grain, estimate how long a load of feed should last. For instance, a 22 ton (44,000 lb) load of feed fed at 8 lb/day to 500 cows should last 44,000/(8 x 500) = 11 days. Include amounts fed to heifers and dry cows. If the load lasts many days more or less, investigate whether the cows were fed the right amount, scales on the mixer are accurate, the load was the correct weight, etc.
• Weigh scales on all mixing equipment should be accurate.
• Practice proper TMR mixing. TMRs should be well mixed, but forage should not become too finely chopped.
• Practice good bunk management. Feed several times a day. Clean the bunk daily. Be on the lookout for piles of hot feed in the manger. Hot feed means that molds are at work and cows may eat less and select around the piles.
• When cows can choose what they eat, you can only guess what they're eating. When the average 'cow selected' ration looks good on paper, it can also mean that half are overfed and half, underfed.
• Are cows sorting their feed? When cows leave cobs or hay stems, they get less fiber than the ration planned for, putting them at risk for acidosis. The feed cleaned out of the bunk should look like the feed that was fed.

Mary Beth Hall

Mastitis Alert

We are making a major extension effort to reduce mastitis losses in Florida. This is also an open invitation to any Florida dairymen who think they are having mastitis problems to get help from the University of Florida Extension Service. If your present cell count is above 400,000 you do have a mastitis problem. Our goal is to lower the state's SCC average from 450,000 to 400,000 this year.

If you are having trouble with cows which have more than one quarter with clinical mastitis that will not clear up, you may have mycoplasma. There is a big increase in this disease in the last month. Many cases are in fresh animals and this mastitis is untreatable. It is not spread just by the milking machine.

If you are having a cell count problem, or you think you might have a mycoplasma problem, call one of the county extension professionals listed on the back of this newsletter or me. I will be glad to visit your dairy to do a complete milking machine analysis and take a bulk tank sample. You get all this service for free.
- David Bray

Announcements

1997 Dairy Production Conference

The Dairy Production Conference is April 8-9, 1997. Put these dates on your calendar now and plan to attend. The Production Conference will again be held at the Gainesville Radisson Hotel. Expect a good program including economics, nutrition, reproduction and management. We will review the program next issue. Contact is Jack Van Horn.

Cheese Sale

The University of Florida Dairy Science Club is holding their Annual Cheese Sale. Anyone interested in helping the club can purchase a two-pound block of cheddar cheese made from Florida milk. The cost of the cheese is $8.00 plus $2.00 for shipping. To order, please call James Umphrey at (352) 392-5594.

Milk Marketing and Federal Policy Issues

A conference to update producers on the current dairy outlook, federal order restructuring, considerations of alternatives for replacing the BFP, decoupling from the BFP, Class I differentials, zone price alternatives, and other provisions is planned for February 18, 1997. A presentation is planned by the Market Administrator to speak on the timetable and current proposals. Bill Thomas (University of Georgia) and Hal Harris (Clemson) will be speakers. There will be time for discussion of these topics to get producer inputs. Location will be in Florida so please reserve this date for this important meeting. A detailed announcement will be coming soon. Contact is Michael DeLorenzo.

Lutalyse and Prostaglandin Report In PCDART

Recently there have been questions on how to create a report for Lutalyse and prostaglandin cows. To correctly create this report, you need to determine what criteria is needed to generate the report. This report should display non-cycling animals which have been given prostaglandin, and in addition to using Lutalyse, haven't come into heat after the PGH shot. You'd like to know on your report whether this cow is a PGH cow or recently has been injected with Lutalyse. If you enter animals that have been injected with PGH in PcDart under procedure P26, this will create a heat event. This coding causes the animal to appear on a heat expectancy list three days after treatment (pg. I-29, PCDART or PCDHI manuals). By adding a new set of controls, these animals will show up on your vet report.

The best solution to keep track of the animals you inject with lutalyse is using Procedure P6, Vet check for Repro codes, and P15, the health procedure. You can reassign one of the seldom used health codes (#28 as an example) as LUTA. These animals treated with lutalyse can be entered with health code 28. The P6 procedure will list these animals three days after injection. For these cows to come up on your report for heat observation, you must enter these animals with an "R" recheck code. The system will prompt for number of days, and if you select two (2), these animals will show up on your report two days after injection.

A suggestion is to add database item 684 on this report. It shows why the animal is on the report. The report specifications are at right.

If there are any questions about this or other reports you are trying to create, please give your DHIA technician or the State DHIA office a call.
- Ron McCuddy

Dairy Advisory Committee

The UF Dairy Advisory Committee met recently to review our programs and provide input. The dairymen developed a list of priorities. The faculty's list of priorities was added to it before the dairymen were asked to rank their priorities. It was reassuring to see that that the faculty's and dairymen's lists had most of the same items on them. Here is the new prioritized list:

• Economic benchmarks
• Forage production & utilization
• Periparturient disorders & diseases
• Strategies for milk marketing
• Improved immune responses
• Pathogen-caused disorders and reduced use of antibiotics
• Reduce morbidity and mortality of cattle
• Improved reproduction efficiency
• Improved feed efficiency
• Reduced odors and flies
• Reduced lameness
• Characterization & utilization of byproducts
• Comparison of regional costs
• Dairy nutrition
• Integration of production medicine and herd health management
• Management repercussions of longer lactations
• Environmental stress & comfort
• Nutrition reproduction complex
• Strategies for use of supplemental fat
• Competitive position of Florida dairying
• Animal welfare & the use of biotechnology
• Concentration of nutrients for transporting off-farm
• Calf & heifer management

The list looks like a Christmas wish list, but it will influence faculty as they design projects for the next round of check-off funding.

On behalf of the faculty, we wish to express our sincere thanks to those dairy producers who dedicate time to serving on our Advisory Committee.
- Roger Natzke

Florida's 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Team Fourth at National Contest

Florida posted its best showing ever at the 1996 North American International Livestock Exposition Invitational 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl held on November 9th in Louisville, KY. Team members were Sharon Spann from Okeechobee; Erica Oelfke, High Springs; Brian Keen, Arcadia; and team captain Nichole Gilliland, Okeechobee.

The Florida team won rounds over state teams from Massachusetts, Virginia, Kansas (in a VERY close match), and Washington before meeting the team from Illinois for a second time. Illinois defeated Florida for the second time, knocking them out of the double-eliminated contest.

Twenty-three state teams competed in this National 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl. Illinois was eventually victorious with Pennsylvania second; Wisconsin third; Florida fourth and Washington and New York were honorable mention.
- Mary Sowerby

Feed Costs

The milk to feed price ratio continued up in October because feed prices continued to ease and the milk price increased. As explained on page 1, the recent drop in the Basic Formula Price has not impacted the Florida mailbox milk price yet, and feed ingredient prices continued to decline in October. Some ingredient prices continued to fall in November, but not as rapidly as in previous months, and soybean meal is actually higher in November reflecting strong demand for bean, oil, and meal as reported in the popular press. This will affect next month's index.

Prices in dollars per ton used in the October index include: Cotton seed hulls, 73; hominy, 138; soybean meal, 255; whole cotton seed, 134; distillers dried grains, 185; citrus pulp, 100; wheat midds, 115; alfalfa hay (average of dairy and prime grades), 163; and wet brewers grains (average of two sources), 40.
- Michael DeLorenzo

Dairy Cows As World Class Recyclers

Dairy cows in Florida consume large amounts of by-product feeds. Of the citrus pulp, molasses, brewers' grains and other by-products produced in the state, dairy cattle recycle 348,000 tons of feed which contain:
4,780 tons of nitrogen
3,090 tons of phosphorus
6,220 tons of potassium