Country Life May 2020

Country Life Wednesday, May 13, 2020 • lyndentribune.com • ferndalerecord.com

MIELKE MARKET

Trying to dig out of bummer milk prices Some light is appearing in the COVID tunnel for dairy farmers. However, there are still dark days ahead in regard to their milk checks.

“We’re seeing strength return to dairy markets due to ‘pipeline refilling,’” said FC Stone dairy broker Dave Kurzawski on the May 4 Dairy Radio Now broadcast.

“Late March, early April, the supply chain did not want to keep product in coolers that they weren’t sure they could sell. Eventually that inventory got worked down and the supply chain, which is normally very consistent, saw that wave of demand

By Lee Mielke

return, the pipeline get refilled. Plus states started to reopen, at least partially, for limited restaurant service. Add to that government intervention.”

The tone was even better than a week earlier, when dairy product prices plunged to multi-year lows, pulling farm milk prices with them.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the April Federal Order Class III benchmark milk price on May 1 at $13.07 per hundredweight (cwt.), down $3.18 from March and $2.89 below April 2019. It is the lowest Class III price since May 2016, another victim of the COVID pandemic that has invaded our world.

Now Uncle Sam is grocery shopping. Agriculture Secretary Perdue has announced details on

$470 million in additional Section 32 food purchases in third quarter, enabling USDA to purchase surplus food for distribution to communities nationwide. $120 million was earmarked to buy dairy products in July, August and September. A USDA press release stated, “The purchases will provide additional support for producers and Americans in need, in response to changing market conditions caused by the COVID-19 national emergency.”

While many criticize dairy’s allocation as being inadequate and the time it’s taking to see relief, the

government will purchase $800-$900 million worth of dairy products, according to Kurzawski, purchases that normally run $400-$450 million. This starts with the trade mitigation program, which is ongoing and stems from the China-Mexico tariff trade war issue, then the Section 32 purchases, the Family First Corona Virus Relief Act, and lastly the Food Box program, which will purchase fresh fruit and dairy, food that is ready to go to consumers.

“The market is well supported for the time being,” Kurzawski concluded.

Speaking of supply chain, Tyson Foods stated

Jersey cows graze in pasture of the Leroy Lagerwey farm east of Northwood Road last week. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)

Monday that the coronavirus crisis will continue to idle U.S. meat plants and slow production, despite President Trump’s Executive Order that plants remain open. Some retail outlets, such as Costco and Kroger, are therefore limiting customer meat purchases and at least one major fast-food chain has reported being short of beef for hamburgers.

There was some encouragement in last week’s Global Dairy Trade auction. Even though butter and cheese pulled the weighted average down 0.8%, it was less than expected and followed the hefty 4.2% drop April 21.

Some 36.2 million pounds of product was offered, lowest total in a year.

The losses were led by buttermilk powder, down 10.3%. GDT cheddar was down 6.8%, following a 1.9% uptick on April, and butter was down 5.8%, after a 3.6% decline. Rennet casein was down 5.1% and anhydrous milkfat was off 2.4%, after leading the losses last time at 7.0%.

Gains were led by lactose, up 7.9%, and skim milk and whole milk powder. Both were up 0.1%, following declines of about 4 to 5% last time.

FC Stone equated the GDT 80 percent butterfat butter price to $1.7112 per pound U.S., down 11.1 cents from the last event.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange butter closed Friday, May 8, at $1.29. GDT cheddar cheese equated to $1.8665 per See Mielke on A12

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A12 • Wednesday, May 13, 2020 • lyndentribune.com

Darigold gives out 2% milk in Northwest Plagerman was on National Milk podcast SEATTLE — In March Darigold began donating a significant amount of milk to nonprofit organizations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The donation of 2% milk was expected

to total about 130,000 gallons by mid-May. The effort doubled Darigold’s normal giving of milk for a four-week period, recognizing the widespread food insecurity caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Recipients in Washington State included the Food Lifeline, Northwest Harvest and Second Har-

vest, which supply food banks.

Food banks rarely have fresh milk, given refrigeration challenges, so if those can be overcome milk is a welcome gift.

• Darigold also reports that its board president, Leroy Plagerman, of Lynden, did a sevenminute podcast through National Milk Producers

IN BLOOM

In a new era, welcome to gardening In the last two months, as the world has adjusted to the reality of COVID-19, more people than ever before have taken up gardening.

Deemed essential businesses in most states, nurseries and garden stores are open to sell vegetable seeds and starts, flowers — and hope. Gardening is a hobby that relieves stress and gives you reason to get outside, so if you’re new to the hobby, welcome! This month, I’d like to offer a few tips for beginners to ensure your continued success this spring and summer.

First, gardening is a labor of love. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can plant a garden (either flowers or vegetables), give it some care for a week or two and then let it manage itself. The truth is that spectacular hanging baskets or abundant vegetable gardens are the result of consistent care. That’s not to say it’s hard work — just regular watering, feeding and pulling the weeds as they pop up. It’s more about staying faithful at it.

As with any living thing, all gardens need regular watering to survive. Rainy days may alleviate the need to water in-ground plantings, but unless we have drenching rains and cool temperatures, hanging baskets and patio pots will likely still need to be watered daily.

Watering cans, garden hoses or sprinklers all work great for watering, but if you

By David Vos tend to forget to water or aren’t able to set aside time each day, consider hooking up a faucet-adapted drip system for your containers or a soaker hose on a timer for your vegetable garden.

Both are fairly simple to set up and can eliminate the biggest time commitment your plants will require of you this summer.

Gardens also require fertilizing to grow their best. Annuals and hanging baskets will put on a huge show of color all summer long with proper feeding.

Slow-release fertilizers are one way to minimize feeding — one dose of slowrelease plant food can feed for three to four months — but typically slow-release doesn’t release nutrients fast enough to give annual flowers all they need. For best results, feed weekly with a high-quality watersoluble plant food like Jack’s Classic. This will ensure continued growth and blooming through summer and into autumn.

If you’re growing a vegetable garden this summer, you probably already have your garden planted (and if not, it’s not too late to start!), but did you remember to work

some compost into the soil first? Chicken manure or Smit’s dairy compost are both excellent additives for working into your soil prior to planting a garden.

If you didn’t add compost, though, it’s not too late to fertilize; carefully work some dry organic vegetable garden fertilizer into the soil around your plants or alongside your rows and water it in — or use a watersoluble vegetable fertilizer to keep your garden growing and producing a plentiful crop.

Next, take the time to pull the weeds. I know, weed pulling is everyone’s least favorite job, but if you stay on top of it, you’ll never have a big job. The old saying “one year’s seeds, seven years’ weeds” rings true. If you let weeds get out of hand and go to seed, you’ll have far more work keeping up than if you had plucked or hoed out those weeds when they were small.

Finally, one of the most counterintuitive things you can do to ensure your garden’s success is to rip out half of it. Well, not exactly, but I bet I got your attention! Especially if you’ve planted seeds rather than vegetable starts, it’s easy to end up with a garden that’s overcrowded, which, despite more plants, can lead to lower yields. Different plants have different spacing requirements, so check online or consult an expert for the recommended spacing when thinning your crops.

As we all spend more time in our own backyards this spring and summer, may you enjoy the beauty of blooming flowers and the unbeatable taste of homegrown produce!

Leroy Plagerman

tion.

Still, sound finances — and faith — will help carry his family through the crisis, he said. “We know that there’s a God that’s sovereign and in control of all things, and he uses everything for His purpose,” he said. “It will work out the way it’s supposed to work out.”

He said Darigold had not had to dump milk as some processors or farms had resorted to elsewhere.

Listen to the podcast at: https://www.nmpf. org/?s=Leroy+Plagerman.

grew sales to Colombia.

The gains were partially offset by a 19% drop in volume to Mexico, which saw the lightest volume (daily-average basis) since January 2018, but US NDM/SMP shipments in first quarter totaled 41.1 million pounds, most ever for first quarter.

Many dairy farmers are being asked by their cooperative or milk handler to reduce their milk production in view of the current market upset from the COVID pandemic. Reporting on the May 4 broadcast, Hoards Dairyman managing editor Corey Geiger talked about a poll taken on their website’s new “Dairy LiveStream” feature which asked farmers how much they have been asked to reduce their output.

Of over 200 online respondents, 30% said they were asked to cut milk output by 0-10%, 28% stated they had not been asked to cut back at all, and 27% said they had been given an 11-15% mandate. Another 7% said

they had been asked to reduce milk output by over 15%, according to Geiger.

Which management changes were they using to reduce output? Seventy percent said drying cows off early. Culling more heavily was chosen by 67%, and 63% cited adjusting a feed ration. 38% will switch from milking three times a day to two, and 14% said they would not reduce milk flow at all.

Mielke Continued from A11

pound, down 16.5 cents, and compared to Friday’s CME block cheddar at $1.3050. GDT skim milk powder averaged $1.0763 per pound and whole milk powder averaged $1.2452.

CME Grade A nonfat dry milk closed Friday at 82.50 cents per pound.

There was some encouragement in exports.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council reported that exporters topped year-earlier levels for the seventh straight month in March, despite disruptions resulting from the coronavirus.

The U.S. shipped 420 million pounds of milk powders, cheese, whey products, lactose and butterfat, up 2% from 2019 and the highest figure since May 2018. On a total milk solids basis, exports were equivalent to 15.1% of U.S. milk solids production in March, while first-quarter exports were at 14.9% of production.

The value of all exports was the most since August 2014, according to USDEC, at $592 million, 10% more than a year ago, with Southeast Asia continuing to be the main source of growth for U.S. suppliers.

Nonfat dry milk and skim milk powder exports totaled 13.7 million pounds, up 4%. In addition to stronger sales to Indonesia and Malaysia, shipments to the MENA region were the most since July 2014 and suppliers

Feed with the best! ’

The Northwest Dairy Association makes these price projections for the Class III and Pacific Northwest blend prices: Month Class PNW III Blend April $13.07 $13.15 (current) May $11.45 $11.60 June $14.45 $13.00 July $15.00 $13.90 Aug. $15.40 $14.40 Sept. $16.00 $14.90 Oct. $16.10 $14.60 Nov. $15.90 $14.70 Dec. $15.60 $14.65 Lee Mielke, of Lynden, is editor of the Mielke Market Weekly. Whatcom County has about 80 dairy farms.

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Federation giving perspective as dairy markets deal with adverse effects of coronavirus disruptions.

Dairy price struggles will get worse before they get better, he warned in early May. One of the biggest hurdles dairies face is “just the challenge of the uncertainty, and not knowing how long this is going to last, and where we end up on the other side,” said Plagerman, who also is a director of the producers’ Northwest Dairy Associa-

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