SAUK R RAPIDS HERALD | SATURDAY, OCT. 19, 2019 | Page 1B
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Sauk Rapids Herald | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2019
SCC reaches record low Historical levels indicate a greater focus on milk quality BY JENNIFER COYNE STAFF WRITER
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FOLEY – Dairy farmers in the Upper Midwest Marketing Area are producing higher quality milk. In an analysis reviewing the values that make up milk production for Federal Order 30 in 2018, it was determined somatic cell count levels have dropped to a record low of 182,000 cells per milliliter. “The most surprising to note is the trend downward has continued for the entire time we have data,” said Dr. Corey Freije, agricultural economist with Federal Order 30. “The trend is milk is becoming a higher quality.” SCC was first tracked in 2006 when analysis was used to compare Midwest dairy farmers’ pay price to that of other federal milk marketing orders. At the time, the weighted average SCC was 280,000 with a weighted standard deviation of 133,000, meaning those surveyed were not necessarily close to the average value. Thirteen years later, SCC continues to decline with a weighted average 98,000 less than in 2006 and a weighted standard deviation of 89,000. State by state, Wisconsin
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Jason Smelter milks 67 cows in Benton County near Foley. The dairy farmer maintains a somatic cell count below 100,000, which he attributes to clean and dry bedding, and a consistent milking routine.
had the lowest SCC for the year at 175,000 followed by South Dakota at 185,000, Minnesota at 190,000 and Iowa at 198,000. “The trend we’re seeing is that everyone is having a lower average herd count, and the spread is more narrow,” Freije said. “We’re not seeing big
swings. Everybody is doing a better job.” Jason Smelter milks 67 cows near Foley. For the duration of his 19-year career dairy farming, Smelter has placed an emphasis on milk quality, particularly with a low SCC. On average, Smelter main-
tains a SCC below 100,000. “For me, the biggest reason to keep a low SCC is because it’s the easiest to make extra money on the milk check,” Smelter said. “With years like we’ve had, that money is there for the taking and sometimes it’s the only glimmer of hope.”
The central Minnesota dairy farmer receives about 55-60 cents per hundredweight through Bongards Creamery. When the creamery first began issuing premiums on milk quality, Smelter received $1 per cwt., he said. Across the entire federal order, Midwest dairy farmers received an average of 13 cents per cwt., for SCC under 350,000 on $16 milk, according to the analysis. However, if SCC was above the threshold, farmers were penalized and saw a deduction on their milk check. “The penalty is not big, but we always want money coming in,” Freije said. Rewarding dairy farmers for low SCC came in 2009 when the European Union created a standard for milk quality which dropped the United States’ maximum SCC from 750,000 to 400,000. Additionally, for Federal Order 30 to fairly compare to Federal Orders 32 and 33 – Central and Mideast, respectively – milk components need to be evaluated. “We don’t have Class I utilization, so one of the ways we look to see farmers are receiving the federal order minimum is to look at test values and see farmers get paid roughly the same based on quality,” Freije said. “And part of that quality is SCC.” The formula to create the milk price has since included a small adjuster to consider SCC.
Smelter page 3B
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