17 minute read
Mielke Market Weekly
Metz ships to those who can’t visit
This column was written for the market- cheese was up 2.8 percent. Certainly, ing week ending June 17. domestic demand conditions have worsThis week was shy of new information for the market to feed on with respect to U.S. Department of Agriculture reports. Traders were anticipating the May Milk Production report on June 21 along with that morning’s Global Dairy Trade for fresh news. In an effort to put a patch on a gaping and growing hole called inflation, the Fed announced a 75 basis point MIELKE MARKET WEEKLY ened since then. Data from technology firm OpenTable shows foodservice sales are again trending lower. The company says the number of sit-down visitors was down 4.7 percent from 2019 levels during the latest week.” But on the bright side, the Analyst says, “International sales are still rocking.” Looking specifically at April commerinterest rate hike this week — the By Lee Mielke cial dairy product disappearance, biggest increase since 1994. Chicago Mercantile Exchange cheese prices MARKETING total cheese slipped to 1.17 billion pounds, down 2.7 percent from April plummeted the next day, though 2021. HighGround Dairy points out fresh cheese is more available. this was the first year-over-year Speaking in the June 20 “Dairy Radio Now” broadcast, StoneX broker Dave Kurzawski said the immediate effect is the increased cost to building and decline since September. Domestic use was down 3.1 percent from a year ago while exports were up 2.4 percent. holding inventories, “as if anyone wants to hold $3 Butter disappearance totaled 172.3 million per pound butter and $2.20 cheese.” pounds, up 8.8 percent, though year-to-date was still The big question is what it means for dairy demand, he reasoned. “Every 10 percent change in household income, historically, results in a 4.5 percent change in retail dairy demand. There is going down 2.4 percent. Domestic disappearance was the driver, says HighGround Dairy, up 10.2 percent, while exports were down 10.1 percent from a robust year ago total. to be an impact on dairy demand,” he concluded, Nonfat-skim milk powder, at 221 million pounds, “We just don’t know exactly when that is going to was down 10.4 percent. HighGround Dairy points arrive.” out that domestic disappearance was the lowest for The June 10 Dairy and Food Market Analyst warned, “The domestic demand environment looks like it is weakening. If you believe USDA figures, commercial usage of butter was down 3.7 percent in the three months ending April, while usage of the month on record, with data going back to 2011, and down 19.9 percent from a year ago, with yearto-date down 27 percent. Exports were down 6.4 percent from a year ago and down 7.8 percent yearto-date.
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Dry whey disappearance amounted to 79 million pounds, down 2.1 percent, with domestic use up 20.3 percent, while exports were down 18.8 percent.
April sales of U.S. packaged fluid milk products totaled 3.6 billion pounds, down 2.1 percent from April 2021. Conventional product sales totaled 3.4 billion, down 2 percent from a year ago. Organic products, at 240 million pounds, were down 3.4 percent and represented 6.6 percent of total sales for the month.
Whole milk sales totaled 1.2 billion pounds, up 3 percent from a year ago, up 0.8 percent year-to-date, and represented 33.3 percent of total milk sales in the four months.
Skim milk sales, at 195 million pounds, were down 8.4 percent from a year ago and down 8.1 percent year-to-date.
Total packaged fluid sales for the first four months of 2022 amounted to 14.7 billion pounds, down 2.5 percent from 2021. Conventional product sales totaled 13.8 billion pounds, down 2.4 percent. Organic products, at 964 million, were down 4.3 percent and represented 6.6 percent of total milk sales for the period.
AD COPY INSTRUCTIONS Please read attached email METZ, from pg. 9 “Gift set ‘D’ is the most popular, I think, because it fun way to work with other local businesses to share our products.” CODE AND REP NAMES ALREADY ON AD THE LAND and FREE PRESS 3.417 xhas some of everything in it; but in the past few years we have sold a lot of every size,” Mariann said. “I think people really like a useful consumable gift.” Metz Hart-Land Creamery also had a number of pizza nights on the farm in 2021. They collaborated with Stumpy’s Concessions of Rushford for those events. “We put the variety of gift packages together so there is something for everyone — from giving to a single person to having one for a house full of family and friends.” The Land If you can’t visit the farm store, or attend one of the events, the Metz family has a website and an active mail order business. They ship cheese year-around to internet customers; but summer shipping tends to be more expensive. In addition to everything else, the Metz family also does creamery and farm tours. Mariann says they’ve conducted tours for two people and have had groups of up to 75. See MIELKE, pg. 14 “We can ship in the summer, but shipping is more as we have to use cooler boxes and ice packs and use next services,” Mariann said. “We distribute to our stores year-round by using our cooler truck.” “Come out and learn how a dairy and farmstead creamery work,” Mariann says to potential visitors. “(People) enjoy the playground and small petting area with a donkey, miniature horse and goat.” Obviously gelato can’t be shipped at any time of the year; but on-line customers have been ordering the Mariann and Jeff are the tour guides. Advance res ervations for tours are a must. various sizes of gift boxes featured on the creamery’s You can reach Mariann by email at metzcreamery@ web site. goacentek.net or by phone at (507) 864-2627. The Creamery’s website is www.metzhart-land.com. v n The June 14 Daily Dairy Report warned, “The global supply chain was hit with more challenges last week when port workers in Germany and truck drivers in South Korea walked out over wages.” The Daily Dairy Report says, “These new global supply chain challenges have unfortunately collided with the return of shipping in and out of Shanghai as it emerges from lockdown.” Meanwhile, the House passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act this week, and the President signed it, prompting praise from the National Milk Producers Federation, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and the International Dairy Foods Association. The act sets in motion a series of new rules and regulations regarding ocean carrier practices the Federal Maritime Commission must implement over the course of the next year, according NMPF and USDEC. The IDFA also submitted comments regarding the
The heat is on ... and crops are lovin’ it!
Bob Roelofs Garden City, Minn. June 16 Scott Winslow Fountain, Minn. June 16
“We got almost three inches of rain Monday.” The Land spoke with Bob Roelofs on June 16 as he reported the rain fell quickly. Along with rain this week came some heat. According to Roelofs, the growing degree days have really taken off.
FROM THE FIELDS Compiled by KRISTIN KVENO, The Land Staff Writer
2022
Roelofs side-dressed the corn with nitrogen last week and got the crop sprayed. “The beans have really taken off as well. We’ll start looking at spraying beans.” One of Roelofs’ bean fields near Amboy, Minn. received some hail damage from a June 13 rain event. Roelofs will be assessing the field on June 17.
Roelofs likes what he sees in the crops. “So far it looks pretty good.” The temperature will be on the rise in the area soon. “We’re going to heat up again, 100 degrees by Monday.” At this point, Roelofs feels that there’s good soil moisture. That should help the crops through these upcoming high-heat days. New this growing season is son Wyatt working on his Supervised Agricultural Experience for FFA and will be keeping track of inputs as well as farming a percentage of the farm. This is a handson way for Wyatt to understand the intricacies of running a farming operation.
In two weeks Roelofs will be spending his days farming and his nights on patrol as he accepted a position with the Mapleton Police Department. “Our county is hurting for officers. I have experience.” While Roelofs will be working in law enforcement, the farm will continue to run as does right now. “Nothing is changing in our farming operation.”
As he does when needed, Roelofs plans to hire a few high school students to help out on the farm. He knows that he’s lucky to have had qualified help in the past and hopes to continue finding young people to take on the farm duties. “The last 10 to 15 years here we’ve rarely struggled with it. About 75 percent of the kids, we’ve hired have lasted. We’ve been very successful at holding and maintaining a group.” The key to this success is flexibility. “We try to make it very flexible for them.” This has allowed the kids working on the farm to pick the days that are best for them.
As Roelofs adds another job to his schedule, he does so knowing that the farm is doing well. “It’s going to be a pretty good crop.” v
On the livestock side, Winslow is working on replacing one of the fans in the barn. “There’s always maintenance to do when you have livestock.”
Winslow will be spraying this week for weeds in the yard to try to keep them at bay. He’s still in the process of tearing down his old machine shed. The plan is to put up the new shed starting on July 11.
Winslow will be attending upcoming meetings in Burnsville, Minn. for the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council. “It’s good to do these meetings in person. It’s a big commitment but I enjoy doing it.”
The crops are flourishing thanks to good conditions. “It’s getting to that point that it’s really going to grow now.” This growth comes from all the moisture in the ground. “We’ve been getting timely rains.” v
Beginning Farmer Program open
Barn Straightening & Barn Conversion to Storage or Shop
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings initiative is now accepting applications for its 2022-2023 course session. Serving the Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa region, Farm Beginnings is a year-long training program which focuses on the goal-setting, marketing and financial skills needed to establish a successful farm business.
The Farm Beginnings course creates a space for students to name their vision, acquire the tools and skills needed to make it happen, and become part of a community of support to help them succeed.
Beginning and prospective farmers are invited to apply to the course. The 2022-2023 session will be a hybrid, taking place mostly online via Zoom, but also including some in-person sessions in the Twin Cities area. The course will run from November 2022 through March 2023, with some additional educational opportunities to take place later in 2023.
The deadline for applications is Sept. 1. For more details and to apply, see farmbeginnings.org or contact LSP’s Annelie Livingston-Anderson at annelie@ landstewardshipproject.org or (612) 400-6350); or Pilar Ingram at pingram@landstewardshipproject. org or (612) 400-6349.
Since it was launched in the late 1990s, over 1,000 participants have graduated from Fam Beginnings in the Minnesota-Wisconsin-Iowa region.
This article was submitted by the Land Stewardship Project. v
Matt Erickson Fertile, Minn. June 9 By the end of the day on June 9, 2022 Matt Erickson expects to be done planting soybeans. The Land spoke to Erickson on that day as he was in the tractor spraying no-till bean ground in preparation for planting the last field. “We got delayed because of rain Memorial Day weekend.” Planting is two weeks later than usual. “I shoot to FROM THE FIELDS Compiled by KRISTIN KVENO, The Land Staff Writer have beans in between May 15 and 25.” Erickson began planting beans on June 4.
Erickson finished corn on May 26. “The corn is up.” He likes what he sees so far in the field. “It looks good. It’s only about two inches tall right now.” Erickson plans to start spraying corn next week.
He’s baling cereal rye this week as well as preparing to get some more planting done. “We got to put some alfalfa in.”
While waiting for the fields to dry out from the two inches of rain that fell May 28-30, he was able to spread manure.
Erickson is two weeks behind in getting cows to pasture. “I like to let the pastures mature out.” He’ll move 400 cow-calf pairs to six different pastures next week.
“Definitely having the late spring isn’t the greatest.” Erickson did have to prevent plant one corn field after those two inches of rain fell on Memorial Day.
While this hasn’t been an ideal spring, Erickson likes what he sees in the commodity prices — though he knows that input prices are up as well. “It’s fun to see the soybean and corn prices where they’re at.” v “We’re done, the planter is put away.” The Land spoke with Leah Johnson on June 9 as she reported the replanting of some soybeans wrapped on June 5. It took almost a month to get the crops in the ground, with corn planting beginning on May 8. Leah Johnson Evansville, Minn. June 9
The weather is finally beginning to feel more seasonal. “It’s really starting to turn out, it’s almost hot out.”
“We fared OK on our own farm with drowned-outs.” While the storm Memorial Day storm resulted in some replanting for Johnson, she’s grateful to have been able to get the crops planted on her farm. “There are farms still trying to get crops in.” Prevent plant will be happening in the area soon as farmers have simply run out of time to get a crop in.
In her job at Red River Marketing Co., Johnson’s focus continues to be on scouting fields. “Now we got two drones going non-stop getting corn stand counts.” The drones will be flying throughout the next week as once the corn gets taller it will be difficult to get accurate stand counts via the drone.
Next up on the Johnson farm is weed control. “The goal is to get these first fields sprayed, then wait for more weeds.” Due to the cold spring, weeds have been delayed as well. “Normally at this time, we’d have some weed pressure. Everything is two weeks plus later than normal.”
What a wild, wet and worrisome spring it has been for so many producers in the area. Johnson is grateful that crops are in the ground at the farm and the focus now is to do everything feasible to get the highest yields possible. “All things considered. I feel very good.” v
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MIELKE, from pg. 11
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed climate disclosure rule, stating, “IDFA suspects that the proposed rule will act as a barrier to entry for some businesses, especially smaller companies, and the SEC does not account for the financial and market burdens it places on businesses of all sizes with the compressed timeline and additional climate reporting scheme it layers on existing standards.”
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CME cheddar blocks plunged to $2.08 per pound on June 16 (the lowest price since March 17), but recovered 6.5 cents the next day to close at $2.145. This is 11 cents lower on the week, the fourth consecutive week of loss, but 65.25 cents above a year ago.
The barrels fell to $2.135 on June 16 (the lowest since March 21), then recovered 2.25 cents on June 17 to finish at $2.1575. This is down 8.5 cents on the week, the fifth week of loss, but 61.5 cents above a year ago and 1.25 cents above the blocks. There were 11 sales of block this week at the CME and 26 of barrel.
Midwestern cheese producers reported a surge of milk availability this week, according to Dairy Market News, mainly due to a number of plants down for a variety of reasons. Spot milk prices were as low as $5 under Class III at mid-week. Cheese orders are meeting seasonal expectations, with cheddar and Italian-style orders seasonally quieter. Curd producers are busy, says Dairy Market News.
Cheese sales are trending lower in the western retail sector and food service orders are faltering. Amid high input costs, ongoing labor issues, and consumer resistance to higher prices, some eateries are offering streamlined menu options and/or abbreviated hours of operation. Cheese exports remain robust. Western cheese production is busy and at maximum capacity for some plants. Regional cheese inventories are generally stable to growing, according to Dairy Market News.
Cash butter closed June 17 at $2.94 per pound. This is down 3.5 cents on the week, but $1.155 above a year ago, on 36 sales for the week.
Central butter producers say cream is somewhat tight but still available from the West. The issue is finding haulers to transport it and pay their fuel bills. Continued reports of short plant staffing is keeping production restrained.
Cream is getting a little tighter in the west, but still available for butter making which is steady. Some plants are working to grow inventories for fall demand. As prices head higher and lose the competitive edge on global markets, export demand appears softer. Retail sales are down and some grocery chains are featuring butter promotions to encourage purchases. Food service orders continue to slide as some eateries reduce hours or days of the week, due to high input costs, lower consumer demand, and staffing shortages, says Dairy Market News.
Grade A nonfat dry milk fell to a June 17 finish at $1.80 per pound, down 5.5 cents but 53.5 cents above a year ago. There were eight sales reported this week.
Dry whey fell to 49.25 cents per pound on June 16, but closed the next day at 50.75 cents— still 3.5 cents lower on the week and 10.25 cents below a year ago. There were 16 sales reported for the week at the CME.
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New Zealand milk output “continues a downward course along the seasonal trend,” says Dairy Market News. “Unfavorable warm dry conditions had an immense impact on output in some of the key milking regions. Sources note that the amount of feed used to get through poor pasture conditions has been expensive and diminished farmers’ feed supplies. As a result, some producers are employing actions to compensate for the depletion by limiting daily milking to sustain available feed and drying off half their herds earlier than normal. The upcoming milk production season will likely involve poor pasture conditions in the winter and early spring, which will impact milk production volumes,” according to Dairy Market News.
“Australia’s monthly production continues to decline around smaller herd sizes, hikes in packaging cost, along with feed and other input costs,” says Dairy Market News, “all driving lower milk output. Milk collections were down 2 percent from April 2021. Milk prices are expected to track higher as bullish tones become evident in the market. Sources suggest that commodity prices will follow suit, as milk supplies tighten both in Australia and the global market. Australia dairy exports reportedly increased 26.5 percent in March, with whole milk powder, skim milk powder, and cheese sparking strong interest.”
Closing on a happy note, NMPF reports plantbased beverage sales are declining. “Plant-based marketers and their media allies who have long touted that fake milks would lead to the death of dairy aren’t telling you that the novelty appears gone and that predictions of Almond Ascendance have come to naught.”
Lee Mielke is a syndicated columnist who resides in Everson, Wash. His weekly column is featured in newspapers across the country and he may be reached at lkmielke@juno.com. v
