According to Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW), the line-up for week thirteen of The Dairy Signal™ will feature two new presenters from Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin (DFW), Rick Findlay, Vice President of Food Service and International and Mike Edge, Marketing Director – Eastern Division.
Also new to The Dairy Signal next week are Dr. Nigel Cook, DVM, Professor in Food Animal Production Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine and Chair of the Department of Medical Sciences and Dr. Jennifer Van Os, PhD, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Animal Welfare at UW-Madison.
Making a return appearance is Dr. David Kohl, Co-owner of Homestead Creamery in Wirtz, Va., and Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Finance and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Developed by fellow dairy farmers from the PDPW Board of Directors, The Dairy Signal is a weekly series of free educational episodes offering insights and resources for fellow dairy farmers and other food system professionals throughout the value chain. The episodes air live from 12:00-1:00 PM CT each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; recorded sessions are available later in the day.
Each live session will offer attendees the opportunity to engage in open Q&A and interact with the speakers through www.slido.com and entering the code #myPDPW.
During this week’s Dairy Signal, Randy Romanski, Secretary Designee of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, gave an update on the Wisconsin Farm Support Program, which will provide $50 million in direct aid payments to Wisconsin farmers who have experienced losses due to COVID-19. Since the program opened June 15, over 10,000 applications were received. He encouraged farmers to apply online by no later than June 29, 11:59 p.m., through the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR): https://revenue.wi.gov, or call 608-266-2772 for assistance.
John Lucey, Professor of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Director of the Center for Dairy Research (CDR), talked about the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA).
DBIA will administer a $220,000 direct-to-business grant program to assist dairy farmers, dairy processors and dairy cooperatives in developing new revenue streams through farm diversification, creating value-added food and beverage products containing dairy ingredients and focus on export opportunities for farm-scale and processor dairy products. Applications are due August 14, 2020. To learn how to tap into this national assistance coming to this region, visit: https://turbo.cdr.wisc.edu/dairy-business-innovation-alliance/ or contact Karen Nielsen, DBIA Program Coordinator, 608-265-1491 or [email protected].
Dr. Tera L. Montgomery, Associate Professor of Dairy and Animal Science in the UW-Platteville School of Agriculture and Animal Science Program Coordinator, Dr. Steve Kelm, Professor of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Dr. Heather White, Assistant Professor of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, gave an update on the Dairy Innovation Hub.
Dr. White explained funding for the Dairy Innovation Hub is divided across the 3 campuses – UW-Madison, UW-River Falls, and UW-Platteville. Funds were specifically approved to build research capacity and recruit top talent both at the student, researcher and faculty level to support innovative research to move our industry and our dairy community forward and to engage in outreach and instruction.
Dr. White said, “Collaboration among the three campuses has been paramount – collaboration leads to the greatest solutions. We are striving to balance short-term victories with long-term vision.”
Dan Basse, Economist and President of AgResource Company, shared the July milk futures market reached a six-year high of $22.43 per hundredweight. The dairy rally has been a domestic affair based on Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) buying for Farmers to Families Food boxes, foodservice restocking and Chinese demand. USDA will also purchase an additional $1.16 billion of fresh food boxes through Aug. 30 – that’s on top of the $1.2 billion agreed upon from May 15 through June 30.
Basse advised, “I encourage all of our dairy and crop farmers to look at your margins. With all of the uncertainty around the world consider doing something such as locking down 50 percent of your margin to give yourself some comfort. Remember where you were, where you are today and think forward to the opportunities of locking in margins for the future.”
Our dairy industry and lives are changing daily and our need for accurate business information is vital. Content on The Dairy Signal will be updated as new information becomes available.
Here is a look at next week’s presenters and topics:
Tuesday, June 30
Topic: Hear about what’s happening around the country in cheese sale efforts and what strategies are being taken to promote Wisconsin dairy products. Presenters include:
- Rick Findlay, Vice President of Food Service and International for Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin
- Mike Edge, Marketing Director – Eastern Division for Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin
Wednesday, July 1
Topic: Pressure-test your business and zero in on manageable areas such as feed and labor to help navigate risk going forward. Episode presenter includes:
- Dr. David Kohl, Co-owner of Homestead Creamery in Wirtz, Va., and Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Finance and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Thursday, July 2
Topic: Learn the most practical and cost-effective ways to maximize cow comfort year-round, but specifically during the hottest days of the season. Episode presenters include:
- Dr. Nigel Cook, DVM, Professor in Food Animal Production Medicine at UW-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine; Chair of the Department of Medical Sciences
- Dr. Jennifer Van Os, PhD, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Animal Welfare at UW-Madison
All Dairy Signal episodes are free and open to the public, accessible from www.pdpw.org. For more information, contact PDPW at 800-947-7379 or by emailing [email protected]. Follow along digitally in advance of and during the sessions by following @dairyPDPW and using #TheDairySignal on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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