Monday January 6 Ag News

Platte Valley Cattlemen Plan Banquet
Boyd Hellbusch, PVC President

It’s that time of year again for the Platte Valley Cattlemen 2020 annual Banquet.  This year it will be held on Saturday, February 8th, at the Humphrey Community Center. We are looking forward to an enjoyable night and another outstanding banquet.  Our guest speaker this year will be former Husker receiver and commentator for Husker football and men’s basketball, Matt Davison.  Matt has been with the Huskers since he was a player in 1997 and played 4 seasons for the football team.

For the rest of the night we will be listening to the band “90 Proof.”  We look forward to seeing you there.

Our annual Banquet is our major fundraiser for the year.  Thanks to your continued support, our organization has been able to promote the beef industry and inform our members of current issues and policies. In the past, your dollars have enabled us to promote “Beef Month” in May, ensure quality speakers for our monthly meetings, offer an educational tour, promote 4-H and FFA programs at the county fairs and assist in awarding scholarships. In 2019, we were able to award two $1000.00 college scholarships and with continued support, we hope to offer two again this year.

A donation response sheet and a stamped, self-addressed envelope are enclosed for your convenience. Your response would be greatly appreciated by January 27th. Thank you in advance for your continued support of the Platte Valley Cattlemen and I look forward to seeing you on Saturday, February 8th.



Platte Valley Equipment Breaks Ground on New Store

Platte Valley Equipment recently broke ground on a new store in Fremont, NE. Excavating and utility work has begun. The new store will feature an expanded service shop, training facilities, parts department, and showroom. The business will move from its current location at 2263 Business Park Drive, Fremont to just north of town. The move is expected to occur in late 2020. 

“Our current facilities were built in 1983. Equipment has significantly grown in size since then,” said Matt Lamb, general manager. “With our additional growth in business and employee headcount, we’ve run out of space in our current facilities. We strive to offer the best experience to our employees and customers to ensure their success. Our new facilities will enable us to do that. We look forward to hosting career exploration days for area high schoolers, interactive training programs for our employees and customers, and appropriate space to service equipment and support our customers now and to the future.” 

The Fremont location is the flagship of the four-store company. The new facilities will allow the local business to operate more efficiently and play a larger role in supporting its customers and area communities. Key features of the new facilities include: • 30,000 sq. ft service shop  • 55,000 sq. ft total  • 1,275 sq. ft of training facilities  • Current facilities total 34,000 sq. ft with 18,000 sq. ft of service shop space

Owned by Brandt Holdings Company, Platte Valley Equipment, LLC is a John Deere dealership serving eastern and north-central Nebraska. From lawn mowers to combines, Platte Valley Equipment is committed to providing successful careers in local communities and a worldclass purchasing experience to ensure customer success. Founded in 1996, Platte Valley Equipment has locations in Clarkson, Fremont, Humphrey, and Wahoo.



Use the Numbers (correctly) this Bull Sale Season
Matt Spangler, UNL Associate Professor and Beef Genetics Extension Specialist

This bull sale season, profit-minded cattle producers will utilize expected progeny differences (EPD) and economic selection indices when selecting their next group of bulls. These tools are far more accurate at predicting the average difference in offspring than visual appraisal or actual weights. This is beyond contestation.

That said, it is completely unrealistic to expect all commercial bull buyers to completely understand all available EPD and economic selection indices. Commercial cattle producers have a cattle enterprise to run leaving little (if any) time to dedicate to understanding the intimate details surrounding genetic prediction.   There are resources (e.g., www.ebeef.org) designed to help.   Ideally, seedstock suppliers should also aid in the understanding and use of these tools. To perhaps ‘kickstart’ the process, I’ve detailed a few key points below.

1.  Have a breeding objective in mind (or better yet written down). This should include how you plan to sell calves, if you plan on retaining replacement females, and any labor or other environmental constraints (e.g., limited forage).   This helps identify the traits that are economically relevant to you. 

2.  Choose a breed (or breeds) that fit your current crossbreeding system and match your objectives.   Compare breeds based on current research (i.e., US Meat Animal Research Center) and not a historical view as breeds have changed overtime. 

3.  Identify a seedstock supplier (or suppliers) that you trust and that have bulls for sale that match your breed needs and your breeding objective. 

4.  Identify bulls, based on EPD or (preferably) economic index values that match your objectives.
          a. If calving ease EPD exist, do not use birth weight EPD. Calving ease EPD are generated using birth weight information.
          b. If you retain replacement females, pay attention to calving ease maternal EPD.   These are really ‘Total Maternal Calving Ease’ EPD, and reflect how easily a bull’s daughters will calve as two-year olds.
          c. Reproductive longevity is a key profit driver for self-replacing herds. If a Stayability EPD or Sustained Cow Fertility EPD exists, use it.
          d. If you retain replacement females in limited feed environments, consider selecting bulls with more moderate mature weight and milk (maternal weaning weight) EPD.
          e. Understand that even if you sell calves at weaning, someone is going to own them in the feedyard. If you want to build a market for your calves, do not completely ignore post-weaning gain and carcass merit.
          f. Use an index that fits your objectives—this can greatly simplify bull selection decisions. Do not use a completely terminal index if you retain replacement heifers.
          g. Buy quality, but do not overpay.   Sometimes the bull that is not top on your list is actually the better economic decision.

This bull sale season do not make the process more complex than it really needs to be and certainly do not get caught in the trap of believing that you can visually see the genetic potential of a bull—use the tools that science has provided and has continually improved and validated.



UNL Beef Roundup Webinars January 21, 28

Nutrition, profitability, and health are the themes of the 2020 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Beef Roundup hosted by Nebraska Extension on Tuesday, January 21, and Tuesday, January 28, at 6pm MST (7pm CST). This series features topic experts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Kansas State University. Each evening features two presentations that can be viewed from any location with internet access or at several locations across Nebraska. Sites and registration information is listed below.

On Tuesday, January 21, two UNL beef cattle nutritionists comprise the program. Mary Drewnoski, beef systems specialist, will discuss meeting the mineral requirements of your cowherd. Drewnoski has an extensive background assessing mineral nutrition in feedlot, growing cattle, and cow-calf systems, which includes working under Jerry Spears, a leading authority in mineral nutrition. Since 2014, Drewnoski has focused on integrated crop and cattle systems emphasizing corn residues and cover crops as a forage source. Following Drewnoski, Travis Mulliniks, range production system specialist and faculty director of the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory, will then discuss how to adapt cow-calf nutrition to environmental conditions. Mulliniks’ research and extension objectives consist of developing an applied cow-calf research program that emphasizes sustainability and economically viable management options.

On Tuesday, January 28, experts from Kansas State University and UNL’s Great Plains Veterinary Education Center (GPVEC) will speak. Dustin Pendell, agricultural economics professor at Kansas State University, will discuss drivers of cow-calf profitability. Pendell’s interdisciplinary research interests include livestock and animal health issues that span from the producer through the meat supply chain to the final consumer. Dr. Brian Vander Ley, veterinary epidemiologist at GPVEC, will conclude the 2020 UNL Beef Roundup by discussing how to build health resilience into cow-calf systems using lessons from 2019. His research includes population diagnostic tools for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus and improving cattle health and performance through understanding and eliminating disease including heart failure in feedlot cattle and developing herd-level surveillance tools for common bovine pathogens.

Cost to attend or view the webinars is $10. Those wishing to participate in the online meeting will need to pay their local beef extension educator prior to receiving the webinar link. Those attending a viewing site listed below can pay at the door. Please call to register for the webinar meeting at one of these locations.
Broken Bow (Mid-Plains Community College), 308-872-6831
Chadron, (Dawes County Extension Office), 308-432-3373
Curtis (NCTA Education Center), 308-367-4424
Fullerton (Nance County Extension Office), 308-536-2691
Hartington, (Cedar County Extension Office), 402-254-6821
Kimball (Kimball County Extension Office), 308-235-3122
Kearney, (Buffalo County Extension Office), 308-236-1235
North Platte (West Central Research and Extension Center), 308-532-2683
Scottsbluff (Panhandle Research and Extension Center), 308-632-1230
Valentine (Cherry County Extension Office), 402-376-1850
Whitman (Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory), 308-645-2267

Please register by Friday, January 17, to attend a webinar host site by contacting the local Nebraska Extension office where you plan to attend to insure enough program materials are available.

Those who would like to attend from home can register for a remote webinar seat, by contacting their local Beef Extension Educator to receive program information and the webinar link.



FEEDING ALFALFA AS A PROTEIN SUPPLEMENT
Bruce Anderson, NE Extension Forage Specialist

               Feeding more protein than cattle need can get expensive.  Alfalfa can be a less expensive protein source, especially if you feed just enough alfalfa to provide the protein your animals need.

               Cattle often need extra protein when their winter diet is based on corn stalks, prairie hay, straw, or winter range.  The protein supplement you chose is important, both in its effectiveness and its cost.  Many cheap protein sources contain mostly urea and other forms of non-protein nitrogen.  These supplements often are not used very effectively when cattle are eating mostly low energy winter forages.

               Supplements containing mostly all-natural protein may be better. All-natural protein feeds the microbes in the rumen so they can digest more fiber from your forage.  And many times the cheapest natural source of protein is alfalfa, especially when hay price is reasonable.

               Keep costs down further by determining how much extra protein your cows actually need.  Both a forage test for protein and a close estimate of how much your cows are actually eating are needed to be accurate.  Then you can work with a local extension educator, a nutritionist, or use your own skills to calculate how much more protein is needed.

               Many winter forage diets need between one-half and one pound of extra protein per day.  Since the forage test of your alfalfa will tell you how much protein it contains, you can calculate how much alfalfa to feed each day, or every other day, to keep cows healthy and productive.  This could come from as little 2 pounds of hay when feeding high protein alfalfa to cows needing just a little extra protein to as much as 8 to 10 pounds when using lower quality alfalfa to cows after calving.

               It may not sound like a big difference, but when you feed just two or three pounds each day per cow, the savings add up fast.



Valmont to Acquire Remaining Shares of AgSense

Valmont Industries, Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining 49% stake in AgSense for a purchase price of approximately $42 million. The acquisition is expected to close later this month and will be funded with cash on hand. Operating results for AgSense have been included in the Company's consolidated financial statements since a 51% stake was acquired in August 2014. The transaction will not impact revenue or operating income but will be EPS accretive in fiscal 2020, primarily from a change in earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests.

Founded in 2003, AgSense and its industry-leading remote management technology has led to the most comprehensive offering of integrated, advanced irrigation technology solutions available to the market, growing to approximately 95,000 connected devices globally. "We are very pleased with this acquisition and its performance," said Stephen G. Kaniewski, Valmont president and CEO. "Completing our ownership of AgSense directly aligns with our strategic priority to accelerate our global technology leadership position. Its profitable, recurring revenue service model has provided a growth platform for technology sales that will continue to be beneficial to our customers and shareholders."

Len Adams, group president, Valmont Irrigation, added, "Our goal has always been to fully own AgSense, so this transaction represents the achievement of another major milestone as we continue to execute on our technology strategy. We have demonstrated that our team and our dealers are able to successfully work with technology partners over time. We welcome the AgSense team to our technology sales group, and are excited to continue investing in innovation to meet growers' needs around the world."



NEBRASKA WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE IS FEB. 20-21

The annual Nebraska Women in Agriculture Conference will celebrate 35 years Feb. 20 and 21 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Kearney.

Workshops and presentations will offer tools and information to help women better manage risk, improve their farms and ranches and become more successful operators and business partners.

“We are so excited, 35 years later, about the growth this conference has experienced,” said Jessica Groskopf, director of Nebraska Women in Agriculture. “We are grateful for the opportunity to continue supporting women with the tools, skills and relationships they can use to become even more effective in agriculture.”

Both single- and two-day registrations will open Jan. 6 on the Nebraska Women in Agriculture website, https://wia.unl.edu. The costs are $75 for one day and $125 for both days through Feb. 9; after that, the two-day cost is $150. Scholarships are available for students, 4-H members and FFA members.

Designed to educate and uplift women who are involved in any aspect of Nebraska’s agricultural industry, the event will focus on the five areas of agricultural risk management: production, market, financial, human and legal.

The conference will feature more than 30 workshops and five speakers, including author Michele Payn, blogger Lauren Eberspacher and beef advocate Amanda Radke.

For more information, including a full schedule, visit the website above.



Iowa Cattlemen's Association to host Educational Forums

The Iowa Cattlemen’s Association is hosting three free educational events for feedlot and cow/calf producers in the month of January. Each forum will include a free meal, a tradeshow, an update from the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and Iowa Beef Industry Council, and educational sessions.
Feedlot Forum

The Carroll Feedlot Forum will give area producers the opportunity to learn about ways to manage risk and incorporate EID’s into their beef business. In addition to those topics, Carl Babler of Atten and Babler Commodities will be providing a cattle and grain market outlook with his presentation called “Producing Cattle in a Global Marketplace; with a plan to manage price risk”. 

Wednesday, January 15
Carrollton Inn
1730 US-71 Carroll, IA 51401
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Cow/Calf Forums
If you’re a cow/calf producer, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to hear about how to improve cow nutrition and calf performance from expert Dr. Allison Meyer of University of Missouri. Lee Schulz of Iowa State University will be providing the market outlook, letting producers know what to expect in the cattle markets in the next year.

Thursday, January 16
Southwest Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative Building
1502 W. South St.
Mt. Ayr, IA
5:00 p.m.  - 8:30 p.m.

Friday, January 17
Lee Co. Fairgrounds- Youth Learning Center
1100 N Main St.
Donnellson, IA 52625
5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Producers can RSVP by calling 515-296-2266 or email kate@iacattlemen. Walk-ins are always welcome, and you do not need to be a member to attend.



Register Now for 2020-2021 SowBridge Educational Series

SowBridge, the distance educational series for those who work with sows, boars and piglets, and with genetic and reproductive issues, begins its next program year in February. Registration is now underway.

This low-tech opportunity pairs electronically provided materials with live presentations via teleconference. Suggestions from past participants help with planning the next year’s topics and speakers, and maintain the program’s value, according to Ken Stalder, Iowa State University animal science professor and extension swine specialist.

“Each year we ask participants for suggestions on topics and speakers, then follow through as much as possible to provide current content that people are interested in,” Stalder said. “SowBridge provides all participants with the opportunity to hear directly from experts, and to contact those experts following the individual sessions.”

Stalder, who also is the Iowa contact for SowBridge, said registration cost remains at $200 (U.S.) for the first registration from an entity, and each subsequent registration from the same entity is half that amount.

“We recognize the current economic condition of the pork industry, and want to encourage participation by all producers,” Stalder said. “By maintaining this lower registration fee set last year, we hope more people will be able to take part.”

SowBridge is designed to improve the understanding and application of various tools and techniques involved in daily care of the breeding herd and piglets. Sessions are typically scheduled for the first Wednesday of every month but occasionally may be moved a week to avoid interference with national industry events or holidays.

“With the live phone presentation and slideshow available on their computer or other device, participants can take part anywhere without needing internet access,” Stalder said.

The distance learning approach allows people to take part without having to travel, take time from work or worry about weather conditions. During each session, participants can ask questions of the industry expert presenter and discuss with other participants from the comfort of their home, office or swine unit.

Before each session, participants receive a link to download the presentation and any additional information provided by the presenter. Participants call in for the audio portion of each session to listen to the presenter and while following the presentation file on their own computer or device. Sessions begin at 11:30 a.m. Central Time and last no more than an hour.

Each registration provides access to one phone line per session and all program materials for each registration, including audio recordings of the live session. Materials, delivery process and program costs are slightly different for those with non-U.S. mailing addresses. Regardless of location, those with questions on the program or registration should contact Sherry Hoyer at Iowa Pork Industry Center at Iowa State University for more information. Hoyer can be reached by phone at 515-294-4496 or email shoyer@iastate.edu.

An example video was created to provide a look at the content of SowBridge sessions. The video uses the presentation material and audio recording from a 2017 session where speaker Corinne Bromfield presented, “Identifying Scours.”

The program is offered only to those who register for the yearlong series. Register by Jan. 15, 2020 to ensure receipt of materials for the first session Feb. 5. A brochure with information and a registration form is available on the IPIC website at www.ipic.iastate.edu/SowBridge/2020SBbrochureIPIC.pdf. Iowa residents who want more information can call Stalder at 800-808-7675.

SowBridge 2020 session information
    Feb. 5 – African Swine Fever and Secure Pork Supply, Pam Zaabel, Iowa State University
    March 4 – What You Need to Know About Foreign Animal Diseases, Justin Brown, Iowa State University; and Chelsea Hamilton, IDALS and ISU
    April 1 – Feeding Strategies for Pre-farrow Females on Piglet Survivability, Kiah Gourley and Jason Woodworth, Kansas State University
    May 6 – Impact of Drying Newborn Piglets, Mike Ellis, University of Illinois
    May 27 – Porcine Circovirus type 3: What We Know, Albert Rovira, University of Minnesota
    July 1 – Capturing Value of Cull Sows, Ken Stalder, Iowa State University
    Aug. 5 – Maintenance of Euthanasia Equipment, Steve Moeller, The Ohio State University
    Sept. 2 – Gestation/Lactation Ventilation Do’s and Don’ts, Erin Cortus, University of Minnesota
    Oct. 7 – Proper Disinfectant Application, Jose Ramirez, Virox Animal Health
    Nov. 4 – Induction Protocol Updates, Rob Knox, University of Illinois
    Dec. 2 – Upcoming Technology in Pork Production, Andy Brudtkuhl, National Pork Board
    Jan. 6, 2021 – Electronic Sow Feeding Management Tips and Tricks, Tom Parsons, University of Pennsylvania

SowBridge is sponsored by a group of 11 universities – including Iowa State University – from the nation’s major swine producing states.



New Soil Health & Conservation Study: Soybean Farmers Committed to Conservation

The American Soybean Association (ASA) has released results of a soil health and conservation study conducted through third-party surveys and focus groups in 2019. The key finding of the work is that soybean farmers are active conservationists with a desire to do more.

“ASA is committed to helping soybean farmers bring conservation practices to their farms. And, this study demonstrates their receptiveness and commitment to advancing those efforts,” said Brad Doyle, ASA secretary and member of its Conservation Committee.

In the research study conducted to assess soybean farmers’ attitudes and experiences with conservation programs and practices, 73% of farmers surveyed said they would implement more measures if they thought it would be profitable to do so.

The research also found that growers have, on average, 14 longstanding conservation practices in place, recently have added new ones, and intend to implement more –despite the average grower having to pay for all conservation measures, with average expenditures totaling more than $15,000 per year. Most farmers (78%) manage rental land the same as land they own, paying conservation expenditures even on rented land, which means the positive practices put in place by farmers extend to all the land they farm.

For ASA, there is other bright news: Grower organizations and land grant universities were identified as the most trusted sources of information for farmers.

ASA CEO Ryan Findlay responded, “Even with a soft agricultural economy, we have learned farmers are focused on conservation. Knowing ASA is in a key position to lead and promote implementation of additional conservation practices is great.” Connecting the pieces of the study, Findlay added, “That nearly three quarters of farmers are open to economically-feasible conservation measures means there is a world of potential for ASA, our state affiliates, and other partners to aid growers with these initiatives.”

The study found that farmers trust other farmers the most, meaning ASA networking events and educational shows like Commodity Classic, which ASA cohosts annually, are opportune times for farmers to connect. Sharing success stories was shown to be the most appealing way to spread information.

Doyle commented, “When ASA was founded 100 years ago, our focus was on being committed to development and networking opportunities to introduce the new soybean plant. It’s great to know we can build on that legacy today by devoting even more of an effort to help farmers learn from each other when it comes to conservation practices.”

The study also identified that farmers need better information – not better communications – to set up their conservation efforts for success, another area in which ASA can assist by disseminating useful information and resources.

With support from the Walton Family Foundation, ASA conducted four focus groups and a quantitative survey among ASA members and boards in 13 states surrounding the Mississippi River basin. Data was collected from December 2018 to July 2019. Millennium Research, Inc., conducted the survey and focus groups.



USDA Dairy Products November 2019 Production Highlights

Total cheese output (excluding cottage cheese) was 1.10 billion pounds, 0.5 percent above November 2018 but 3.2 percent below October 2019.  Italian type cheese production totaled 474 million pounds, 1.0 percent above November 2018 but 2.4 percent below October 2019.  American type cheese production totaled 435 million pounds, 0.2 percent above November 2018 but 2.5 percent below October 2019. Butter production was 156 million pounds, 4.4 percent above November 2018 but 0.6 percent below October 2019.

Dry milk products (comparisons in percentage with November 2018)
Nonfat dry milk, human - 142 million pounds, up 5.7 percent.
Skim milk powder - 43.7 million pounds, up 3.0 percent.

Whey products (comparisons in percentage with November 2018)
Dry whey, total - 75.1 million pounds, up 3.9 percent.
Lactose, human and animal - 90.2 million pounds, down 12.5 percent.
Whey protein concentrate, total - 40.3 million pounds, down 1.5 percent.

Frozen products (comparisons in percentage with November 2018)
Ice cream, regular (hard) - 48.9 million gallons, up 1.8 percent.
Ice cream, lowfat (total) - 27.3 million gallons, down 9.5 percent.
Sherbet (hard) - 2.12 million gallons, down 9.3 percent.
Frozen yogurt (total) - 3.06 million gallons, down 6.1 percent.



Dairy Defined: In Search of “Big Dairy”

“Big Dairy.” One of the strangest terms attached to the industry. As seen in fear-mongering headlines, Big Dairy is used to de-personalize individual dairy farmers and imply some large, faceless force foisting an agenda on unsuspecting consumers. So, who exactly is it? Maybe by figuring out what Big Dairy is – or isn’t – some light could be shed on what’s real, and what’s contrived, in debates about dairy and its presence in the marketplace.

Perhaps Big Dairy means dairy farms themselves. Consolidation has been a fact of life for all of agriculture for generations, and family farms indeed are getting bigger. Even so, according to the latest USDA Census of Agriculture, nearly three-quarters of U.S. dairy farms have fewer than 100 cows on them. Of course, most production comes from the largest farms, but even the biggest ones – the 189 U.S. dairies with more than 5,000 cows as of 2017 – are too numerous and geographically dispersed to create a monolithic giant. And more than 95 percent of all dairy farms, regardless of size, are family-run farms. That’s far from faceless.

That rules out farmers. But what about dairy corporations? The dairy industry boasts some impressive-sized businesses. Land O’Lakes is ranked #212 on the Fortune 500, and Dairy Farmers of America would make the list too, if it were publicly traded. That might be Big Dairy, except – DFA and Land O’Lakes are farmer-owned cooperatives. If that’s what people mean when they talk about “Big Dairy,” then­­­ Big Dairy contains an awful lot of small and medium-sized family farms. And these cooperatives are tiny compared to, say, Big Healthcare, (four entries among Fortune’s top 10 companies) Big Oil (four of them in Fortune’s top 25), or Big Tech (six in the top 50).

But maybe it’s not about raw size. Maybe Big Dairy is a myth invented by those who want to make family dairy farmers seem “big” to advance some contrasting image of their competitors – who want to be seen as plucky, usually plant-based, upstarts taking on Big Dairy with highly touted “innovation.”

Let’s explore this. Take, for example, Perfect Day, allegedly just a humble innovator with nothing to offer but a thousand $20-a-pint tubs of imitation ice cream … and startup funding from Temasek – a venture-capital arm of the government of Singapore -- and Archer-Daniels-Midland, an agri-business behemoth with $64 billion in annual sales that ranks #49 on the Fortune 500. Other plant- and cell-based alternatives are financed by Jeff Bezos (worth roughly $115 billion, the world’s richest man at the end of 2019) and Bill Gates (net worth over $100 billion) – not exactly little guys, to say the least. In fact, if you added up the gross receipts of all 40,000 dairy farmers in the United States last year (an estimated $39.9 billion), you’d only be worth about two-fifths as much as Jeff Bezos. So-called “Big Dairy” will never compete with that.

To be sure: Dairy is a significant U.S. industry. According to research commissioned by the “Got Jobs?” campaign commissioned by dairy groups, including NMPF, the sector as a whole is responsible for nearly 3 million U.S. jobs and has an overall economic impact of more than $620 billion, including indirect effects. Dairy directly employs nearly 1 million Americans, with an impact of more than $206 billion. In agriculture and in the U.S. economy, we aren’t David to someone else’s Goliath. Whatever success we have is because we work hard and work together.

But dairy isn’t Goliath either, and wannabe Davids shouldn’t get a pass peddling false narratives. Dairy is family farmers, cooperatives and companies, of all sizes and types, who believe deeply in the health and nutrition of their products and stand up for it against its opponents -- who usually aren’t anywhere near the underdogs they pretend to be. Creating nutritious products, day in and day out, is a big task. But it’s a challenge met collectively by a diverse set of people from farm to fork, who work together to feed the U.S. and the world.

Dairy issues matter. They warrant a robust discussion. Putting the term “Big Dairy” to rest would make it a more honest one.



Borden Seeks Bankruptcy Protection

(AP) -- The U.S. dairy industry, the largest in the world, is under severe pressure as the dietary habits of Americans shift.

Borden Dairy Co. filed for bankruptcy protection, the second major U.S. dairy to do so in as many months. Borden produces nearly 500 million gallons of milk each year for groceries, schools and others. It employs 3,300 people and runs 12 plants across the U.S.

American refrigerators are increasingly stocked with juice, soda and milk substitutes made from soy or almonds. At the same time, protein bars, yogurts and other on-the-go breakfasts have replaced a morning bowl of cereal. That has hammered traditional milk producers like Borden, which was founded in 1857.

The amount of liquid milk consumed per capita in the U.S. has tumbled more than 40% since 1975. Americans drank around 24 gallons a year in 1996, according to government data. That dropped to 17 gallons in 2018.

"Despite our numerous achievements during the past 18 months, the company continues to be impacted by the rising cost of raw milk and market challenges facing the dairy industry," said Borden CEO Tony Sarsam in a prepared statement late Sunday. "These challenges have contributed to making our current level of debt unsustainable.

As milk consumption has fallen, dairy farms have closed their doors. In court filings, Borden says 2,730 U.S. dairy farms have gone out of business in the last 18 months alone. The remaining farms can command higher prices, but that has pinched Borden, which can't charge consumers more because of pressure from big competitors like Walmart. Walmart opened its own milk processing plant in Indiana in 2018.

Dean Foods, the nation's largest milk producer, filed for bankruptcy protection in November. Both dairies are based in Dallas.

Borden -- whose smiling mascot Elsie the cow first appeared on milk cartons in the 1930s -- says it will continue operations during its financial restructuring.