JUNEAU, Wis. — According to Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW), the line-up for week 29 of The Dairy Signal™ will feature two new speakers, Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RDN, FAND, Founder & President, Farmer’s Daughter Consulting, Inc., and Jodi Legge, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium.
Returning to The Dairy Signal are Gerald Minor, Pittsville, Wis., Fire Chief and Curt Larson, President and CEO of Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association.
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.
Tuesday’s Dairy Signal talked about building road infrastructure within the dairy industry and featured Mike Koles, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Town Association (WTA); Dean Steingraber, Highway Commissioner for the Outagamie County Highway Department; Kevin Erb, Director of the Conservation Professional Training Program for UW-Madison, Division of Extension; and Attorney Joe Ruth, Legal Counsel for WTA.
Erb commented the equipment we use and the narrow time windows we have for harvesting and hauling manure have shifted, creating significantly steady road traffic. There’s been a real financial investment due to the dairy industry needing solid roads to transport their perishable product and commodity to their respective market. As a result, we have taken positive steps to minimize road damage while also building partnerships on the local level.
Steingrader encouraged producers to take a look at communicating with your county highway departments and your townships to work on developing solutions to make the whole transportation system safer for everyone. Producers need to be able to transport these products safely and timely for our agricultural system, and ultimately, our economy to keep moving forward.
On Wednesday’s episode, Bridget Wasser, Senior Executive Director, Product Research & Education for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, shared the virus has had a ripple effect on so many different levels of the beef supply chain. For instance, in a typical year, the foodservice industry accounts for 60 percent of beef sales with the remaining 40 percent heading to the retail chain, and these numbers have essentially flipped this year.
In addition, Wasser explained consumers began stocking up on supplies at their local grocery stores at unprecedented rates across the entire country. They continue to stock up on items like beef, and as a result the beef industry saw retail sales skyrocket. Keeping up with retail demand has been one of their biggest challenges this year, which lead to some out-of-stock beef supplies during the pandemic.
During Thursday’s episode, Dan Basse, Economist and President of AgResource Company, predicted cheese prices will continue to rise as speculation grows that the Farmer for Family FoodBox program could be extended into quarter one of 2021. He also mentioned U.S. feed values continue to rally amid falling U.S. crop production and record large demand from China. December corn prices are back to $4/bushel with December soymeal rising to $365/ton – the highest in 3 years.
Each live session offers attendees the opportunity to engage in open Q&A and interact with the speakers through www.slido.com and entering the code #myPDPW.
Our dairy industry and lives are changing daily and our need for accurate business information is vital. Content on The Dairy Signal is updated as new information becomes available.
Here is a look at the upcoming presenters and topics:
Tuesday, October 20
Topic: Farmers take pride in providing the best nourishment for both their land and the animals they raise, but at times, neglect to nurture, replenish and take care of their own bodies. Learn more about proper nutrition management. Episode presenter includes:
- Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RDN, FAND, Founder & President, Farmer’s Daughter Consulting, Inc.
Wednesday, October 21
Topic: Developing a model for livestock premises registration and traceability is no small task. Find how the premises registration and individual animal identification system continues to develop to protect livestock health, traceability and consumer confidence from farm to fork. Episode presenters include:
- Jodi Legge, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium
- Curt Larson, President and CEO of Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association
Thursday, October 22
Topic: October is National Fire Prevention Month. Having effective procedures and measures in place can save lives. Tune in to discover procedures and methods to follow to prevent fires. Episode presenter includes:
- Gerald Minor, Pittsville, Wis., Fire Chief
All Dairy Signal episodes are free and open to the public, accessible through www.pdpw.org. For more information, contact PDPW at 800-947-7379 or by emailing mail@pdpw.org. Follow along digitally in advance of and during the sessions by following @dairyPDPW and using #TheDairySignal on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) is the nation’s largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources, and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
— Professional Dairy Producers
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