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VOLUME XV, NO. 4 |
TEXAS DAIRY REVIEW |
APRIL 2006 |
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Waco grovels in recent federal court hearing
“City folks just don’t get it.” |
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Waco grovels in recent federal court hearing |
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Justice prevails in Scenic Ridge Dairy hearing If it wasn’t groveling, it was close to it, according to those who attended a recent federal court hearing in Waco who watched City of Waco attorneys withdraw past objections to a proposed herd expansion permit for Scenic Ridge Dairy in Stephenville.
‘‘It was quite comical,’’ said one dairy owner who attended the hearing in support of Scenic Ridge Dairy. ‘‘It was obvious that Waco attorneys were in no way prepared for the hearing and looked foolish when grilled by the judge.’’ The courtroom action heated up as Fort Worth attorney Jim Bradbury, representing Scenic Ridge Dairy, met head-on with Waco attorneys Jack Battle and Roy Barrett before U.S. Magistrate Jeffrey C. Manske in the March hearing. Bradbury explained to Manske that when the dairy lawsuits with the City of Waco were settled in early January of this year, one of the major conditions of the binding agreement was that Waco was not to oppose, either directly or indirectly, permit applications pending before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on the six dairies that were involved. He pointed out that Scenic Ridge Dairy had filed an application with the TCEQ prior to Nov. 1, 2005, which was pending at the time the city agreed to the settlement in January. In September 2005, the city had submitted lengthy criticisms in the form of public comments in objection to Scenic Ridge obtaining their permit. The city had further required a public meeting. The 18-page objection by the city asserted that TCEQ should not issue the proposed permit to the dairy because the permit was ‘‘illegal, as well as damaging to the North Bosque River, Lake Waco, the city’s drinking water supply, and the health and welfare of its citizens.’’ Bradbury argued that according to the lawsuit agreement settlement, the city should have immediately withdrawn their pending objections to the dairy’s permit expansion. He said following the January agreement, he had written the city a letter requesting they retract their objections, but they refused. Waco attorneys argued the agreement didn’t specify whether the city would have to retract prior objections. ‘‘That was the clear intent of the agreement!’’ Bradbury said. ‘‘It was a major part of it. ‘‘The city is playing games by not withdrawing its objections,’’ Bradbury told Manske, adding, ‘‘This is politics, not law, and politics has no place in this courtroom.’’ Manske asked Waco attorneys how they could argue that they were not opposing the permit when the comments remained on the record before the TCEQ in a pending permit process. ‘‘It walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and you’re telling me it’s a pink flamingo?’’ he asked. The city’s attorneys said the non-opposition clause was not retroactive and that retracting the comments would send an erroneous message that the city supported Scenic Ridge’s permit. They also said the city couldn’t reasonably be expected to go back and erase all of its past criticisms to the dairy’s permit. ‘‘Where does this stop?’’ asked Battle. ‘‘It stops when the court says it stops,’’ Manske replied, without hesitation. At that point, Manske’s recommendation to the two attorneys was to go and rethink their arguments and to come back with something that would make Mr. Bradbury happy.
It’s amazing,’’ Bradbury said, later when commenting on the hearing. ‘‘These people just don’t give up,’’ referring to the antics of the city’s persistence to damage the dairies and continue to waste their own taxpayer’s money, as they’ve done all along. ‘‘$3.4 million is a lot of wasted money so far,’’ Bradbury said. ‘‘How much farther will the city go?" No one knows for sure. Especially, Waco taxpayers. |
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Huckabay Ridge contributes new dimension |
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There’s something big going on in Huckabay, Texas, and it’s stirring the attention of folks who are somewhat amazed at the massive biogas plant that is beginning to loom over the skyline. Currently under construction, the plant is being built and developed by Microgy, Inc., a pioneer in the biogas industry. Microgy is also building a similar production-capacity plant in west Texas at Mission Dairy near Hereford and has three currently operating methane plants in western Wisconsin.
Although workers had a little set-to in
mid-March when fierce winds swept through the plant site caving in the
front side of one of the digesters that was nearly completed, the digester
was quickly repaired with new rungs added as construction at the site
resumed. Chase said the ability of Erath County’s dairy industry to produce an abundant supply of cow manure is an excellent location for the Huckabay Ridge multi-methane digester system and gas treatment facility. The fuel plant is designed, constructed, owned and operated by Microgy, Inc, located at the site of Producers Compost, a composting operation owned by Jim Beyer of Stephenville. ‘‘Producers Compost is currently receiving manure from area dairies and turning it into compost. Our digesters will speed up that composting process while producing biogas creating a win-win situation for all,’’ Chase said. The Huckabay Ridge facility includes construction of eight 916,000-gallon digesters, capable of processing manure from up to 10,000 cows. Each digester will be 64 feet tall by 50 feet in diameter. The digesters are expected to produce an aggregate of one billion cubic feet of biogas per year with an energy content of 650,000 million BTU. The biogas is to be scrubbed and compressed into pipeline-grade natural gas that will be sold as a commodity directly into a nearby natural gas pipeline. The scrubbing process to clean the biogas into natural gas will be conducted by South Tex Treaters, a partner with Microgy. Chase said raw manure that goes into the digester tanks, stays in the tanks for approximately 21 days. It comes out as compost and is virtually odor-free, pathogen-free and seed-free. Producers Compost will handle the compost marketing. Chase said rising fuel prices have encouraged scientists, entrepreneurs and industrialists to look at these alternative ways to make natural gas. Microgy, Inc., is a company that has a history of making fuel and electricity from anaerobic digesters. The methane plants in Wisconsin are located on individual 1,000 cow free stall dairies. On these farms, dairy slurry is fedinto the digester and the gases are used to fuel an electric generator. The electric company owns the generator and Microgy sells the gas to the utility. Microgy is a subsidiary of Environmental Power Corporation, a company that in the 1980s developed the utilization of waste coal to generate electricity. Microgy, has the exclusive North American licensing rights granted by a Danish company that currently has 22 digesters operating in Europe. |
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Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program |
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The USDA reminds dairy producers to sign
up for the extended Milk Income Loss The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (the Act), amended the MILC program established by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (the 2002 Farm Bill), which authorized the original MILC program through Sept. 30, 2005. From Oct. 1, 2005 through Aug. 31, 2007, a dairy operation’s monthly payment will equal the milk quantity sold in that month multiplied by 34 percent of the difference between $16.94 per hundredweight and that month’s domestic Class I milk price. The 2002 Farm Bill originally set the payment rate factor at 45 percent. Program payments will begin following the sign-up |
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“City folks just don’t get it.” |
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Been trying to find the right person to date, marry, or have a relationship with but just can’t seem to hit a home run? Don’t give up hope, just yet. You’ve probably been looking in all the wrong places. Especially, if you’ve been searching on the popular national online dating services that list people from every walk of life. That can be a real problem for country folks who can’t quite seem to match themselves up with city slickers. Those who are more into Italian leather shoes and climbing the corporate ladder rather than wearing rubber boots and mounting a John Deere tractor probably don’t have a realistic view of rural America. They don’t realize that people in all facets of agriculture have jobs that require them to work long hours in rural areas---far away from the glamour and hustle and bustle of city life. But, have no fear. Now, there’s a website specifically designed with the farmer in mind called FarmersOnly.com. Whether you’re a rancher, a dairy farmer, cowboy or cowgirl, life on the farm requires a commitment to your animals, crops, and the many other tasks that must be performed on a daily basis. This is especially true for dairy farmers where---come rain or come shine--- the cows must be milked. But, at night, when the sun goes down, the chores are done, and the animals are fast asleep, many folks out there in America’s Heartland, get just as lonely as the next person. At the end of the day, he or she may want to visit or chat with someone who understands their position. Running down to the corner bar for social companionship is probably out of the question considering the remote areas most of these people live in. That’s when they need to tap into this relatively new website, designed especially for them. Jerry Miller, founder of the website, is certain there’s a magnitude of folks out there who have a need but up until recently, had nowhere to go with it. He was compelled to start the online dating service after talking to a divorced woman farmer who said she had tried the national online dating sites but that no one seemed to be able to relate to her country lifestyle. Early to bed, early to rise---meeting the man of her dreams at 9 p.m. for a cup of coffee, did not fit her agenda. ."City folks just don’t get it," she said. He discovered that she wasn’t alone in her frustration. He heard stories from others about farmers trying to match themselves up with prospective mates in the metroplex who didn’t have a clue about a farmer’s life. As a rule, it just wasn’t a workable situation. The further Miller investigated the national online dating services, the more convinced he became that there is a whole untouched mass of folks in America’s Heartland who are left out of the national dating services scheme of things. Miller took his thoughts and ideas and turned them into something that is unique, different, and provides a need. It is now a successful business that offers a place for "like people" to get to know "like people." He is proud to say that American’s Heartland now has a home where they can learn about people in the same field as they are. It’s a relatively inexpensive website compared to some of the others, with a full year membership for only $59.99. Trial memberships are also available. The website is designed with traditional, old-fashioned values in mind, characterizing the American farmer. Those who don’t uphold the website’s policies will not be accepted, Miller said. "We have turned people down for one reason or another. We screen and read every profile and look at every photo. It’s a lot of work, but it keeps our website clean," he said. "I’m really excited about it. We’re changing lives and we get emails from our members thanking us for meeting others and who let us know how their doing in their new relationships. For others, it’s simply a chat line or a friendship finder, but it’s a site where people can identify with one another." The website has grown to 20,000 members, Miller said, and he anticipates a much bigger membership as people get to know more about FarmersOnly.com. Check it out. There might be something there for you! |
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DFA now offering new my401k savings retirement program |
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Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) members are now being introduced to my401k, a new member advantage that offers the option of a 401(k) retirement savings program for themselves and the employees on their dairy farms. For over two decades, working Americans have been taking advantage of 401(k) savings programs through their employers. These savings plans enable employees to accumulate money, tax-deferred, for retirement. Starting April 1, 2006, DFA members can participate in my401k, which allows their qualified employees to have pre-tax money withheld directly from their paychecks and deposited into 401(k) retirement accounts. Employee participants then choose how they would like their money invested from the wide range of investment options provided. Employers – in this case, DFA member producers – match the first four percent of each of their employees’ contributions. “We believe this program will really simplify the process of saving for retirement for our members,” says Harold Papen, DFA vice president of human resources, whose expertise helped the cooperative set up the program. The DFA member 401(k) plan provides member dairies with many similar advantages and services as those provided to large corporations. “It’s easy to set up, and once it’s in place, the paperwork and administration for the dairy farm business owner is minimal,” Papen said. DFA is working in partnership with Milliman, Inc., a top provider of retirement plan recordkeeping and administration services, in setting up the my401k plans. “Our members have told us how important this benefit is to them, and we have listened to their requests,” says Papen. “This will truly give DFA members an advantage in planning for retirement for themselves and offering competitive benefits to qualifying employees.” DFA members who would like more information on my401k should call 877-869-4015 or go to www.mydfa401k.com. Owned by dairy farmer families, Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA) is a milk marketing cooperative established in 1998 by its member farmers. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., DFA annually markets and processes milk for its 20,631 dairy farmer members in 49 states. Through DFA’s national network of dairy processing plants and partnerships, DFA supplies fresh milk, cheese, formulated dairy beverages, dairy ingredients and food components to consumers in the U.S. and around the world. |
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STOP THE DRAIN: DOLLAR-SAVING TIPS FOR DAIRIES |
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Monitoring Dairy Efficiency With summer approaching, one of the best indicators of your cows’ well being is to monitor dry matter intake. An excellent monitoring tool is called Dairy Efficiency (DE), which evaluates the efficiency of converting dry matter to milk. Dairy Efficiency is calculated by dividing the pounds of fat corrected milk (FCM) by the pounds of dry matter (DMI) that the cow actually consumed. Correct milk to a FCM basis to account for differences in pounds of milk and fat produced. Use DMI since we are only interested in what a cow is actually consuming, not what is left in the feedbunk. Calculate 4% FCM by multiplying pounds of milk by .4 and pounds of fat by 15. Then add the two numbers together to get FCM. To find DMI, multiply the pounds of each ingredient fed times the percent dry matter. Determine percent dry matter by drying your feed ingredients, for example with a Koster tester. Next use percent dry matter to calculate pounds of dry matter fed for that ingredient. Sum across all your ingredients to get total DMI for your group or herd. Remember to subtract the weigh back. Finally, insert your results into the formula:
Dairy Efficiency =pounds of FCM pounds of DMI Some factors that affect feed efficiency include: milk production, feed intake, feed digestibility, days in milk, forage quality, forage quantity, age of cows, protein level, body weight change, high fat test, rumen acidosis, environmental stress, exercise/grazing, pregnancy, bST, and feed additives. For example: * Herds with fewer days in milk have higher DE. * Younger herds have lower DE as young cows divert nutrients from milk production to growth. * High milk production groups have higher DE than lower producing groups. * Fresh cows frequently have lower DE since higher amounts of forages are fed to prevent metabolic problems. * Cows losing body weight favor higher DE, because body stores are used to supplement nutrients consumed. * Cows gaining weight have lower DE as nutrients are stored as bodyweight instead of being used for milk production. * Hot or cold weather and cows walking to pasture lower DE as more nutrients are diverted to maintenance. * Rumen acidosis decreases DE as feed digestibility declines. * High quality forage results in increased DE. Monitoring Dairy Efficiency provides a way to evaluate over all herd well being. An example of calculating DE may be found at http://TexasDairyMatters.org. If DE starts to shift, look at the areas outlined previously that might be impacting that change. By Extension Dairy Specialists: Ellen Jordan, Tamilee Nennich & Michael Tomaszewski, Texas Cooperative Extension, TAMU |
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