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VOLUME XVI, NO. 5 |
TEXAS DAIRY REVIEW |
MAY 2007 |
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Golfers--get your clubs ready!!! Group calls for issuance of permits DFA can help: When you have to take cover! Letting your conscience be your guide... |
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Golfers--get your clubs ready!!! |
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It’s almost time for the annual TCAA Golf Tournament in celebration of June Dairy Month. The tournament will be on Thurs., June 7, 9 AM, at Par County Club in Comanche. Golf sponsorships are available for $100. Sponsors will be furnished a sign on a hole at the tournament and named in a sponsor handout that goes to all golfers. They will also be recognized in TCAA’s newsletter, all advertising, and press releases. Hold on! There’s more activities coming up soon. Mark you calendars for Dairyfest, on Sat., June 16, from 2-9 PM at Stephenville City Park. DairyFest, sponsord by TriCounty Agribusines Association (TCAA) is an annual fun-filled event for families in the tri-county area. DairyFest sponsorships include: Milktown Partners $500; Bovine Friends $250; and Cow Contributors $100. Sponsors’ signs will be displayed during the day’s event. They will also be named in a mail-out that goes to all dairymen, and recognized on stage at Dairyfest. They will also be named in TCAA’s newsletters, event advertising and press releases. For more information call Melissa Proffitt at 254-965-2406 or email info@tricountyag.com. |
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Group calls for issuance of permits |
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Dairy producers, industry and agriculture leaders recently spoke on behalf of Okee Dairy in Hamilton at a public meeting with state regulatory officials on the importance of expediting the issuance of its permit and all other Bosque River dairy permits up for renewal. The meeting was requested by the City of Waco shortly before Okee Dairy’s permit reached final approval by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Surprisingly, only three people showed up at the meeting from the City of Waco which included the city’s attorney, Kerry Haliburton, whose single statement was that the city ‘‘stood on its original grounds’’ for comment and the request for a public meeting. Dairy producer Pete Schouten, John Cowan, executive director for TAD; attorney Jim Bradbury, Bob Whitney, Comanche County extension agent; Mac Rickels, an independent nutritionist; and neighbors supported Okee Dairy, voicing their comments directly to TCEQ officials. Schouten pointed out TCEQ rules exceed national EPA standards and that dairy producers have met those standards. But, the City of Waco and the Sierra Club, primarily, are working to keep permits in limbo with continued protests. ‘‘Three years into the new rules, and we still don’t have our permit renewals yet. In another year, it’ll be time to submit renewals for the next five years,’’ Schouten said. Cowan, who addressed similar matters, said Okee Dairy has meticulously met all permitting requirements and the application is thorough and complete. Yet, the permit renewal process drags on unnecessarily. On May 2, the TCEQ reported nine Bosque River dairy permits are ready for notice of intent to be published. Producers wonder, however, if these nine dairies will be forced to go through similar requests and delays mainly caused by the City of Waco and the Sierra Club. Besides the City of Waco’s comments and a request for a public meeting on Okee Dairy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department and Lake M. Davis, of whom no information was available at presstime, filed additional comments. TCEQ records show comments and a contested case hearing filed by the Sierra Club and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department against Hidden View Dairy, owned by Willy DeJong, The response to comment on Hidden View Dairy by the TCEQ staff was filed on April 20. The hearing request, however, goes before the TCEQ commissioners for their consideration and decision as to whether or not to grant a hearing. Their decision is based on whether a person has standing as an affected party and the proximity of the dairy. If a hearing should be granted, it would be held at the administrative office of the TCEQ. The City of Waco and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department have filed comments against the Steve Vandenberg Dairy but no meeting has been requested. The permit is in the TCEQ’s response to comment period. |
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DFA can help: When you have to take cover! |
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This past month, widespread flooding and violent tornadoes ripped through the state serving to remind folks that fearing the Texas twisters is a great motivator to heed the signs and take cover if one happens to be roaming around in your area. Mike Mitchell of Grande Vida Dairy near Portales, New Mexico, can attest to the violence of such storms when his dairy located not far from the Texas border was destroyed by a tornado during the month of March. Mitchell lost 173 cows to the storm but was fortunate to escape with his life when he sought shelter between two large milk tanks in the dairy barn. The storm destroyed buildings, pens, equipment and vehicles on the property. When such events occur at a dairy, Dairy Farmers of America’s (DFA) Southwest Area Council provides a benefits disaster program designed to provide financial help to DFA members. Eligible members are those who have suffered a loss as the result of fire, wind or flood damage to their milk production facilities that become inoperable. The benefits program also applies to losses due to impassable roads or aflatoxin contamination. ‘‘This is strictly a DFA program and not a part of the southwest agency,’’ explained G. H. Cain of DFA. The benefit period is for 90 days only, beginning the day of the disaster and continues until the day the member resumes shipping milk from the repaired or rebuilt facilities. All milk in the bulk tank or tanks on the farm at the time of the disaster are paid for at the normal applicable price for such milk. For the first 30 days following the disaster, $3 per hundredweight is paid for eligible production. The second 30-day period following the disaster, $2 per hundredweight is paid. The third 30-day period following the disaster, $1 per hundredweight is paid. The average daily production represented by milk picked up immediately preceding the disaster is the production eligible for these benefits. If a member decides not to repair or rebuild his facilities, the benefit period is 30 days or until the member disposes of his milking herd, whichever is less. The program policy is governed by the Southwest Area Council. It states it is non-contractual and the council may modify, revise or terminate the program at any time. |
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Letting your conscience be your guide... By Sherry Webb |
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People tend to have a social conscience---a personal viewpoint, attitude or opinion about a particular matter that somehow strikes a chord. But, it is often difficult to express what you feel in public unless you are prepared to take a stand. Mack Rickels of Comanche, Texas, recently let his social conscience guide him to attend and address the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) at a public meeting last month in Hamilton, Texas, requested by the City of Waco on the Okee Dairy permit. Rickels is not a dairyman. He does not work for any state or government agencies. But, he is a dairy consultant who understands the need for dairies to operate and to support their efforts in order that they may continue to supply the nation with milk. According to Rickels, those who oppose dairies don’t get the ‘‘big picture.’’ That’s why he felt compelled to show up at the meeting and ‘‘say his piece.’’ Rickels later explained his ties with agriculture began when he grew up on a ranch in Breckenridge near the Brazos River. ‘‘But, dairies aren’t the problem. I saw the Brazos River being polluted years ago by the oil and gas industry. That’s still a much bigger problem than dairies on the Bosque River.’’ Like most people, including dairy operators, Rickels realizes the importance of preserving water quality. But, he feels dairy opponents are focused in the wrong direction. He is also concerned about the lack of support dairies have received from their own local communities and dairy vendors. ‘‘The dairy problem is a political issue that no one wants to confound with fact. It’s all emotion,’’ Rickels said. ‘‘Waco, with their complaints, are trying to inhibit the dairy producer’s ability to make milk----which they drink, by the way. ‘‘I remember when Waco first began to wail and lament about the algae blooms in their lake. Well, if they would watch the news they’d know that at that time, all the lakes north of Dallas had algae blooms and there’s no CAFOs or dairies around there. ‘‘I’ve heard all my life that algae blooms are caused when the lakes turn over in the spring. But, Waco has made a political issue out of it.’’ Rickels said the attention currently focused on all farmers, who just want to do their jobs producing either milk or food, is extremely limited by regulations while cities, like Waco, are guilty of worse pollution with no attention on that. ‘‘A closer inspection of Waco and the very lawyers who defend them would probably reveal that they think it’s their God-given right to pollute with reckless abandon using fertilizer 10-20 times more than a farmer would ever use.’’ Rickels said he was anxious to do his part at the Okee Dairy meeting as a citizen to support the dairies but was disappointed when he looked around the room and didn’t see people there that should be. ‘‘Where were the people that are picking the pockets of the dairymen? Where were the people that do business with them, like the nutrionists, feed and fuel companies, and the rest of the vendors?’’ |
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Dairy tour brings out the best |
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The Central Texas Nutrient Management Technology Tour succeeded in bringing out the best in dairy producers who earned five DOPA credits for attending the one-day event. The morning session was at Hidden View Dairy, owned by Willy DeJong, in Dublin, Texas, where several guest speakers from Tarleton State University and Texas A&M Research and Experiment Station presented an outdoor clinic on various dairy matters. The session began with Dr. David Weindorf who spoke about managing soil phosphorus on dairy operations, followed by Dr. Jeff Tomberlin, who presented information on integrated pest management, dairy insect pests, the benefit of black soldier flies that digest dairy manure and the potential development of fish feedstuff. Randy Bow, research technician, talked to the group about phytoremediation of high phosphorus soils and experiment results of winter overseeding (Coastal and Tifton 85) at area dairies followed by Dr. Saqib Mukhtar who presented producers with facts about the effects of phosphorus runoff from vegetated plots on a sample field that receives dairy lagoon effluent. Producers and Texas A&M specialists stopped long enough to eat a sponsored luncheon at First Baptist Church in Dublin. Charles Maguire of the TCEQ provided a question and answer period and an overview of Microgy Huckabay Ridge digester plant. Following lunch, producers visited Huckabay Ridge where Dr. Mukhtar and Dr. Don Vietor held the afternoon session. Sponsors for the dairy tour included Ag Texas, Arm & Hammer Nutrition, DairyMax, Easterling Consultants, Enviro-Ag Engineering, Farm Bureau, Gorman Milling, Mendon Prairies Associates, Shamrock Fertilizer and Chemical, Stephenville Chamber of Commerce, Tri-County Agribusiness Association, and United Cooperative Services. |
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Meeting to focus on hiring farm labor |
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Three speakers are scheduled to discuss “Hiring and Labor Strategies for Farmers and Ranchers” in an upcoming informational meeting sponsored by Erath County Extension Services. The meeting will be on Tue., May 15, from 1:30 to 3 PM at Texas A&M Research and Extension Center located on Hwy. 281 at Lingleville Road. Amanda Hothan, Texas Rural Mediation Services, will discuss the use of agriculture mediation in Texas to solve disputes related to wetlands, ag credit, pesticides and other issues.
Ann Hayes, Texas Workforce Commission
Agricultural Services, will present training on the H-2A program (hiring
foreign workers) and hiring U.S. workers through the intrastate clearance
system. For information, call 254-965-1460 |
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