2-7 IAN Potato Feed

  Spuds instead of corn.

I have heard so much despair coming out of the dairy industry over the price of feed that it is almost overwhelming.  Listen to what University of Idaho’s agricultural economist Garth Taylor told me about the cost of feed versus milk prices. “I looked at what they call the milk to feed price ratio. It is kind of a parity index. It measures a bundle of feed that you feed a cow In one day. So many pounds of hay were so many pounds of corn or silage versus the milk that is produced in that day by the cow. It is a rough approximation of how we are doing in terms of covering the break even. That hit an all time low in July of 2012. You thought milk prices in 2009 were bad relative to feed, this hit an all-time low. It was high priced feed knocking the wind out of these farmers.”  With that in mind I overheard a conversation about using potatoes as livestock feed so I called University of Idaho potato specialist and professor Dr. Norah Olson: “ Are you telling me that we can possibly replace corn with potatoes for livestock? No. If we have any potatoes that are not being utilized to their full value then we can use them for livestock. We know that is being done right now.” So that means they can be used as a supplement rather than throw them away.