12/04/07 Dairy Industry Update

Dairy Industry Update. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. The dairy industry has been keeping an eye on what Congress has and hasn't been doing with the 2007 Farm Bill. It right now is probably the biggest issue on the radar screen according to Fritz Hegeman a third generation dairy farmer from Missouri and a member of the Dairy Farmers of America. HEGEMAN: There are some important things that we want to make sure or hope are in the Farm Bill. We want the extension of the product price support program. That's very important to the industry and also the MILC, milk income loss contracts. You know we have been very fortunate the last several months we haven't needed to use those, that safety net but we've seen how fast things can change. Hegeman says these programs are important in case something would come along unexpectedly. HEGEMAN: Especially now with the increased energy and input costs that we're facing if something should affect the demand for the product we would be in a world of hurt without those programs. Of course immigration is a major part of the ag industry today and Hegeman says the Dairy Farmers just want the issue fixed. HEGEMAN: I don't think it's any secret that there are a lot of immigrants employed on dairy farms and over the years they have become very vital workforce to our industry and we want to follow the law, we're not asking for any special privileges  we're just asking for a common sense approach to solving this problem. And Hegeman reminds us that even thought milk and dairy prices are up doesn't mean that the dairy farmer is making a lot more money. HEGEMAN: Not just the dairy industry but all the livestock industry is struggling to come to grips with the paradigm shift if you will concerning the grain markets and the input costs. A few years ago if you'd have told us we'd be running to have an $18 average milk price for the year we'd thought we'd have been rolling in money but with increase in energy costs and the feed inputs we're just meeting the needs. He says they continue to struggle to offset the higher input prices and that includes the biofuels byproducts which he says are part of a learning curve for the dairy industry. HEGEMAN: With the increase in ethanol and the biofuels, you know those byproducts we're still learning on how to make the best use of those byproducts to meet the dairy and livestock industry needs. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.