This issue’s theme is finances and business planning. Given all that has happened in the dairy industry this year, it’s a topic few want to face.

This producer wanted more information about how much their dairy would lose or gain per hundredweight or per cow in the short-term. She wondered if I knew how bad it really was “out here.”

Yes, your income-over-feed cost is still dismal and a discouraging metric. But milk prices are turning upward. Yes, profitability still evades most, but look forward to 2010.

This issue contains several predictions about milk prices next year. Most of them look better than this last year. The difference between whether you will benefit from them or not depends on how well you manage your feed and nutrition.

Right now is a good time to consider how and what you will be feeding your cows next year. How much of that feed will you forward contract in the upcoming months?

An Arizona producer called me recently to tell me he would be changing the way he was feeding his cows in the future. He’s interested in shifting his ration away from corn and concentrates to more forage – possibly even 70 percent. That’s not surprising for a Midwest or Eastern producer, but it’s a paradigm shift for a Western dairyman.

Although silage harvest just finished up, read today about a few things to consider when choosing seed for next year.

Coming back from the early fall trade shows, I believe many are eager to put 2009 behind them. In this issue, read comments from two Cargill managers who explain why one of their company’s new products announced in Europe has a few angered U.S. producers calling for boycotts of their goods here.

After reading about the stir over a “non-dairy ingredient” for cheese production, read up on why some are talking about milk protein concentrates used in manufacturing here in the U.S. and why processors import them for use.

One thing I’ve observed is that this year’s low milk prices have producers looking beyond their own production ratios and financial ledgers. They want to know more about the income side of the dairy business.

This month many producers I talk to wonder why their cooperative is so eager for more milk, even diminishing the importance of quotas or waiting lists, while the producer price only marginally improves. Are co-ops worried about next year’s milk supply? Anxious processors are a positive sign for producers. It’s one more reason for increased optimism.

I’m a habitual optimist, but I still believe better days lie ahead. I’m racing towards 2010. PD

• Walt Cooley

• Editor
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