Special Thanks to UGA Extension for GDMS Support

Special thanks to UGA's Dr.  Jillian Fain Bohlen and Dr. Roberto Palomares for educating our producers on dairy repro technologies this week as part of Georgia Milk Producer's Georgia Dairy Managers Series!! Educate, advocate and collaborate!!
NEXT WEEK: 2017 AG Labor Relations Forum

Georgia Milk Producers is pleased to partner with the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and other Ag interest groups to help sponsor the 2017 Georgia Agricultural Labor Relations Forum on November 7-8 at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center. 

Labor continues to be a major issue for all of agriculture. Workshops will cover Department of Labor Audits, I-9 Audits, Workers Compensation and much more. 

Don't miss this chance to get up-to-date information from leading experts on topics that will impact your dairy farm. Registration is just $150 for the 2 day conference and includes lunch on day one. 
Morgan County Dairyman is Georgia's Farmer of the Year

One of the state's top dairy producers represented Georgia during the 2017 Swisher Sweets / Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year competition. Morgan County's Everett Williams was recognized as this year's Georgia Farmer of the Year. He recently shared his story with the Farm Monitor.
November 2017 Dixie Dairy Report 

From Calvin Covington


FDA: Time to remove heart health 
claim from soy milk, other food 
By Matthew Perrone, Pittsburg Post Gazette 
  
U.S. regulators want to remove a health claim about the heart benefits of soy from cartons of soy milk, tofu and other foods, saying the latest scientific evidence no longer shows a clear connection.

Monday's announcement by the Food and Drug Administration marks the first time the agency has moved to revoke a health food claim since it began approving such statements in 1990. The claim that soy protein can reduce heart disease appears on about 200 to 300 products in the U.S., according to industry figures, including popular brands like Silk soy milk.     Read More 
By Dave Natzke, Progressive Dairyman Editor

Downward-trending milk income margins may be pulling the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) back into play as an income safety net for 2018. Dairy farmers are advised to watch market conditions over the next six weeks to determine best options the next year.
 
Alan Zepp, risk management program manager at Pennsylvania's Center for Dairy Excellence (CDE), reviewed MPP-Dairy, the Livestock Gross Margin-Dairy (LGM-Dairy) program and puts and options on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) futures market during his monthly "Protecting Your Profits" conference call on Oct. 25.        Read More 
By Mark Rodgers, Georgia Dairy Farmer and Hoard's Dairyman


Growing up in the Central Savannah River Valley, milking cows is pretty tough through September. The air is thick with humidity, the temperatures are always high, and you sweat as soon as you walk out of the house before daylight. Needless to say, cows suffer no matter how hard you work to cool them.

The milking herd fares better since we moved into our freestall barn from the previous pasture based system. Milking herd averages rose with the move under a roof, but now dry cows seem to tolerate the heat even less than before. High production with high dry matter intakes suddenly hit the proverbial wall when we dry cows up. They are going from a cooled environment to a tropical sauna with a different diet. It is a recipe for disaster.   Read More 
Diet trends result in growth for protein industry 
By Katy Crouch, Dairy Reporter

The dairy sector is undergoing some revolutionary changes due to our ever-evolving diets. As the industry responds to consumer trends, as well as government goals, we are seeing new product developments, changing working practices, and growth in protein sectors of the global food market.   Read More 
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Part II - How a Producer can Increase Revenue, Profit, and Cash Flow

BY John Geuss, MilkPrice Blog

This subject will be covered in two parts.  The first will deal with In part one of this two part series, the impact of changes in cheese and butter prices were analyzed economically.  The analysis showed that butter, and therefore butterfat price changes have little impact on the Class III milk price.  However, cheese price changes have a huge impact on the Class III milk price.  Increases in butter prices simply shift payment from milk protein to butterfat with little impact on the Class III price.

However, there is not much a producer can do to impact Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) milk prices. This post will cover a subject that a producer does have control over and can impact his revenue, profit, and cash flow.  
Read more

When it comes to organic food sales, dairy is big business.

That's based on looking directly at organic sales from farms - before products reach processors. With that as the standard, milk sales totaled $1.4 billion last year. That's a whopping 18.3 percent of all organic farm commodities, according to the  Certified Organic Survey, 2016 Summary, published by USDA.

Overall, the United States had 2,531 organic dairy farms in 2016 with New York home to 471 and Wisconsin in a close second at 453. Overall, there was 4 billion pounds in total organic milk production. That represented 2 percent of the nation's 212 billion pounds of milk last year.    Read more 

Scary Food Myth: Today's farm animals are raised on "factory farms" in poor conditions. Truth: Many of today's farms may be larger than farms of the past, but the farms are also have better animal care practices, enhanced nutrition and housing. Indoor housing protects animals from predators, disease and extreme weather. Modern housing is well-ventilated, temperature-controlled and scientifically designed to meet an animal's specific needs.   Read more 
Associated Press

With fanfare and a White House kickoff, House Republicans unfurled a broad tax-overhaul plan Thursday that would touch virtually all Americans and the economy's every corner, mingling sharply lower rates for corporations and reduced personal taxes for many with fewer deductions for home-buyers and families with steep medical bills.

The measure, which would be the most extensive rewrite of the nation's tax code in three decades, is the product of a party that faces increasing pressure to produce a marquee legislative victory of some sort before next year's elections. GOP leaders touted the plan as a sparkplug for the economy and a boon to the middle class and christened it the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.     Read more 
From CBS Moneywatch

Sales growth at Papa John's ( PZZA) is slowing, and the pizza chain is blaming it on the outcry surrounding NFL players kneeling during the national anthem and falling NFL ratings.
 
The company, which is a sponsor and advertiser of the NFL, said customers have a negative view of the chain's association with the NFL. The company also cut its earnings growth expectations for the year and Papa John's stock fell about 10 percent Wednesday.
"NFL leadership has hurt Papa John's shareholders," said the chain's CEO, John Schnatter, in a call with analysts Wednesday. "This should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago."   Read more 
Sponsor Registration for the 2018 GA Dairy Conference is Open!
Sponsorship registration is now open for the 2018 GA Dairy Conference!  Join us Jan. 15-17 in Savannah, GA,  for the premier Southeastern dairy conference.  

Each year the Georgia Dairy Conference  provides companies with the option to network with dairy producers and industry leaders, while extending a company's brand with several sponsorship opportunities. Dairymen from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Virginia have attended this conference in the past.
 
Don't wait - register today!  Georgia Milk Producers offers 4 levels of support for companies interested in sponsoring our conference and/or participating in our trade show.

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Call for 2019 GA Dairy Conference Presenters/Topics 

The planning committee for the 2019 Georgia Dairy Conference is seeking relevant, innovative and valuable topics/speakers.  Individuals, companies, universities, organizations and government agencies may submit proposals for consideration by December 1, 2017.

The Georgia Dairy Conference is held in Savannah in mid-January. More than 300 dairy professionals and farmers from 10 different states attended in 2017 - representing nearly 103,000 cows. 

Coordinated by the Georgia Milk Producers and industry partners, our planning committee works hard to develop a timely and innovative agenda for the conference each year. The 2019 Georgia Dairy Conference is scheduled for Jan. 20-23 at the Savannah Riverfront Marriott. 

5th Annual SQMI  Meeting will be November 8-9 in TN


The 5th Annual Southeast Quality Milk Initiative (SQMI) Meeting will be hosted by the University of Tennessee and held at the Inn at Opryland, Nashville, on November 8-9, 2017. SQMI is a USDA-NIFA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative funded grant designed to enable dairy farmers to move profitably toward production practices compatible with the concept of a sustainable dairy industry in the Southeast. This program is being developed by milk quality professionals from six Southeast Land-Grant Universities and targets challenged dairy farms and those operations producing superior quality milk as demonstration herds. To accomplish this, we have integrated outreach, education, and research initiatives to improve milk quality and contribute to lower costs and greater revenues on-farm.  
UF Florida/South Georgia Dairy Update


You are invited to come learn about results of a three-state (Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida) Milk Quality Assurance research and extension  project which is winding up its fifth and final year. Lead researcher in this project, Dr. Ron Erskine, Extension Veterinarian from Michigan State  University, will be sharing results and making recommendations from this study on Thursday, November 16, from 11 to noon at the next North Florida/South Georgia Dairy Up-date in a presentation entitled, "Employee training, milk quality and the bottom line." If you own cows or manage employees on a dairy farm, plan on attending to learn something which will positively affect the bottom line of your dairy. A free lunch will be available from noon to 1 PM where informal questions and answers generally continue. Please reserve your lunch by calling or emailing me (865- 250-7761 or meso@ufl.edu) by Monday, November 13th.
GA Dairy Classifieds

For Sale:  Jersey cows, heifers and calves for sale.  Registered with AJCA, all ages! Contact Matt Holton at 770-718-8271, call or text.  Dawsonville, GA.

HELP WANTED:   Farm and Livestock Supervisor for the Georgia Corrections Industries Dairy
located at the Rogers Farm Operations, Reidsville, Ga. Overview of duties include but not
limited to managing a farm and livestock operation. Supervise staff and inmates. Perform
administrative duties and oversees land, equipment and vehicles. For a more complete detail
of the job and how to apply please go to gdcjobs.com., Georgia Corrections Industries.

FOR SALE:  
TRIOLIET  SOLOMIX 2 1600 ZKT
  • TANDEM AXLE
  • DIGI STAR 3600V SCALE
  • RIGHT-LEFT-REAR DOORS
  • NEW HARD FACING ON AUGERS
  • NEW KNIVES
For information contact Jim Reid at 
229-924-2474 
or email at jim@reidbros.com

FOR SALE:  
Coastal Hay for sale.  $50 for 4 x 5 round bales or $6 a square bale.  Contact Ryan Keith in Waynesboro at 803-627-0762.

WANTED:  Looking to purchase 300 to 500 lb Holstein heifers. Please call Ray Ward  at 

FOR HIRE:  Custom Silage Harvesting.  Late model JD chopper. Will travel. Let me put your quality forage up! Nic Haynes, Muddy H Farms, 678-617-3379.

FOR SALE
We have a continuous selection of fresh and springing heifers.
 
Call William at  (706) 768-2857 or visit our website at 
 

Bullcalves Wanted : Looking for Bullcalves to purchase - Barron Tench 864-844-2295 or  barron.tench@gmail.com     
GA Milk Producers|706.310.0020 gamilkproducers@gmail.com
www.gamilk.org