A strong dollar has made US dairy exports less competitive and is protecting global dairy markets from a significant oversupply problem, Holstein NI members were told on Monday evening.
Livestock judge at the 2018 Winter Fair, Brian Behnke from Wisconsin, told farmers in Lisburn that milk prices in USA are under $15/100lb at present and cost of production on most dairy farms is typically $18-$20/100lb.
Listen to "Judging at RUAS Winter Fair" on Spreaker.
He said that US dairying is in a “get big or get out” mode, as farmers try to spread capital and overhead costs across more cows.
“There have been 600 herds that have sold out in Wisconsin this year so far, but we have lost no cows. The herds leave but the cows don’t,” Behnke said.
Cow numbers in the US have remained relatively steady at 9.2m and replacement numbers are high, with 10m dairy heifers on the ground at present. Behnke suggested that oversupply in the US sector could be an issue for at least three more years, unless a government-funded culling programme is introduced.
“Our production is 3.6% higher than what our need is, so we need to cut the number of dairy cows in the US from 9.2m to 8.5m,” he said.
Behnke is business manager at the ABS-owned St Jacobs dairy stud in DeForest, Wisconsin, where high type bulls would have traditionally been bred in the past. However, in the two years since joining the firm, he has switched the focus to breeding more functional bulls.
“St Jacobs sales were going down because we hadn’t incorporated genomics and looked at health traits. We are trying to change from tall, showy cows that are hard to get back in-calf, to a functional cow that breeds back efficiently and gives a lot of lifetime milk,” he said.
Read more
Listen: dairy herds in the US sell up as overproduction hits prices
NI breeders compete for interbreed title
NI dairy industry set for 2018 Winter Fair
A strong dollar has made US dairy exports less competitive and is protecting global dairy markets from a significant oversupply problem, Holstein NI members were told on Monday evening.
Livestock judge at the 2018 Winter Fair, Brian Behnke from Wisconsin, told farmers in Lisburn that milk prices in USA are under $15/100lb at present and cost of production on most dairy farms is typically $18-$20/100lb.
Listen to "Judging at RUAS Winter Fair" on Spreaker.
He said that US dairying is in a “get big or get out” mode, as farmers try to spread capital and overhead costs across more cows.
“There have been 600 herds that have sold out in Wisconsin this year so far, but we have lost no cows. The herds leave but the cows don’t,” Behnke said.
Cow numbers in the US have remained relatively steady at 9.2m and replacement numbers are high, with 10m dairy heifers on the ground at present. Behnke suggested that oversupply in the US sector could be an issue for at least three more years, unless a government-funded culling programme is introduced.
“Our production is 3.6% higher than what our need is, so we need to cut the number of dairy cows in the US from 9.2m to 8.5m,” he said.
Behnke is business manager at the ABS-owned St Jacobs dairy stud in DeForest, Wisconsin, where high type bulls would have traditionally been bred in the past. However, in the two years since joining the firm, he has switched the focus to breeding more functional bulls.
“St Jacobs sales were going down because we hadn’t incorporated genomics and looked at health traits. We are trying to change from tall, showy cows that are hard to get back in-calf, to a functional cow that breeds back efficiently and gives a lot of lifetime milk,” he said.
Read more
Listen: dairy herds in the US sell up as overproduction hits prices
NI breeders compete for interbreed title
NI dairy industry set for 2018 Winter Fair
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