by Doug Temme
June is National Dairy Month. As president of the Nebraska State Dairy Association, I am happy to give an update on the dairy industry in our state.
One of the biggest game-changers over the past few years has been the beef-on-dairy program. Dairy farmers are using dairy sexed semen to breed their best cows to cover their replacement needs. Typically, this would be 35% of the herd. The rest of the cows, or 65%, are bred to beef bulls.
The beef cross calves are a valuable commodity that buyers are willing to pay $850 or more for at current market prices as newborn calves. Many of these calves when fed out will grade Choice and Prime.
More processing capacity
The good news for Nebraska dairy producers has been the expansion of the Actus, formerly Milk Specialties Global, or MSG, plant in Norfolk. They have added more than 2 million pounds of daily processing capacity, or enough to process the milk from about 25,000 cows.
This is great news because in 2023, the region had more milk than processing capacity. The lack of a market for the milk produced stopped or slowed any expansions or new dairies in Nebraska. Another 1 million pounds of daily capacity is being added at a new plant in Seward.
The Grow Nebraska Dairy Coalition has been attending dairy expos in California, South Dakota and Wisconsin the past few years, encouraging processors and dairymen to come to our great state.
Along with our partners, we point out the advantages that Nebraska has to offer as a livestock-friendly state with abundant feed, abundant water, reasonable power rates, a fair permitting process and more.
Another good thing for Nebraska dairies is that as of late March, we have not had a herd break with highly pathogenic avian influenza since the outbreak started over a year ago.
News nationally
Nationally, the big news is that after years of declining fluid milk consumption, 2024 saw a slight increase in per-capita consumption. Hopefully, this growth will continue with the adoption of the Whole Milk Act in Schools being debated in Washington, D.C.
The cloud on the horizon has been the Trump administration’s threats of tariffs on products coming from some of dairy’s biggest customers, such as Mexico, which is our No. 1 customer.
With current exports at 15% or the equivalent of one day’s production per week, any interruption would have a negative effect on the prices dairy farmers get paid.
Equally concerning has been the administration’s rhetoric on immigrant workers, which may lead to dairies losing valued employees.
In May, Kris Bousquet, executive director of the Nebraska State Dairy Association, and I traveled to Washington, D.C., to join other state dairy associations from across the country to help address these issues, as well as the new farm bill and other concerns involving dairy and agriculture.
Whether visiting Washington, D.C., or participating in trade missions or serving on various boards, my LEAD experience has been invaluable. Meeting people from across the state and seeing things from another person’s viewpoint were important lessons I learned from my LEAD experience.
Temme is a graduate of LEAD Class 10.