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DAIRY ST R
Volume 19, No. 7
rbST use in the hot seat again
Processors in Midwest pushed to ban tool By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
As of Jan. 1, 2018, most Midwest milk processors will not accept milk from dairy animals that have been treated with the synthetic growth hormone recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST). Most announced this change in early May, notifying farms that rbST use must be discontinued by Dec. 1, 2017 in order to comply with the January deadline. “Because this is a condition of membership, it is a requirement for all of our members,” said AMPI Director of Public Affairs Sarah Schmidt. Customers have made it clear to processors that they will not accept uid milk for cheesemaking or other dairy product processing that has been treated with rbST. “We’ve been very active with our customers, highlighting the safety of milk with rbST,” Schmidt said. “Ultimately, it came down to customers working with their consumers; it’s denitely driven by public opinion.” Clint Fall, President of First District Association, agreed.
“The Midwest is the cheese basket of the United States, and if customers want rbSTfree cheese, it was only a matter of time before we had to do something.”
SARAH SCHMIDT, AMPI DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
“The current oversupply of milk should not be blamed for this,” he said. “This was entirely consumer driven and our priority of maintaining current customers.” While First District Association has not previously recorded the exact number of patrons using rbST, Fall estimated less than 20 percent of the 916 members use the growth hormone. It is unknown just how many dairy farms will be impacted by this decision, but it is sending a strong message to the entire industry – a message that has many uneasy. “Farmers and co-ops are between a rock and a hard place – we have to choose between continuing to use an FDA-approved product or maintaining our customers,” said Chris Galen, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). “We’re working towards a more sustainable food supply, but with trends like this, you can argue we’re moving in the other direction.” This is not the rst time rbST has been under scrutiny. Turn to RBST | Page 5
“All dairy, all the time”™
May 27, 2017
“The walls began to wobble, and when the ceiling started to do the wave, we knew it was game over.” - Seth Picknell
From destruction they rise
BRITTANY OLSON/DAIRY STAR
The Picknells – (from leŌ) Seth, Cory, Janelle, Kaden, Seth’s ancee, Bailey Hanson, and Jonah – are cleaning up their farm and rebuilding their barn aŌer an F3 tornado struck without warning. The tornado, which touched down mulƟple Ɵmes over the course of 60 miles, had wind speeds between 113 and 157 miles per hour.
Picknells survive F3 tornado during chore time By Brittany Olson
brittany.o@dairystar.com
PRAIRIE FARM, Wis. – Milking time was about to begin in 10 minutes, and the last feed cart was being lled when Kaden Picknell noticed the wind beginning to pick up. “We were lling the last cart with haylage, and everything happened right then and there,” Kaden said. “It was probably over and done in ve minutes, but it felt like a really long time.” Kaden, who lives on a 60-cow dairy farm with his parents, Cory and Janelle, and his brothers, Seth and Jonah, near Prairie Farm, Wis., survived a tornado when it struck their farm without warning on the evening of May 16. Jonah was still outside doing chores. When the skies turned dark and the wind began to thrash, he hurried to the barn. “The barn was the closest shelter we had,” Jonah said. Cory, too, knew something was deeply wrong. “The clouds were green, but there was no rotation,” Cory said. “The wind was roaring, and the power went out. When we saw trees down the road beginning to break, we knew what was happening.” Father and sons took shelter near a wall in the barn with the cows still outside, hanging on for their lives.
“I was screaming, and I remember hearing my brother trying to calm me down,” Jonah said. “I remember hearing the tin ripping off the roof.” The minutes crept along like hours while the vortex took with it the barn roof, demolishing two of their three silos and causing severe damage to their shed, garage and house. “The walls began to wobble, and when the ceiling started to do the wave, we knew it was game over,” Seth said. The sound of the storm was unlike anything they’d heard before. “I don’t really even remember what it sounded like other than that it was really loud,” Kaden said. The family didn’t have time to take shelter in their house. “Sometimes we have the radio on in the barn, and when we turn it off sometimes we forget to turn it back on,” Cory said. “But how many times have we had tornado warnings and kept on doing chores because everything looked ne where we were? I don’t know if we would have had enough time anyway.” Miraculously, everyone and the cows survived the tornado, which was determined to be an F3 by the National Weather Service with wind speeds from 113 to 157 miles per hour. Turn to PICKNELLS | Page 6