KENTUCKY
KDDC Annual Report w w w. k y d a i r y. o r g
Milk Matters Annual Report Featuring KDDC Sponsors See inside
Supported by
Don’t Forget the Young Dairy Producer Conference & KY Dairy Partners Annual Meeting View the agenda on page 4
Maury Cox
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2015 KDDC Year in Review
ach year since its inception, the KDDC has taken time to reflect on the past year’s activities and accomplishments. We do this for two reasons. To remember the times, so we might put our efforts in perspective and to seek improvement in areas for a better future. This is all done in light of dairy markets, governmental and organizational policy changes, and outside pressures such as weather and forces out of our control. One central theme has been KDDC’s guiding principle: Is it good for KY dairy farm families? If so, the KDDC proceeds in that direction. This past year the KDDC celebrated a milestone; 10 years of serving KY dairy farm families and working every Above: Dairy legislative breakfast day to improve in areas the attendees organization can impact. Often the changes such as Right: East TN Dairy Tour - Borden milk price and input cost are Dairy Plant not within the power of the KDDC to change. But helping producers through some of these tight times with incentive premiums from the MILK Program or increasing production and/or lowering somatic cell counts by participating in the MILK Counts program all place producers in a better position to be competitive. The MILK Program alone has generated over $5.2 million dollars in premiums since its inception in 2007 going directly to dairy farmers. The partnerships KDDC has made with milk cooperatives and buyers of milk have financially benefited KY dairy farmers. These are just a part of what the KDDC does. Much of this is accomplished through KDDC’s four regional Dairy Consultants. Each consultant calls on the dairy producers in their respective areas, helps write energy grants, sets up educational meetings and attends promotion functions. In 2015 alone the KDDC dairy consultants helped write 38 energy grants totaling $726,362.94 to KY producers. They also keep producers informed of the latest news and pertinent information they need to know. In January and February the KDDC attended the KY Ag Water Quality Authority meetings and met with officials to learn more
about what was being expected of dairy producers from the KY Division of Water and others working with them. The Natural Resource Conservation Service and KY Conservation Districts met to discuss how we could work together. We met several times and began to develop a plan to engage more producers which were environmentally challenged in their operations. In 2015 we saw the first robotic milking system come into KY. The Eddie Gibson family in northern KY installed a robotic unit that would milk up to 60 cows. Production has already increased as the cows set their own schedules to be milked as much as 2.4 times a day. Then on December 1st the Tony Compton dairy milked their first day with four robotic units. It appears to be the coming thing with labor challenges. There also has been an increase in organic dairy operations in KY as well. As conventional production models started receiving less for their milk, several producers entertained the organic option. Bringing in the upper $30.00/cwt. was enticing for some. The transition and incorporation of organic dairy farming takes time and a special operator. The KDDC Young Dairy Producer Conference and the KY Dairy Partners has become a meeting to attend in the Southeast. Nearly 300 folks gather at the Sloan Convention Center to hear nationally known speakers addressing the challenges dairy farmers face. The Dairy Awards Banquet takes time each year to recognize the top production and quality producers in KY. The production per cow improves every year with herds knocking on the 30,000 pounds per cow average. Somatic cell counts of less than 100,000 used to be unheard of in KY. Now several producers are well under that mark challenging others to join them. Lifelong milk haulers are being recognized for the service and dedication they have to farmers and the industry. Mike Owen was recognized as the top KY Milk Hauler at the awards banquet. The KDDC worked with the UK Dairy Extension to promote the compost bedded pack barn as a cost-share option to NRCS. Surrounding states such as TN already have that designation. The benefits are easily documented allowing farmers to transport solid nutrients to farther distant fields without causing the Cont’d on page 2