“Dairy Farmers dump 43 million gallons of milk in 2016.”  That was the headline in recent news publication.  43 million gallons this year, so far.  “So, . . .  How’s business?”  Hmm, not going so well for the dairy industry.  It seems that the spike in milk prices in 2014 encouraged farmers to increase their herds so that they could capitalize on the higher prices.  In addition to larger herds, milk production is up 1.4% per head.  All of this has led to over production and falling prices.  Because of the domino effect, associated industries like feed, farm equipment, fertilizer, and seed industries have all seen an impact on business.
So . . .  How is your business doing?  If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you know how these cycle markets work: Everybody digs in until the weaker ones fall out the bottom, production drops, prices go up and everyone breathes easier, everyone that survived.  And we all hope that we have time to regroup before the next cycle hits.  But what if this is the new way of doing business?  What if markets don’t rebound to where we need them to be profitable?
“U.S. Dairy Exports Down, Imports Up,” is another recent news headline.  Dairy imports in high-tier cheese and other dairy products grew from 10.3M kg in 2015, to 17.9M kg in 2016 while U.S. dairy exports fell 2.5%, (Jan – June numbers).  Think about it, imports grew 72% in a down market.  That’s not a very good sign.  The offshore competition is gaining traction in a market that our farms are simply trying to weather out.  Part of the reason is the European Union’s move to end their milk quota program in 2015.  Milk production is up worldwide.  Here’s the kicker: our producers are dumping 43M gallons while we are importing about 3.4% of total milk solid production from our competition. That, according to the best numbers I could find, is the equivalency of over 500M gallons of milk.
Here’s the concern, if the offshore competition can grow in our $16 milk market, they could hold U.S. prices down to a place that makes dairying a long term struggle for U.S. producers. And that will have a ripple effect through the support industries.  If you sell hay, you know that premium alfalfa has dropped from close to $300/T in 2014 to about $125/T, (Iowa prices). 
So, can the U.S. dairy survive as an industry?  Sure, we have some of the best soil in the world and some of the best people as well.  And we produce some of the best forage.  We are simply going to have to learn to out-compete the global competition.  One way to gain back milk production from overseas is to produce milk at a more competitive cost. Quality forages can have a huge impact on milk production costs.
The World Dairy Expo Forage Analysis Superbowl is a great source of information on quality forages.  For example, at the 2016 Forage Superbowl, three of the samples produced over 4000 pounds of milk per ton, (MPT), of forage.  A Byron’s 402H alfalfa and Green Spirit ryegrass sample from the Grass Hay Category scored 4086 MPT and a Byron’s Allegro ryegrass sample from the Baleage Category scored 4140 MPT, with RFQ’s of 216 and 288 respectively.  The 30hr IV NDFd was 76.9% for the grass hay and 79.4% for the grass baleage. 
A digestibility of 76.9% for dry hay is really impressive.  It’s one of the reasons why producers are mixing grass in their alfalfa.  It substantially boosts the NDFd of the total alfalfa/grass forage while adding about 1 ½ tons of dry matter per acre.  Most of the energy in grass comes from sugar, which, when combined with the protein from the alfalfa, makes a perfect milk producing forage, which can be seen from the 4086 MPT. 
How can this help the bottom line?  Let’s take the time to do a little math.  The nine finalists in the Grass Hay Division averaged 3438 MPT.  If the forage your feeding has a MPT of about 3000 pounds, the difference is an additional 438 pounds.  At $16 milk, the increase in profit is about $70 per ton of forage.  “So, you’re saying that if I plant the right seed, I’ll get an extra $70 a ton out of my forage, right?”  Well no, we all know it’s more complicated than that.  Crop management: fertility, cutting schedule, storage, etc., has a lot to do with the end quality of a forage.   But I’m glad that you brought that up.  Good forage management is important if we’re going to be competitive in the global market.  Getting the right seed in the right soil and managing a proper harvest schedule are really important.  We need to get that part of the profit equation right.  Seed consultants from forage companies like Byron Seeds can help with those selections to ensure quality forage and healthy livestock.

Now, where was I?  Oh yes, three of the forages at the Forage Superbowl were over 4000 MPT.  It’s interesting to note that, in the 33-year history of the Superbowl, there have been only seven forage samples that ever topped 4000 pounds of milk, and all seven were grass or substantially grass samples, and all seven were Byron Seed samples.  No alfalfa or corn silage sample has ever achieved this level of MPT.  To be competitive, we need to pay close attention to grass and what it can do for milk production.“So, how did the rest of the World Dairy Expo Forage Analysis Superbowl results look like?”  I’m glad you asked.  Here’s a quick recap. There are ten Grand Champions, one for each eight forage categories, a first time entrant Grand Champion, and one called “Quality Counts”, plus one that is called the Worlds Forage Grand Champion.Here is a table of the Grand Champions:

Notice that five of the ten Grand champions are Byron Seed samples.  While Byron seeds did not win the Organic Hay and Conventional Corn categories, it is worth taking a look at the top ten in each case.

Notice that Byron Seeds, while not winning top place, certainly placed well in the Organic Hay category.  The Conventional Corn Silage had a similar result:

In all Byron Seeds had 34 finalists out of 70 possible in the categories that Byron samples were entered. 
The world Dairy Expo Forage Superbowl is a good place to see what the top quality forages are doing, and to get an idea of what they can do for your bottom line. 
A dairy farmer from Ohio told me recently, “I am hoping to hold on until prices go up and then I’m selling.  It’s the only way I can hope to recover my investment because my dairy farm sure isn’t worth anything right now.”  I didn’t have the heart to tell him that $16 milk could be the new way of doing business.  The dairy farms that will have value will be those that have learned to be profitable in a $16 market.