By Tony Kitsos
On May 5th and 7th I had the opportunity to represent Vermont as part of the Northern New England Dairy Discussion webinars hosted by the University of New Hampshire’s Elaina Enzien. Extension dairy specialists Peter Erickson, Mike Sciabarrasi, Carl Majewski and Seth Wilner (New Hampshire), Gary Anderson and Rick Kersbergen (Maine) and I offered participants some sound dairy management strategies to help deal with the recent low milk prices and new pricing models. We focused on “right sizing” animal numbers, switching from 3x to 2x milking frequency, ration adjustment and using milk to feed animals on the farm as means to achieve cooperative reduction goals.
Also on the webinars were Catherine DeRonde from Agrimark, and Leon Berthiaume from DFA /St Albans to discuss the two-tier milk pricing model and what producers in each cooperative can expect for the remainder of the summer. Milk market volatility is now being driven by supply and distribution chain challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, with both cooperatives forced to take measures to reduce the flow of milk coming in to their plants.
The series proved to be timely and very popular, with over 140 participants registering for the two-day session. A link to presentation materials and the video recording of the webinars can be found HERE at the UNH website. We plan to continue the series throughout the summer, with the next session being held on Tuesday, June 16th. Find more information and register HERE.