October – December milk production
North Dakota
Milk production for the Oct. – Dec. 2009 quarter totaled 92 million pounds, down 8 percent from 100 million pounds during the same period a year earlier, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, North Dakota Field Office. Average number of milk cows during the current quarter, at 21,000 head, is down 1,000 head from the previous quarter and 4,000 head lower than the Oct. – Dec. 2008 quarter. The average milk produced per cow during the October – December quarter was 4,370 pounds, rom 4,320 pounds the previous quarter and up from 4,000 pounds during the same period last year.
United States
Milk production during the Oct.- Dec. quarter totaled 46.2 billion pounds, down 1 percent from the Oct. - Dec. quarter last year. The average number of milk cows during the quarter was 9.09 million head, 243,000 head less than the same period last year. Production per cow during the Oct. – Dec. quarter averaged 5,089 pounds, up from 5,008 pounds during the same period a year ago.
Farm management meeting slated for Feb.
The Northwest Farm Managers Association has organized its 101st annual meeting for producers and others interested in agriculture to be held Feb. 3 at the Holiday Inn in Fargo, beginning at 9 a.m.
Presentations will focus on grain markets, field drainage and the general economic outlook and its impact on agriculture.
Brian Briggeman, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, will provide insight on the current state of the economy.
The meeting is organized for the public and all are welcome. The cost is $40 payable at the door. The fee includes a noon meal and breaks. Call 701-231-7393 for more information.
Goehring backs effort to end Corps’ soil dumping
BISMARCK — Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said Missouri’s dispute with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over dumping soil into the Missouri River has serious implications for North Dakota and for American agriculture.
Goehring said the soil contains high levels of nutrients, notably phosphorus and nitrogen, that are carried downstream to the Gulf of Mexico, causing excessive growth of plankton. Decomposition of the plankton consumes the oxygen needed to support other life forms, causing a condition known as hypoxia, and creating the infamous “dead zone” in the Gulf.
The Corps stopped the work in Missouri in 2008, when the Missouri Clean Water Commission ordered an end to all soil dumping.
Goehring said he is troubled by the fact that agricultural activities have long been blamed for the dead zone, while the Corps’ activities have largely gone unchallenged by federal authorities who are charged with environmental protection.
Goehring said he will work with other state agriculture officials from states along the Missouri River and with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture to persuade the Corps to put the excavated soil someplace other than the river.
Tags: farm, northland, agriculture, crops
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