The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final exemption clarifying that dairy farms don’t have to treat milk the same as petroleum products under the Spill, Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulation.

“What this means is that the EPA is not going to treat milkfat and petroleum products in the same way,” said National Milk’s Chris Galen. “From a practical standpoint, dairy farmers don’t have to come up with a spill control plan for their milk storage.”

The Federation has been working with Congress and the EPA for two years to win the exemption for dairy farmers, Galen said, because “got milk? And got oil? are two different questions and shouldn’t be lumped together in the same sentence.”

But, even with the exemption of milk handling equipment, many farmers still need to have an SPCC plan, according to Galen. Such plans are required for farms that have an aggregate storage capacity of oil products of 1,320 gallons, or more, for every storage container larger than 55 gallons.

A farm with less than 10,000 gallons of total storage capacity and no single storage greater than 5,000 gallons can self-certify their SPCC plan. Farms that do not meet this exemption must have a plan certified by a professional engineer.

NMPF has completed the development of a self-certification template to assist dairy producers in developing their SPCC plans that covers all fuel and oil storage on the farm. The template, developed with assistance from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is available at www.nmpf.org

U.S. dairy exports strong

Exports continue to be a bright spot in the U.S. dairy picture. Foreign sales of cheese and milk powders are especially strong, according to Dairy Profit Weekly Editor Dave Natzke.

“When the world wants dairy products, it’s finding U.S. farmers are a good source, and that’s helping the nation’s trade balance,” he said.
USDA’s latest dairy trade report estimates February exports at $348 million, up 4 percent from January, and 55 percent more than February 2010. In the December-February sales period, export volumes of milk powders were up 150 percent compared to a year ago, with sales to Southeast Asia especially strong.

Cheese exports in the first two months of 2011 totaled more than 85 million pounds, equivalent to 5 percent of total U.S. cheese production during that period, the highest percentage on record, Natzke said.

On the other side of the ledger, February imports were estimated at $214 million, up about 2 percent from January, and about 8 percent more than a year earlier.

Through the first five months of fiscal year 2011, exports were estimated at $1.7 billion, up 55 percent from the same period in FY ’10, while imports were estimated at $1.2 billion, up about 9 percent from the same period in FY ’10. The result is a $516 million trade surplus, Natzke reported.

Looking at it another way, February dairy exports were equivalent to 13.4 percent of U.S. milk solids production for the month, according to Natzke, while imports represented just 2.6 percent of total solids production, near historic lows. While global dairy product sales increased, foreign sales of U.S. female dairy cattle declined. February exports were estimated at 1,322 head, down from 6,840 head in January. The two-month total, however, is still well ahead of the record-setting pace of last year. Turkey was again the leading market for U.S. dairy cattle, followed by Mexico and Canada.

Speaking of exports; the CWT program accepted three requests this week for export assistance from Dairy farmers of America and Darigold to sell a total of 2.976 million pounds of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese to customers in Asia and the Middle East. That raised 2011 CWT cheese exports so far to 22.8 million

Proper use of antibiotics
Dairy farmer responsibility for the proper use of antibiotics on the farm has been a hot topic recently. The beef checkoff is constantly creating tools for both beef and dairy producers to keep them informed of their responsibility in this regard.

Conrad Kvamme, a consultant with the Midwest Dairy Beef Quality Assurance Center, focused on a printed chart titled Guidelines for Responsible Antibiotic Use.
The first p
rinciple, Kvamme said, is that antibiotics cannot replace sound management practices. When you identify animals that are not well and need to be treated, you have to use the antibiotics correctly. You need to determine what drug is needed and not over medicate.

That is often a problem regarding residues in older animals, Kvamme warned, because when a farmer looks at the weight, he tends to think they are larger than they are or weigh more so then it’s over medicated.

If another medication is used a few days later because they don’t feel the first one is working as well as it should, that prolongs the time for any withdrawal period before sending them to market, according to Kvamme.

Having a good relationship with the local veterinarian is also important when working with prescribed drugs, according to Kvamme, who cautioned farmers who purchase drugs over the counter at the local feed and supply stores.
Veterinarians can assist in evaluations of drugs and their effectiveness and how to use them, he concluded.