Northeast Order Uniform Milk Price For June 2001 BOSTON, Mass. Erik F. Rasmussen, market administra tor for the Northeast Marketing Area, has announced that the sta tistical uniform price paid by milk dealers (handlers) regulated under the Northeast Order for June 2001 is $17.08 per hundred weight ($1.47 per gallon) for milk delivered to plants located in Suf folk County, Mass. (Boston). The June statistical uniform price is $16.98 for delivery to plants in New York, N.Y. and $16.88 for delivery to plants in Philadelphia. The statistical uniform price is the benchmark minimum pro ducer blend price paid to dairy farmers, prior to allowable de ductions, for milk containing 3.5 Northeast DFA Sends Two Couples To National Conference SYRACUSE, N.Y. Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) Northeast Council, based in Syr acuse, N.Y., sponsored two Young Cooperator couples to at tend the National Institute on Cooperative Education (NICE), July 22-25 in Atlanta, Ga. Couples chosen are producers Stephen and Christina Henning from Mehoopany; and Adelia Pimm and Thomas Dayton from Canewango Valley, N.Y. The couples were chosen as a result of their involvement in DFA’s Yofing Cooperative (YC) pro gram. The Northeast Council of DFA represents more than 2,400 dairy producer members who market percent butterfat, 2.99 percent protein, and 5.69 percent other solids. The price received by an individual dairy fanner will vary as the component composition of a farm’s milk differs from the es tablished benchmarks and by the location of the plant(s) to which the farm’s milk is delivered. Mr. Rasmussen also stated that the producer price differential (PPD) for June is $2.06 per hun dredweight for milk delivered to plants located in Suffolk County, Mass. The PPP represents each producer’s share of the value generated by the marketwide pool on a hundredweight basis. The PPD, which is added to the payment producers receive for more than 2.2 billion pounds of milk cooperatively. The North east Council, encompassing seven northeastern states, is one of DFA’s seven marketing and membership areas serving local member and customer needs. Overall, DFA is working for 27,000 dairy producers/members in 45 states, with an annual mar keting and processing rate of 44.7 billion pounds of milk. The DFA Young Cooperator program is an educational pro gram, providing farmers ages 18-40, with the development of personal and leadership skills that can be utilized at home, on the farm, in the cooperative, and within the community. their milk’s components, is ad justed for the location of the re ceiving plant. The statistical un iform price and PPD decrease by scheduled amounts the more dis tant the plant receiving producer milk is from Suffolk County, Mass. The class prices for milk pool ed in June are as follows: Class I, $18.24 (Suffolk County, Mass.); Class 11, $16.05; Class 111, $15.02; and Class IV, $15.33. Compara ble prices for June 2000 were: Class I $14.95; Class II $13.08; Class 111 $9.46; and Class IV price $12.38. The component val ues for June are protein, $2.1670 per pound; butterfat, $2.2089 per pound; other solids, $0.1409 per pound; and nonfat solids, $0.8748 per pound. Milk receipts from producers totaled 2.067 billion pounds. Class I utilization, milk processed as beverage milk, was 40.7 per cent of producer milk receipts. The average Class I utilization was 42.1 percent in June 2000. The manufacture of Class II products such as cream, ice cream, yogurt, and cottage cheese utilized 15.6 percent of producer milk. Milk used to manufacture Class 111 products such as cheese (American and Italian) and evap orated and condensed products utilized 34.0 percent of total milk receipts. Class IV usage (butter, nonfat and whole milk powder) equaled 9.7 percent of the total. got mi? Capitol Region Agronomy Team | Report % w & 6* fg&. p OATS AS A SUPPLEMENTAL FORAGE CROP Paul H. Craig, CCA Extension Agent Forages, Dauphin County Indicators from across the Capitol Region reflect the high probability that present forage supplies are short. Alfalfa weevil feeding signifi cantly impacted yields of first cutting alfalfa and second cutting was reduced by dry soil condi tions. Third cutting looks great but this harvest does not make up a large percentage of total yields. Forage grasses yields were variable. Yields of good quality grasses are the exception. Many stands reached maturity very rapidly because of dry conditions and high temperatures in May. The loss of timothy production from the cereal rust mite has also increased in the region. Armyworms have decimated forage grass stands and regrowth. Only in grazing situations can the forage supply be considered as average or a little better. What’s a producer to do now? Summer seeded oats is one crop that could be included in a supplemental forage program at this time. Planted in early to mid- August, with adequate fertility and soil moisture, oats have the potential to produce a high yield ing forage with the potential for excellent feed quality. Yields from farmer trials, using bin-run seeds have produced 2.9 tons/ acre of dry matter after 60 days of development. AG PROGRESS: THE SHOWCASE OF AGRICULTURE Lancaster Farming has scheduled a special promotional issue on Ag Progress Days, the annual Penn State showcase agricultural event at the university’s Rockspnng research site. That Aug. 11 issue will feature news and information, including maps and event schedules. In one trial, the silage tested 11.2 percent crude protein with ADF levels of 33.2 percent and NDF levels at 59 percent. This si lage was harvested during the dough stage of development and had a TDN of 65 percent. Differ ent levels of all forage quality in dicators would vary greatly by the stage of maturity at harvest. Summer seeded oats, early to mid-August, can be planted in small grain stubble fields follow ing manure applications and till age. This practice also helps to reduce perennial weed pressures and serves as a place to put ma nures. In this situation, two to three bushels per acre of oats will provide good forage in approxi mately 60 days. Another place many growers have sown oats is into pastures with a no-till drill. If seeding into a pasture, seeding rates should be reduced to one to two bushels per acre to reduce negatively affec ting long term pasture stands. There is no need to purchase, seed quality oats. Bin run seeds, with a check of germination, can provide great stands and yields. If manure is not applied before establishment, the application of SO to 60 pounds of Nitrogen fer tilizer is recommended. Oats can be harvested at any stage of development; in fact, many growers will stagger plant ings from early August until Sep tember. Harvesting as silage is probably most common as good hay drying weather in October is not the norm. Grazing is another method for harvesting and helps to stretch out stored forages. Using a “break” wire to limit ac cess will prevent too much wast ing of the forage. A few growers have sown oats and rye, wheat or barley in com bination. Their goal was to have a forage crop to harvest in the fall (oats) and then a second crop next spring. Results have indicat ed that sowing winter grains too early in the summer period (early August) was not the best practice. If you plan to try this practice, delay seeding wheat, barley or rye until early September with the oats. With an early planting and harvest of early August seed ed outs, there would be an oppor tunity to sow winter grains in Oc tober.