By  E. W. Lang

Class III Milk Futures for the rest of this year run from $23.38 per cwt. to $24.59 and average 34 cents less than they did last week.  Class IV runs from $23.75 to $25.15 and that is an average price of 20 cents less than a week ago.  Milk-Feed Indices lost just a little ground in concert with cheese and butter.   It was a volatile week in trade that ended close to where it started.

The Turlock Video Dairy Sale on Friday saw two pots of Holstein fresh cows top at $2200.  All fresh Holsteins averaged $1990, and all fresh Jerseys averaged $1715 per head.  Generally, Holsteins were in line with the March sale and Jerseys were off some.  This particular sale was held at the Sheraton Sioux Falls, rather than at the sale barn in California.

I'm often critical of milk producers feeding on the trough of government while claiming to want economic freedom and independence.  The feed grain folks are coming up with ways that taxpayers can help with fertilizer and diesel costs via the Commodity Credit Corporation.  The CCC is a USDA entity that used to buy up our cheese, butter and dry dairy products then give it away to qualifying recipients lined up at the trough of government that I mentioned earlier.  That action supported milk prices in the 1970s and 1980s while dairy farm numbers steadily decreased, even though all of us were price supported for every single bucket of milk we could run through the strainer and into the tank.

Estimates are that only one-fourth of the farmland in Ukraine will be planed this year.  This could continue to keep pressure under corn, wheat and soybean prices.  Land at public auction is further supported by warfare abroad. 

Speaking of warfare, I saw a recent video of Vladimir Putin and the swelling about his face, particularly under his chin, can't bode well for his future.   I'm a lot of things, and I'm certainly not a DVM or a fitter, yet I can say that when a cow is presented with similar symptoms, particularly with that much edema under her mandible, save the extra-label dexamethasone, Banamine, Re-Covr and frozen pop cans.  A properly administered .22 Long is the swift and effective way to address the problem.