U.S. CORN PLANTING

THE CORN IN THE GROUND IS GROWING SLOWER THAN NORMAL
The U.S. corn planting pace eclipsed the trade’s expectations and jumped higher than the five-year average, according to the USDA’s Weekly Crop Progress Report.
As of Sunday, 71% of the U.S. corn crop had been put into the ground vs. a 70% five-year average and a trade expectation of 65%, according to Monday’s report.

The governmental agency noted that Minnesota’s corn planting surged 49% points to 84% completed vs. a week ago, while Iowa farmers added 33% more corn seeded to total 85% completed.

USDA pegged corn emergence at 31% vs. a 36% five-year average.

today’s report could be slightly negative for tonight’s corn market and neutral for soybeans.

“This is a little better than what I had expected. Soybean planting is right in-line with the five-year average. Spring wheat planting is at 78%, which is 5 points ahead of the five-year average. 

halloumi and hellim

halloumi and hellim

OVER the past four decades, officials negotiating an end to Europe’s oldest frozen conflict, the dispute between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), have had plenty to chew on. A deal now appears possible; leaders on both sides say it could come by the end of the year. Reunification hinges on a dizzying number of issues, including property, governance and the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the northern part of the island. Yet there is one area where Greek and Turkish Cypriots already see eye to eye: cheesemaking.

Love of the salty, rubbery cheese known as halloumi in the south and hellim in the north enriches the island. Last year, the Greek south exported €103m ($116m) worth of the stuff, much of it to Britain. In the TRNC, hellim made up a full quarter of all exports.

Last July the two sides filed a joint application to have the cheese declared a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product by the European Union. This status would place halloumi and hellim on a footing with such lauded delicacies as Parma ham, champagne and Roquefort cheese, banning dairy producers outside Cyprus from using either name. A decision is expected later this year.

For Turkish Cypriot cheesemakers, however, PDO status will count for little without a peace settlement. It might allow hellim to be sold in the southern part of the island. But as Cyprus has been a member of the EU since 2004, the bloc’s laws apply only in the Greek part of the island. As a result hellim, like other northern products, remains frozen out of Europe’s single market.

Much of it ends up in Turkey, the only country to recognise the TRNC. Exports to cheese lovers in other parts of the world have to be sent through Turkish ports, where handling, storage and insurance costs all eat away at profits. “A Greek Cypriot company pays less than $2,500 for a shipping container to Saudi Arabia,” explains Candan Avunduk of Meric Sut, a Turkish Cypriot dairy producer. “We pay $6,000.”

Even in the case of a peace deal, other delays may be in store thanks to strict hygiene regulations. Meeting European health standards will probably take the local dairy sector at least three years, estimates Fikri Toros, head of the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce. For cheese enthusiasts in Europe, it will be worth the wait.

New toolkit for dairy ventilation

New toolkit for dairy ventilation

There are several benefits when dairy facilities are mechanically ventilated.

“You have more control of the air flow through the facility, and you can orient the barn any way you choose because you’re not dependent on prevailing winds,” the veterinarian said. “We can build facilities for more cows in less square footage which takes up less land.”

One of the major challenges with tunnel barns, is air goes in the path of least resistance.

“Air wants to flow down the alleyways, and wherever the cow is living, we see much slower air speed,”. “So we’ve gravitated back to fans over the resting space as we’ve done in naturally ventilated barns.”

One of the immediate advantages of a cross-vent barn is the air moves perpendicular to the feed lanes.

“However, at any cross alley or at the ends of barns, we see air coming out of the pens and flowing directly through the cross lanes at fast speeds,”

Baffles can be used to re-direct the air and get the fast moving air in the resting space.

“Baffles do a great job in these facilities,”

“The stall is a micro-climate within a cow barn that we have to make sure there is sufficient air flow through,” 

Dairy ventilation

Dairy ventilation

 As dairy facilities have increased in size and cows’ milk production has increased, which results in more heat generated, dairymen are looking for different options to ventilate barns.

“Generally, cows do quite well in a range of temperatures from 40 to 70 degrees,” “But cows become heat stressed at lower temperatures than humans are bothered by heat.”

In addition, the veterinarian noted, a cow that produces 120 pounds of milk will produce twice as much heat as a cow that is producing 40 pounds of milk.

With naturally-ventilated buildings, air enters through the eaves, is warmed by the animals and leaves through the ridge.

“That flow of air requires adequate interior roof slope of a minimum 1 in 4 slope,” the doctor said. “When the wind blows, that will assist that air flow by creating negative pressure around the ridge and helping draw the air out of the barn.”

As the dairy industry has expanded and dairymen have added cows to their herds, they also have built additional barns.

“That single barn on top of the hill that did us quite well with natural ventilation is challenged when we build multiple facilities because the barn down downwind will provide a shadow to the next barn,”

Help cows keep their cool

Critical for dairymen to reduce heat in facilities

Critical Elements Of Ventilation Design

fast moving air in the resting environment.
Sufficient air changes per hour to remove heat and moisture from the barn.
System should

work as well in the winter as it does in the summer.