Dairy Days, Jan. 6-16 A series of dairy meetings will take place throughout the state Jan. 6-16. Dairy producers and advisors can learn more about forage quality factors and alfalfa alternatives, cost of culling cows, 15-month calving intervals, and news in reproductive technology. During the noon hour, producers will have an opportunity to provide input at the Minnesota Milk Producers Forum. The local meetings will be Jan. 7 at the Blue Note Ballroom in Winsted, and Jan. 15, at the American Legion in Melrose. Meetings run 10 a.m.-3.p.m. The registration fee is $25 per person and $15 for each additional person from the same farm. For more information, contact Regional Dairy Specialist Jim Salfer at (320) 255- 6169. Farmer’s lung I gave a presentation about farm safety earlier this month. Over the years I have learned that, though people are not particularly interested in safety, it must be incorporated into meetings because it is an important topic. One topic which probably affects many local farm families is “farmer’s lung.” This allergy-related disease is usually caused by breathing in the dust from moldy crops including hay, grain or silage. Spores from these molds accumulate in the lungs and cause allergic-type pneumonia. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry irritating cough, fever and chills, and a rapid heart rate. These symptoms may appear four to eight hours after a person has been exposed to dusty grain or hay and usually decreases after 12 hours but can last longer. For employees in grain elevators who are exposed to dust on a daily basis, the symptoms may resemble a chest cold that is impossible to shake. Dust masks remove only a small percentage of dust from our lungs so why not invest in a respirator with separate cartridges for dusts and harmful vapors. Another solution is to have good ventilation and air circulation in the area that will remove spores from the air. Be extremely cautious when working with moldy grain and hay. Drought slows hay production Dairymen in our area probably have a fair supply of hay, but the supply is very tight in other parts of the midwest because of the drought this summer. Dan Martens sent results of the Nov. 20 hay auction in Sauk Centre. Medium square size bales with RFV of 176-200 averaged $115.83 per ton, RFV of 151-175 averaged $109.41 per ton, and RFV of 126-150 averaged $95.65 per ton. Loads within each RFV category varied significantly. The 151-175 RFV loads varied as much as $140 per ton on the high end to $85 per ton on the low end. SCN-resistant soybean variety Soybean cyst nematodes are gradually moving north in the state and populating our soybean fields. They seem to thrive in high pH soils but can be found in all types of soils where soybeans have been grown in the crop rotation. Finding good yielding SCN resistant varieties has been challenging in this part of the state where growers are looking for varieties in the 1.0 to 1.8 maturity group. Three varieties that stood out in the U of M variety test plots this year were Asgrow 2107, Mustang 194NRR, and Sands 2341NRR. For a more complete listing, visit Minnesota Soybean Growers Web site or call our office to receive a copy in the mail.
