Meadow Gold recalls dairy products in four states

The Meadow Gold Dairy plant in Boise, ID, is voluntarily recalling Meadow Gold brand Old Style whipping cream and Meadow Gold DairyPure brand whipping cream and half and half because insufficient pasteurization may have failed to kill pathogens in the products.

No illnesses had been reported in connection to the products as of the posting of the recall notice June 1 on the Food and Drug Administration’s website.

“It is possible that pathogens present in raw milk, including Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, and/or E. coli, may have survived and, if ingested, could cause serious or life threatening issues,” the dairy company stated in the recall notice.

“The recall involves approximately 10,000 units of the affected product, which was distributed in four states including Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah through numerous retail outlets and food service settings. The company is actively notifying customers and is in the process of retrieving the affected product.”

The recalled whipping cream and half and half can be identified by the following label information:

    Meadow Gold DairyPure Half and Half — Quarts with UPC number 4190007913, date of 06-17-16, and plant code of 16-05;
    Meadow Gold “Old Style” Whipping Cream — Pints with UPC number 1570013313, date code of 06-24-16, and a plant code of 16-05;
    Meadow Gold DairyPure Whipping Cream — Half pints with UPC number 1570010018, date code of 06-24-16, and plant code of 16-05;
    Meadow Gold DairyPure Whipping Cream — Quarts with UPC number 1570013210, date of 06-24-16, and plant code of 16-05; and
    Meadow Gold DairyPure Whipping Cream — Gallons with UPC number 1570016615, date of 06-24-16, and plant code 16-05.

Meadow Gold Dairy officials discovered the potential problem during a routine review of production records, according to the recall notice.

“Consumers who have this product should not consume it. They should discard it and may return the product package to the place of purchase for a full refund or exchange,” according to the recall notice. “Consumers with questions can contact the company at 800-587-2259 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time.”

Resource: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/06/meadow-gold-recalls-dairy-products-in-four-states/#.V2kpkzUpfIU

Dairy prices hit 4-month top, despite whole milk powder weakness

Dairy prices rose to their highest level since January at the GlobalDairyTrade auction, but benchmark whole milk powder prices were down, amid ideas that New Zealand dairy production has been much better than previously thought.

Dairy prices, as measured by the GlobalDairyTrade index, rose by 3.4% at the latest bi-monthly auction event.

But the rise disguised diverging fortunes, as whole milk powder prices fell back 1.7%, while prices for skimmed milk powder soared 12.1%.

Premium narrows

The jump in skimmed milk powder marks a change in fortunes for the commodity, which has been falling back against whole milk powder.

At the last the discount of skimmed milk powder to whole milk powder reached $593 a tonne, the highest since October 2013.

After Wednesday's auction, the premium stands at just $338 a tonne.

Supportive summer

The performance for whole milk powder prices was slightly worse than expected, with production from New Zealand, the world's top exporter and the dominant player in whole milk powder markets, proving more resilient than thought.

"New Zealand late‑season production has held up better than expected thanks to good summer pasture availability," said Tobin Gorey, at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Dairy Australia said New Zealand's production had fallen less than expected, due to "with timely rainfall and warm temperatures maintaining good pasture cover in many regions".

And for farmers who use feed in addition to pasture" lower demand and a shortage of storage for supplementary feeds such as feed grains, palm kernel and maize silage are contributing to sharp price reductions for these products," the industry body said.

Milk production in New Zealand was down 2.1% year on year between June 2015 and March 2016, Dairy Australia said, with overall production in the year to May 31 2016 down by just 3%.

Earlier in the season there was talk that production might fall by as much as 10%.

Global surplus

Dairy Australia warned that globally, "supply continues to outpace demand," and inventories are building up, particularly in Europe.

"The European Union continues to produce significant growth, while US farmers have seen margins cushioned by cheap feed grain prices."

"These stocks will likely slow any emerging price recovery," the industry body said.

Australian production to fall

Still, Australian production is expected ease due to lower prices paid to farmers.

Australian farmers in the southern, export-focused regions saw cuts to farmgate milk prices in April and May of this year.

"Although it remains too early to quantify the impact of the recent milk price cuts, it is clear that farmer confidence will be significantly impacted," Dairy Australia said.

But this fall in confidence could result in lower output in 2016-17, which would be supportive for the global milk market.

"As always, regional variation is expected, but a national volume total below that of 2015-16 is considered highly likely," Dairy Australia said.
Resource:  http://www.agrimoney.com/news/dairy-prices-hit-4-month-top-despite-whole-milk-powder-weakness--9607.html

Aging processing plants have exceeded capacity, forcing producers to dump skim milk daily

Already forced for months to dump skim milk because there isn’t enough processing capacity in Ontario, a bad situation could get worse if action isn’t taken to modernize aging plants, Ontario’s dairy farmers are warning.

In testimony before the Senate’s Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, Peter Gould, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Ontario said there could be a devastating impact on rural Ontario and rural Canada in the absence of a well-thought-out strategy.

“The status quo is not an option. Doing nothing is not an option,” Gould said. “It’s not a pretty picture.”

Processing plants that turned skim milk into powder hit their capacity 12 months ago in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. The industry has been disposing of skim milk almost every day since, he said.

Tens of millions of kilograms of skim milk have been used for animal feed, the lowest-priced market. Some skim milk has been dumped into lagoons or manure pits.

Canada has a dozen processing plants that make skim milk powder in a system that uses dryers. Out of the 12, 10 of the dryers are more than 40 years old, Gould said.

“For all practical purposes, they have outlived their useful life. In fact, any one of those dryers can fail at any time.”

Building new plants to replace the dryers will cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars and would take about three years, he estimated.

Dairy farming is the largest agricultural sector in Ontario with most of the province’s 3,800 dairy farms located in Southwestern Ontario.

The president of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada Jacques Lefebvre agreed with Gould’s bleak evaluation of the situation.

“The way it has been presented is pretty accurate,” Lefebvre said Tuesday.

The limited skim milk processing capacity also constrains Canada’s ability to produce enough butter to meet growing market demand, Gould testified.

Business is being turned away and it is questionable if the industry will ever be able to recapture the lost opportunities, he said.

Lefebvre said the positive part of the challenge facing the dairy sector is that there now is unprecedented co-operation between processors and producers to modernize the system in Canada.

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario moved in April to create a new class of milk with prices designed to encourage processors to invest in new facilities.

“The challenge has been in Canada is we have not created a marketplace that is conducive to domestic processors investing in these modern plants because we price that use of skim at such a high level,” said Graham Lloyd, general counsel, for Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

The new class of milk has created a competitive marketplace, Lloyd said.
Resource: http://www.lfpress.com/2016/06/01/aging-processing-plants-have-exceeded-capacity-forcing-producers-to-dump-skim-milk-daily