Milk options purchased in better price season benefit Prichard dairy

     National Farmers National Board Member Wayne Prichard farms near Battle Creek, Mich., with his wife, Linda, and son, Heath. Many farms in their area have been part-time in recent years.
     But for the Prichards, with an 80-cow milking herd and a 1,100 plus-acre grain operation, farming is a lifelong, more-than-full-time, pursuit. And those part-time farms nearby? The Prichards rent much of that land, so the farms are full-time today.
     Battle Creek's name is famous nationally for Kellogg's and Post, but diverse farms with everything from dairy cows to wheat and apples, and small automotive component factories, are key parts of the business landscape there as well.
     The Prichards tend to their own business landscape very well by looking to National Farmers for marketing and risk management help when it comes to raising farm prices. And on the dairy side, National Farmers UltraOptions has helped them.
     "A year ago this spring, when prices were really where they should have been all along and going up, some people were saying the prices would be higher in the fall 2008," Wayne said. "Others were saying there's a chance they wouldn't be."
     So, Wayne Moore, who coordinates UltraOptions and UltraFutures for the Dairy Division, had called staff, and told them where options should be in terms of price and cost. Prichard had a background with options already, having purchased them in the past.
     "At the time, it seemed like a good idea to protect the prices," Wayne said. He also understands that it's better when a producer doesn't need to collect on them.
     "But I took four months of them, and the price dropped, and it was nice to have what was missing out of the milk check. It was $2,000 per month for four months."
     "We were really thankful we had the options program last fall," he said. "I wish we'd taken out more."
     The Prichards also count on National Farmers for the standard milk marketing services. "In our experience with Milk Profits Plus, one of the big plusses, we had one of the first non-BST milk markets in the country," Wayne explained.
     The Prichards shipped their milk through that market, and later on National Farmers developed the non-BST milk program statewide.
     "We shared part of the premiums on it," he said. "If it wasn't for NFO, the non-BST program would not have happened. None of the other milk plants were offering that at the time."
     Prichard appreciates the help he receives from those he works with at National Farmers, too. He enjoys a good relationship with the haulers and field staff, he said.
     "My biggest thought is, when I think of NFO, they do a good job of marketing my product," he said. "Why I joined NFO, I don't think the system we have now is the system we should have. NFO is the only co-op that's acknowledged we need to price milk another way."

Fields of grain
     The farmland in the Prichards' area of southern Michigan varies from flat and sandy irrigated fields to land that rolls, and ground that serves its best purpose simply for hunting.
     On their 180-acre home farm, the land is mostly tillable. "We have probably half of our home farm in permanent pasture that we rotational graze on," Prichard explained. The balance is in grain. They rent about 1,000 acres nearby.
     Prichard spoke highly of National Farmers' grain marketing program, as well. "We have had opportunities in the last couple of years to lock in some good prices," he said. " We have good storage and drying facilities, so we're not forced into selling at harvest.
     We have enough to sell at harvest to cover cash rent, then we space out the rest of the sales throughout year, depending on whatever is best with the markets. We had the opportunity to lock in some prices that were a profit...NFO crop insurance works with that to protect the sales. It's a combination working together."

Tricks of the trade
     Through the years, the Prichards have found a variety of practices that have paid off either in time, with freedom from hassles, or in money.
     "The biggest change we've made is rotational grazing over the regular pasture that we used to do," Wayne said "We get a lot better use out of our pastures." They supplement the pastures with feed out of silos, and still feed out of the bunk year round - and they have fewer hoof problems.
     "I've never trimmed a cow's hoof," he said. "That's not to say some couldn't have been trimmed, but we've had no problems with them."
     And on the Michigan farm, they are gentle on the cows. The Prichards put the cows first, not pushing them too hard in terms of production.

Closed herd
     And, while the Prichard's are friendly folks, they run a closed dairy herd. They buy bull calves from someone Wayne knows. They know they will receive good genetics from their source, and they keep raising bulls so they are coming up all the time.
     One is in with open heifers for a year, then a new one goes in with them. We've had times the bulls have been in with the heifers for a year, so when we move him in with the cows, we know he's doing the job.
     "We get rid of the bulls at three years, before they get cross. We've been doing that for 30 years, and it's worked for us."
     Wayne and his son Heath dehorn their own cows, and they used to vaccinate all their heifers, but discontinued that in the last two years. "Our vet talked us out of out of that. Since we've got a closed herd, they didn't think it was necessary. The only time we see a vet is for a pregnancy check, three or four times a year.," Wayne said.
     Linda, Wayne and Heath work together to assure everything gets done just the way it needs to on the farm. Heath and his wife, Rhonda have two sons, Brandon, a college sophomore, and Justin, a high school senior. "That's the major workforce on the farm," Wayne said. Rhonda, works as a medical assistant at a nearby clinic.
     Wayne has been a National Farmers member for 16 years. "I'm proud of the fact that we take the lead on issues affecting farmers," he said.
     Wayne has served on National Farmers' national board for four years, has served as state president for five years and has been county president for 10 years. He is the alternate on the Mideast Milk Marketing Agency with several other co-ops in the five-state region, of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky.