The timing is critical to get help for the ag industry – and dairy producers in particular, argues Aaron Kiess, executive director of the California Alfalfa & Forage Association, in a recent editorial published by our sister publication, Western Farm Press.

Kiess would like action from Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack to shore up the dairy industry and better solutions to water shortages from California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

“Whenever a sector of the ag industry is in trouble,” Kiess writes, “other commodity groups should help as much as possible and expect the same in return if needed.

“In the case of the dairy industry, the forage industry obviously has a reason for seeing its No. 1 customer rebound. In CAFA’s September newsletter, hay market analyst Seth Hoyt summed it up this way: ‘While alfalfa hay prices will improve in the months ahead, the slow recovery in milk prices will also slow the recovery in hay prices.’ ”

Here’s the complete story: Clock ticking on dairy industry.