Progressive Dairy reviews the USDA’s latest World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Crop Production reports to identify potential influences on dairy producer income.

Roughly 40% of all U.S. dairy farms have non-family member employees, and about 70% of those workers are immigrant employees.

The swell of placements in September, along with less marketing, left the U.S. feedlot inventory with a total of 11.6 million head as of Oct. 1, 2023, according to the USDA’s October Cattle on Feed report.

With improving milk prices and margins and tightening cow numbers, average prices for U.S. replacement dairy cows moved to an eight-year high in October.

Struggling cheese and protein prices weakened the Class III price, offsetting strong butterfat and Class IV prices and widening the Class III-IV price spread, adding substantial Class IV depooling incentives.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its latest Ag Prices report on Oct. 31, including factors used to calculate September 2023 Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) margins and indemnity payments.

Here is a brief look at the news affecting dairy producers as October 2023 comes to a close.

Without a 2023 Farm Bill or temporary extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program expires at the end of the calendar year.

USDA organic dairy programs, production data collection and risk management support would increase under a bill introduced in the Senate.

Contributing to the smaller milking herd, about 2.38 million head of dairy cull cows were marketed through U.S. slaughter plants during January-September 2023, up about 101,500 from the same period in 2022.