Dear Baxter, As a fellow veterinarian, I am hoping you can help me. My wife, Nancy, has two cow dogs that will readily obey commands to sit and stay – until they get near a cow.

Digest Highlights: Dairy organizations launch campaign to show dairy industry’s economic impact. House may take another vote on 2018 Farm Bill in late June. March fluid milk sales down again. Most common agribusiness insurance claims revealed. Find these and other news summaries affecting dairy farmers here.

The news is mixed as a deadline looms for dairy farmers facing the loss of their milk markets on June 1.

Missouri lawmakers passed a bill on May 17 enacting labeling requirements to clarify if “meat” products are sourced from animals or not. 

Important dates to participate in either of two available federal dairy income margin insurance programs are approaching.

April 2018 U.S. milk production posted its smallest year-over-year increase dating back to January 2016, inserting some optimism into the price picture.

Over the last three years, the top 10 types of agribusiness claims have accounted for more than 50,000 claims received by Nationwide. To help educate agribusiness professionals about costly trends in the industry, Nationwide has released its most common commercial agribusiness insurance claims. Below are the top 10 commercial agribusiness claims received by Nationwide in 2017:

On average, dairies lose 5 to 15 percent of their calves in the first three weeks of life due to scours, making it the number one killer of calves. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. With the right tools and protocols, it is possible to maintain less than a 1.5 percent death loss in these young calves.

Dairy sector economics have been challenging. On one hand, the U.S. and world economies are growing with increasing demand for dairy products, particularly butter and cheese. On the other hand, since Europe removed its milk quotas a few years ago and Canada tweaked its pricing system, the additional milk supply worldwide is outstripping this growing demand.

When did weaning calves become a race? Except it’s not a race to see who can wean them quickest; it feels like we’re bragging as to who can leave them on milk longer. Lately, it feels like farmers are trying to raise bigger calves. But is bigger better? Shouldn’t we be striving for more productive, efficient calves?