The second half of 2025 is off to a strong start with July’s U.S. dairy product exports soaring 7% (14,144 metric tons) year over year in milk solid equivalents, which was the second-largest volume moved in any month aside from August 2022.

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission released the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy on Sept. 9. The plan, with more than 120 initiatives to reverse America’s childhood chronic disease epidemic, includes restoring whole milk in schools.

In dairy-related news the second week of September 2025: Legislation introduced to safeguard farmers’ privacy and protect USDA data, Danone announces Ohio yogurt plant expansion, Milk’s Got Game returns, and 2025 Expo en Español topics are outlined.

Following a mixed bag of milk prices in July, the August Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Class and Component Prices report released Sept. 4 indicates milk prices declined for Classes II, III and IV, with Class IV showing the largest drop of 39 cents per hundredweight (cwt) due to butter and nonfat dry milk prices also coming down.

In the news affecting a dairy producer's bottom line this first week of September 2025: The USDA outlines a plan to strengthen the rural veterinary workforce, farmer sentiment weakens, the GDT index tumbles 4.3%, and Westby Cooperative Creamery announces a $14 million expansion.

Modest milk price recovery and steady consumer demand helped stabilize revenue growth for the world’s largest dairy companies in 2024, according to the latest annual international report from Rabobank.

The USDA released a report in early August that forecast record corn yields this fall – production surpassing 16 billion bushels with a record-high yield of 188.8 bushels per acre. The announcement created buzz in the markets, which only further aided dairy producers’ income over feed cost (IOFC) outlook for the remainder of the year.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its Agricultural Prices report Aug. 29, which includes feed costs and milk prices used to calculate the July Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program margins and indemnity payments.

In dairy-related news at the end of August 2025: a CoBank report shows dairy heifer inventories to shrink further before rebounding in 2027, checkoff launches an innovation contest for students, World Dairy Expo announces new trade show booth awards, and Dairy MAX names a new CEO.

Lender surveys from Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City Federal Reserve districts demonstrated another weak quarter as interest rates on agricultural loans declined in the second quarter of 2025.