Digest Highlights

• 2018 dairy cow slaughter highest in three decades 
• Dean Foods considering business options
• Renewable Dairy Fuels expands at Fair Oaks Farms
• GI cheese name restrictions mean severe economic consequences to U.S. dairy
• February Class IV price improves
• Idaho company plans large aseptic milk facility
• Pennsylvania farm bill includes focus on dairy
• Minnesota program offers cash flow loans
• Dairy Forward Pricing Program reauthorized

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue laid out a tentative timeline for implementation of the new Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program before a recent House Ag Committee meeting. Dairy farmers enrolling in the program will likely see the first indemnity payments in early July.

Tom Vilsack, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), updated dairy producers and industry representatives on dairy export efforts during the Western Dairy Management Conference on Feb. 26 in Reno, Nevada.

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program, the dairy industry’s on-farm quality assurance program, this week released proposed Animal Care Version 4.0 standards for input from industry stakeholders.

Digest Highlights

• Cropp-Stephenson outlook more optimistic
• NMPF lays out road map for FDA ‘dairy’ labeling rules
• Dairy margins started February flat
• MPP-Dairy margin dips below $8 per cwt
• Class I base price inches closer to $16
• Interest rates start year higher
• USDA dairy export outlook mixed
• New York: 2018 dairy financial numbers reviewed
• Minnesota offers school milk cooler grants

Dairy’s four-year struggle with lower prices of milk has taken a toll on the value of cows that produce it. Preliminary January 2019 U.S. quarterly replacement dairy cow prices averaged $1,140 per head, levels seen more than two decades ago.

You’re busy – milking cows, managing employees and attending farm meetings and conferences. With that in mind, Progressive Dairyman looks at issues in the news impacting you and your dairy business.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include MPP-Dairy margin calculations for December. Dairy producers insured at the $8 per hundredweight (cwt) margin level will see a payment of about 15 cents per cwt. USDA staff members continue to catch up on reports that were delayed during the partial government shutdown, and Feb. 20 brought to light milk production, price and income margin data from December 2018.

We don’t know precisely when enrollment will be opened for the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, but once it does, those dairy farmers insuring margins on the first 5 million pounds of milk at the top margin level should see an early payback.

The number of U.S. farms restructuring debt by filing Chapter 12 were down slightly last year, but the dairy economy likely figured prominently in states where bankruptcy filings were higher.