Digest Highlights

• USDA adding $120 million to ‘Section 32’ dairy purchases
• Class III and IV futures prices improve
• Global Dairy Trade index lower
• Pennsylvania dairy campaign urges consumers to buy local
• USDA offers new, 30-year regional CRP pilot program
• Progressive Dairy COVID-19 resources

There’s no disputing the dairy farmer income destruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is, however, some good news emerging for producers and the dairy supply chain, according to presenters on a Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin The Dairy Signal podcast, May 5.

U.S. milk quality – measured in terms of somatic cell counts (SCC) – improved again in 2019, according to the annual summary of Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) test-day results.

Editor's note: This article has been updated from the original to include additional comments. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded its investigation into proposed acquisitions of bankrupt Dean Foods’ facilities by Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Prairie Farms Dairy, ordering three of 44 plants purchased by DFA must be divested to satisfy antitrust obligations.

Digest Highlights

• Quarterly dairy replacement cow prices slide a little
• USDA buying dairy products
• USDA funding Dairy Business Innovation initiatives
• Progressive Dairy COVID-19 resources

The first of what is likely to be many months of Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) payments for enrolled producers has begun.

U.S. dairy and congressional leaders continue to push for elimination of payment caps on direct payments to producers under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). The program was announced by the USDA on April 17, but specific details related to how producer payments will be calculated has not been released as of April 30.

Editor’s note: On April 29, USDA Ag Marketing Service Administrator Bruce Summers announced the agency would not move forward on the request for a public hearing to consider temporarily raising the Class I base price. Read the full statement here. The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has received a request for an emergency hearing to consider a temporary increase in the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Class I base price to help dairy farmers through a period of extremely low milk prices. However, the request is also raising concerns over long-term implications of the proposal.

Digest Highlights

• May 2020 Class I base down $6.38 from December, emergency floor sought
• April Class III and Class IV prices down more than $3
• Dairy cow slaughter lags 2019
• Dairy export ‘signposts’ revised
• National Farmers proposes farm foreclosure moratorium, single FMMO
• Navigable Waters Protection Rule replaces WOTUS
• CFAP ‘food box’ distribution timeline outlined
• Progressive Dairy COVID-19 resources

While dairy producers continue to wait for details regarding the direct federal financial aid they’ll receive under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), those participating in dairy risk management programs should start to see indemnity payments later this spring. However, less than half of U.S. annual milk marketings are covered under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) programs.