In dairy-related news the last full week of September 2025: An animal affected by New World screwworm was found just 70 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border, dairy product contest awards announced, checkoff groups enhance dairy presence in schools and World Dairy Expo forage seminars are announced.

In the news affecting dairy producers' bottom lines in the middle of September 2025: the October Class I base milk price falls to $18.04, the Federal Reserve makes its first rate cut since December, the GDT index is down slightly, and fluid milk sales were down in July.

The milk production forecast for 2025 is raised on higher cow inventories and a faster rate of growth in milk output per cow. Estimated at 230 billion pounds of milk, it was raised 800 million pounds from last month’s report.

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.

The milk production forecasts for 2025 and 2026 are raised from last month. The cow inventories are raised for both years based on the most recent data in the NASS Milk Production report.

The milk production forecasts for both 2025 and 2026 are raised from last month based on higher cow inventories and an increased rate of growth in milk output per cow based on the latest information published in the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Milk Production report.