Editor's note: CEO Corners are editors' compilations of business news from top publications, which they have tailored for the dairy industry. Given current dairy labor shortages, many producers are looking to automation to decrease their labor needs. But the dairy industry isn’t the only industry that finds automation attractive. McKinsey & Company, a global research and consulting firm, just released its top 10 list of the most popular business articles for the first quarter of 2017. Guess what topped the list? Automation.

Like their counterparts in conventional dairy farming, organic dairy farmers currently face an excess supply environment. However, rising demand points to a bright future for the U.S. organic milk industry, according to a new report from CoBank. Organic milk generates the highest sales of any certified organic commodity, and steady demand growth will lift organic fluid milk market share and further stimulate product innovation.

See A Need “I don’t want to be a dairy farmer.” These are not the words dairy farmers want to hear from their children. “We have spent a lifetime building our dairy business, and now we do not know who we will pass it on to.” These sentiments ripple across the dairy community.

More than 2,000 dairy farmers and allied industry representatives from 39 states attended the Professional Dairy Producers 2017 Business Conference, March 15-16 in Madison, Wisconsin.

One of the most beneficial outreach strategies we can do as a dairy industry is to put ourselves into situations where people aren’t expecting us to be.

With Congress expected to tackle immigration reform later this year, two bills introduced in the House of Representatives would provide dairy worker access under a revised federal guest worker program.

Editor's note: CEO Corners are editors' compilations of business news from top publications, which they have tailored for the dairy industry. United’s forced removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight offers several lessons for dairy producers. Here were my three general takeaways for dairy producers from the incident:

USDA’s monthly World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report reduced the 2017 U.S. milk production forecast, with a slowdown in the growth of milk per cow offsetting a larger U.S. dairy herd. Despite the reduction, USDA also cut projected 2017 milk and dairy product prices, citing large domestic and international supplies.

U.S. exports of milk powder, whey products and cheese trended higher in February, pushing overall U.S. dairy exports to $438.4 million, up 14 percent from last year (and up 18 percent adjusted for leap day), according to Alan Levitt, vice president of communications and market analysis at the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC).

Efforts are underway to find a marketing home for about 100 dairy farmers orphaned after two Wisconsin processors notified them they could no longer take their milk. Meanwhile, the farmers impacted by the loss of milk markets are being urged to contact their lenders, and review any risk management contracts.