This summer, three standout social media campaigns from dairy organizations are aiming to provide food to the hungry. Each has its own special method, but all are utilizing various social media platforms to generate awareness, raise money and create a better future for both farmers and those in need.

Dairy farmers are finally receiving payments stemming from a 9-year-old lawsuit involving milk marketing practices in the Northeast U.S.

The bad news: July 2018’s Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) margin calculations indicate dairy incomes fell to levels seen earlier in the year. The good news: Milk prices have likely bottomed out.

Efforts to address farm milk prices and the imbalance between milk supply and demand continued in the Midwest last week with a teleconference coordinated by the Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU).

Digest Highlights Farm Bureau calculates potential state-by-state dairy tariff mitigation payments Farm bill conference committee sets public meeting, Sept. 5 Following Iowa murder, bill would mandate use of E-Verify a2 Milk gets Walmart dairy aisle space California bill targets restaurant beverage offerings Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board sets listening session Canadian cow numbers up slightly

Two collaborative research and extension teams, which include faculty from Washington State University, University of Idaho, USDA-ARS, University of Florida, University of Missouri, Colorado State University, Ohio State University and Cornell, will be offering a dairy cattle genomics workshop on Oct. 2 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Dairy farmers’ walks to the mailbox have not been fun this year. Through the first five months of 2018, average Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) “mailbox prices” – approximating the net price received by dairy farmers for milk after adding any premiums and deducting costs associated with hauling and marketing – was about $1.92 per hundredweight (cwt) less than the same period in 2017 (Table 1). For those with a longer memory, average mailbox prices were running $9 to $10 per cwt less than the record highs of 2014.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include information on sequestration and establishment of milk production histories for those dairy operations not enrolled in the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy). Most U.S. dairy farmers suffering economic losses from the ongoing tariff wars will receive about 12 cents per hundredweight (cwt) on half of their highest annual milk production history in 2011-13, according to a USDA announcement on Aug. 27. Dairy organizations were disappointed in the level of direct aid, estimated at $127.4 million.

You’re busy – milking cows, managing employees, making hay.

Earlier this summer, dairy breeders gathered for their respective annual meetings and conventions. See some of the highlights from the Holstein, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Red and White, Guernsey and Milking Shorthorn conventions, including association news, award winners and youth recognized for excellence.