Themed “One team. Gold dreams,” the 2018 Dairy Calf and Heifer Association (DCHA) annual conference, set for April 10-12 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will challenge attendees to take their heifer-raising programs to the next level.

Texas has been a national leader in milk production growth, but even there the mood is “solemn,” according to Darren Turley, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen.

In March, Congress passed and President Trump signed the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill, formally called the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. What you might not have realized is that there are a number of provisions included within that bill that will significantly impact the dairy industry.

Digest Highlights: February dairy cow culling was the highest in six years. McDonald’s USA is adding white cheddar to menu items. Find a summary of this and other news here.

Progressive Dairyman recently asked a sampling of dairy farmers how bad milk prices were hurting their farm. The phone / email interview survey was conducted in March.

Already the largest dairy cooperative in the U.S., leaders of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) said the organization has higher aspirations.

U.S. milk production posted another 1.8 percent increase in February, fueled primarily by year-over-year gains west of the Mississippi River. Cow numbers grew for a fourth consecutive month.

Digest Highlights: Whole milk sales stronger in January. Foremost Farms and MMPA formalize alliance. Agriculture ELD waiver extended. Find a summary of this and other news here.

The March 12, 2018, issue of Progressive Dairyman featured our annual regional snapshots of “the state of dairy” around the U.S. Expanded reports for individual regions are highlighted in this online series.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, announced a plan to provide payments to farmers when the national price for milk falls below $23.34 per hundredweight (cwt).