Last quarter’s export-assisted sales were the equivalent of 870,209 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

A few years ago, no one had heard of an ice cream called “Halo Top.” In August of 2017, the high-protein, low-fat, low-sugar brand was leading all other ice creams in grocery store pint sales. And your dairy checkoff helped make that happen.

In a meeting of football and farming, Minnesota dairy farmers from across the state served as ambassadors at Midwest Dairy’s Fuel Up to Play 60 booth. All week long, more than 60 dairy farmers shared their stories at the 2018 Super Bowl Experience event from Jan. 27 to Feb. 3 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. 

In addition to keeping a lid on milk production growth, many dairy analysts believe exports will be key to reversing slumping U.S. milk prices. December 2017 exports helped lay the groundwork for 2018, according to Alan Levitt, U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) vice president of communications and market analysis.

Proponents of California’s entry into the Federal Milk Marketing Order system (FMMO) received an unforeseen delay when the USDA announced it would wait for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding administrative law judges before moving forward.

Contrary to U.S. dairy cattle inventories, statistics for the U.S. dairy goat population are a little harder to come by. Milk goats have been included in the five-year U.S. Census of Agriculture for some time, but it wasn’t until 2005 that the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) began reporting the number of milk goats on its annual sheep and goats report.

Digest Highlights: Proposed legislation would refund unused MPP-Dairy premiums. CDFA denies milk price hike hearing. Global dairy product prices get a boost. Find a summary of this and other news here.

Despite mounting pressures on milk prices, the size of the U.S. dairy herd is expected to grow in 2018. It has a head start, with cow and replacement heifer numbers up a combined 80,100 compared to a year earlier, based on USDA’s semiannual estimate of dairy cows and heifers. Meanwhile, prices for both replacement and cull cows have been weaker.

A year ago, dairy “groundhogs” were poking their heads out of barns and milking parlors, optimistic 2017 would bring better financial times – a prediction that didn’t last. The USDA’s latest price and margin reports foreshadow a more cautious outlook for 2018.

Wisconsin dairy producers and industry members came in from the bitter cold to hear about hot topics at the fourth annual Dairy Strong conference, held at the Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin, Jan. 17-18.