The transition to colder temperatures has been accompanied by cooler markets. Here’s a look back at factors affecting prices and margins.

Digest Highlights: Bills address dairy labor, school milk issues. Danone expanding plant-based beverage operations. Find a summary of these stories and updates on previous Progressive Dairyman news stories here.

Blood meal prices are at their lowest since the USDA started reporting prices for the feedstuff in 2014.

While anti-dairy advocates and the dairy industry itself focus on declining fluid milk sales, there’s good dairy news: Latest USDA data shows 2016 U.S. per capita consumption of dairy products (on a milk-equivalent, milkfat basis) rose 16 pounds, the second-largest annual jump dating back to 1975.

This month’s VAS DC305 tip is on how somatic cell count can affect production. Everyone is conscious of what their bulk tank somatic cell count is because in many cases, it affects the milk check received. But somatic cell counts also affect the level of production that an animal will have, which also affects the milk check but not in an as-obvious way.

Update Highlights: Eli Lilly is reviewing ‘strategic alternatives’ for Elanco. Cargill to purchase Diamond V. Find a summary of these and other dairy industry-related news here.

Digest Highlights: NAFTA’s dairy issues grow more contentious. USDA providing dairy feed aid to Puerto Rico. Wisconsin dairy group and natural resources agency reach settlement. Find a summary of these stories and updates on previous Progressive Dairyman news stories here.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) officers have endorsed a proposal to change how federal milk marketing order (FMMO) Class I base prices are calculated. The proposal will be reviewed and voted on by the full NMPF board on Oct. 30, meeting in Anaheim, California, in conjunction with the joint annual meeting of NMPF, the National Dairy Board and the United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA).

Lower dairy product prices resulted in lower revenue for most dairy cooperatives in 2016, according to an annual report from the National Cooperative Bank. With the revenue decline, fewer dairy co-ops were listed among the nation's 100 largest cooperatives.

September 2017 U.S. milk production grew 1.1 percent compared to the same month a year earlier, the smallest year-over-year increase since May 2016. Declining cow numbers and a meager increase in milk output per cow slowed the overall growth rate, according to the USDA’s latest Milk Production report.