The USDA needs to better reflect the dairy farm incomes lost to tariff retaliation when it calculates its next round of trade mitigation payments, according to a leader of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).

There is a lot of talk about the longevity of cows, but Ohio dairy producer Lambert VanderMade thought it was important enough to create a second setup just for older cows.

Activity in Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) increased in the program’s second week, based on information from USDA’s Risk Management Agency.

Slightly higher dairy product prices resulted in improved revenues for most dairy cooperatives in 2017, according to an annual report from the National Cooperative Bank (NCB). However, the increased revenues didn’t substantially change the dairy co-ops’ rankings, or their standing among the nation's 100 largest cooperatives.

Digest Highlights Culver's to send ‘care packages’ to Wisconsin dairy farmers New York seeks input from dairy farmers Fairlife introduces snack-sized beverages Northwest Girl Scouts can earn Dairy Patch Borden delivers milk, other beverages to Hurricane Michael victims Cheese may lower BMI Land O’Lakes, Gravie expanding farmer health insurance program for 2019 Petition filed over non-GMO label Livestock groups petition DOT for ‘hours of service’ flexibility New Zealand mycoplasma eradication effort expands Multiple factors impacting crop input outlook

September 2018 U.S. milk production increased about 1.3 percent from the same month a year earlier, but that wasn’t the most striking number in USDA’s monthly Milk Production report, released Oct. 19. The more eye-popping numbers were related to the size of the U.S. herd, which were retroactively reduced for June, July and August.

I had the opportunity to attend the Penn State versus Ohio State football game on Sept. 29. Unlike my college days, attending a game now requires much more planning. Back in May, I organized a block of tickets for a college alumni group.

See a need: Contrary to the image of fresh air and peaceful surroundings, thousands of farmworkers are injured, and hundreds more die in farming accidents every year.

You’re busy – milking cows, managing employees and wrapping up harvest. With that in mind, Progressive Dairyman launched this column: “What happened? What’s next?”

Our company has produced averages of our dairy clients’ profit and loss reports on a quarterly basis for dairies across the nation for many years. These reports provide our clients and others in the industry with valuable benchmarking data, which is difficult to obtain from other sources.