Over the last several years working as an environmental consultant on dairies, I have heard one question from my clients over and over again: How do we remove solids from our synthetically lined lagoons? Unfortunately, I have learned that removing manure solids once they have accumulated in a lagoon is easier said than done.

Digest Highlights: The latest Global Dairy Trade auction provided some good news. Pacific Northwest dairy profitability faces large challenges in 2018, although there is slight optimism for the second half of the year. U.S. packaged fluid milk sales were down in November. Find a summary of this and other news here.

This month’s VAS tip is on feed management. Feed accounts for more than 50 percent of the cost of milk production – even the slightest variation in the process can swing milk production if inconsistencies and inefficiencies are not addressed.

Dairy farmers may find glimmers of sunshine in an otherwise dreary outlook, but they’ll have to weather the storm before seeing much price recovery.

The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance is a major concern for human and animal health worldwide. Consequently, there is increasing pressure to reduce antibiotic use in food-producing animals.

Mastitis is the most common bacterial disease on most dairy farms. According to Pamela Ruegg, a veterinarian for Michigan State University, 65 to 85 percent of all antibiotic handlings on-farm are used to treat and prevent mastitis.

When the vet of Cattail Dairy Farms, Dr. Glenn Johnson, first approached the Holig family about becoming the first-ever Food Armor certified farm, they had no idea they would gain so much. 

November 2017 U.S. dairy exports were the highest monthly total in more than a year, paced by record shipments of whey products, strong sales of cheese and milk powder, and improved volumes of butterfat, according to Alan Levitt, USDEC vice president of communications and market analysis.

With the U.S. dairy herd stubbornly near a two-decade high, cow numbers are frequently cited as a reason for excess milk production stretching processing capacity. While latest information from the USDA shows dairy cow slaughter is outpacing year-ago levels and stabilizing cow numbers, there’s also been renewed demand for dairy replacement heifers in foreign markets.

Digest Highlights: California producers approve quota plan. NMPF targets "almond milk yogurt" as doubly deceptive. Holstein Association USA had a record year. December margins weaken as milk class prices decline. Find a summary of this and other news here.