It’s become a tradition for the Progressive Dairyman team to scope out new products, ideas and innovations to share with readers following World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. The 2017 show, with a theme of “Discovering New Dairy Worlds,” had plenty to offer.

With increasing U.S. milk production outpacing growth in domestic consumption, the global market will become more important as an outlet for U.S. sales. U.S. dairy marketing leaders outlined efforts to boost U.S. dairy product exports during a press conference at World Dairy Expo, Oct. 4, in Madison, Wisconsin.

My husband, Eric, and I have officially been owners of the farm for almost three months. We finished our corn silage recently, which made our first summer of harvesting our own crops complete. This means we have survived busy summer weekends, crazy weeks, finding a babysitter and everything else that comes along with farming in a summer.

Today, a grazing dairy operation is not just a small farm with a handful of cows on a hillside. In fact, the definition of grazing has evolved – and all grass-based operations can fall under different categories.

We’re into the fourth quarter of 2017. Looking back to late summer, August might have provided the high point for prices and margins.

Digest Highlights: MPP-Dairy has late-filing provision. McCarty, VanTilburg families form Ohio dairy partnership. NMPF targets dairy imitation products. Despite hurricane damage, cottonseed supplies should be ample. Find a summary of these stories and updates on previous Progressive Dairyman news stories here.

At the end of the school year last year, Tucker and Cassidy pulled me into an aisle during our weekly Theisen’s trip. “Mommy, we want a drone,” Tucker said. “I have tons of money in my savings account. Can we get it?”

Taking risks out of federal milk marketing order (FMMO) Class I (fluid) milk marketing could benefit processors and farmers, and stem the tide of declining fluid milk sales, according to John Newton, Market Intelligence director with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

Change is never easy, and the shift from milking in a parlor to robotic milking is anything but simple, but for Dan Barnes of Barnes Black and White Farm in Shoreham, Vermont, the addition of robotic milking to his dairy operation has come with big rewards.

Cold temperatures are here and winter is quickly approaching. As the temperatures drop, calf barns are closed up and the ventilation rates are turned down. As an industry we do this reflexively, but is it what's best for the calves?