Reaching breeding size sooner. Improving conception rates with fewer services. Achieving an earlier age at first calving. Healthier first-calf heifers and calves. Don’t you want it all on your farm?

Digest Highlights: EPA petitions for farm emissions reporting delay. California takes another step in creating federal order. Texas adds CAFOs to drone protection statute. Find a summary of these and other news here.

U.S. dairy exports in the first half of 2017 were the most in three years, according to a monthly summary from Alan Levitt, vice president of communications and market analysis at the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC). Sales were led by record volumes of nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder and whey products, as well a 24-percent year-over-year gain in cheese exports.

Editor's note: The CEO Corner contains editors' compilations of business news from top publications, which they have tailored for the dairy industry. It’s fair time, but that doesn’t mean you need to pay for a ride to get your stomach to do some remarkable acrobatics. You’re already a farmer braving a volatile milk market because dairying is what you love to do.

Many of my Progressive Dairyman articles address topics without a direct impact on cows, calves, facilities or feed. Such is the case with this month’s feature (“Take this dairy farm to be your life”), in which we dive into the emotional topic of generational transfers within the potential legal entanglements of divorce or death.

When brown water starts coming out of kitchen faucets and filling bathtubs, it is concerning for all involved. One of the first reactions is to point fingers. Local residents point to area dairy farmers and vice versa.

The abundance and quality of forages for dairy cattle are impacted by weather and growing conditions. Despite our best management efforts, there is always a looming risk that adverse events will lead to a shortage of home-grown forages.

Evidence shows feeding a negative dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) diet of -8 to -12 meq per 100-gram ration dry matter for the last three weeks prior to calving can help prevent a rapid decline in blood calcium around calving and improve cow health and performance in the subsequent lactation.

Non-nutritive feed components have become a lightning rod topic over the past six to 12 months. A promising growing season in 2016 yielded less than desirable quality and some contaminants in many regions.

Consistently achieving high milk production requires performing a balancing act. The goal is to produce the most milk with the greatest market value possible for the least cost. The cornerstone of most rations supporting high production while maintaining excellent animal health is high-quality forage.