If it feels like negative headlines targeting dairy and other animal-sourced foods are showing up more often, you’re unfortunately not wrong or imagining things. From lawsuits and undercover “rescues” to viral misinformation campaigns, animal activist activity is reaching new heights in 2025, backed by record-high funding.

During a Dairyland Initiative podcast episode, Courtney Halbach and Dr. Nigel Cook discussed how to manage sand bedding in freestalls. Progressive Dairy visited with Cook to follow up on a few of the topics covered and discuss the most important points he would like dairy producers to know when bedding freestalls with sand.

The milk production forecast for 2025 is unchanged from the previous month, based on the data in the most recent Milk Production report. Estimated at 231.4 billion pounds, it was unchanged from November’s report.

Low magnesium-containing mineral sources with high availability can still make a meaningful contribution to the magnesium status of your herd, and differences in solubility should be priced accordingly. Paying attention to solubility and payload ensures that every gram of mineral in the diet delivers value to the cow.

In the news related to dairy farming the second week of December: The Trump administration announces $12 billion farmer bridge payments, the USDA announces plans to expand crop insurance access for farmers, Wisconsin teamsters authorize strike at Actus Nutrition and Foremost Farms, another New World screwworm case detected in northern Mexico, and Tyson Foods announced plans to close a Nebraska beef plant.