U.S. milk production posted another 1.8 percent increase in February, fueled primarily by year-over-year gains west of the Mississippi River. Cow numbers grew for a fourth consecutive month.

Digest Highlights: Whole milk sales stronger in January. Foremost Farms and MMPA formalize alliance. Agriculture ELD waiver extended. Find a summary of this and other news here.

The March 12, 2018, issue of Progressive Dairyman featured our annual regional snapshots of “the state of dairy” around the U.S. Expanded reports for individual regions are highlighted in this online series.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, announced a plan to provide payments to farmers when the national price for milk falls below $23.34 per hundredweight (cwt).

In a winter in search of warmer news for dairy farmers, the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) released January 2018 sales estimates indicating dairy product exports were up 9 percent compared to the same month a year earlier.

Digest Highlights: Canada’s dairy herd is larger. California’s FMMO is back on track. Milk dumping authority extended in Northeast. Find a summary of this and other news here.

The March 12, 2018, issue of Progressive Dairyman features our annual regional snapshots of “the state of dairy” around the U.S. Expanded previews for individual regions are highlighted in this online series.

Last year’s cautious optimism has been replaced by financial concern and worry for many U.S. dairy farmers. Here’s Progressive Dairyman’s “State of Dairy” regional snapshots for early 2018.

In terms of total annual value to U.S. crop producers, hay remains third (behind corn and soybeans) despite three years of lower prices and declining dry hay acreage. What will 2018 bring?

Digest Highlights: There’s no news on MPP-Dairy enrollment period yet. Maryland & Virginia co-op apologizes for reduced pay price. One-fourth of U.S. dairy herd is in ‘drought’ areas. Find a summary of this and other news here.