The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a guidance document on Aug. 11 announcing it will exercise discretion when enforcing the use and labeling of ultrafiltered (UF) milk. Additionally, the FDA will initiate the process to write final rules regulating UF milk used in the manufacture of all standardized cheeses and related cheese products covered by the federal standards of identity.

Summer doldrums characterized U.S. milk prices, but dairy replacement cow prices held fairly steady, and foreign demand for U.S. heifers is picking up steam heading into fall.

U.S. dairy farmers received a multiple dose of information to update milk income and feed cost forecasts. The USDA released its Crop Production report, which included the first survey-based projections for 2017 crop acreage and yields; along with its monthly World Ag Supply & Demand Estimates report, including 2017-2018 feed and dairy price estimates.

Dairy is the dog that wags the western U.S. hay market tail, but exports are starting to add more waggle.

It’s not yet coming in waves, but domestic and foreign ripples are impacting the U.S. hay market.

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.

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.

It should be one of the happiest days of any parent’s life: the day the son or daughter – the presumptive successor of the family dairy farm – gets married. Often unspoken, the day can also bring worry about the future of the family’s dairy farming legacy.

As hard as it may be to initiate legal and business strategy conversations related to divorce or death, a family farm successor and his or her spouse or intended spouse have good reasons to openly discuss and plan for their financial relationship.