Highlights: President Trump has thrown his support behind a Senate bill to limit legal immigration. A proposed contract for ICE to lease jail space in Idaho’s Magic Valley raises area dairy fears. Find a summary of these and other immigration news here.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and its insurance affiliate, the American Farm Bureau Insurance Services (AFBIS), are preparing a final proposal to create a new dairy income insurance policy. To get producer input, AFBF/AFBSIS is conducting an on-line survey, seeking dairy farmer opinions on the proposed revenue protection insurance products.

The Dairy Business Association (DBA) of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Aug. 1, charging the agency with overreaching its legal authority on key regulations impacting the dairy industry.

Digest Highlights: ‘Dream Act’ seeks to protect young immigrants. Negotiators asked to defend cheese names in NAFTA. Health and taste have biggest impact on consumer choices for milk. FDA urged to act on imitation dairy labels. A Pew report reviews antibiotic alternatives. Find a summary of these and other news here.

The USDA’s monthly Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) calculations showed a slight improvement in June. Milk and feed futures prices point to continued improvement through the remainder of the year.

Digest Highlights: Employee I-9 forms have been revised again. NAFTA renegotiation talks are scheduled. Expanded CRP haying and grazing allowed in Northern Plains. Dairy co-ops donate milk, money. Find a summary of these and other news here.

Growth in U.S. milk production is slowing, but it’s not for lack of cows. The USDA released its June 2017 Milk Production report on July 20, estimating total U.S. milk production up about 1.6 percent compared to June 2016. It’s the smallest year-over-year increase since July 2016.

While the current Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) runs through the end of next year, an amendment included in a fiscal year (FY) 2018 agricultural spending bill could provide a head start for changes in the next farm bill.

A provision to provide dairy farmers with increased access to foreign-born workers has been included in a bill to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in fiscal year (FY) 2018. The amendment, offered by U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Washington), expands the federal H-2A farm worker visa program to include year-round employees on dairy farms.

Northeastern U.S. dairy producers have shown remarkable resilience in the face of falling revenues, according to the annual Northeast Dairy Farm Summary. However, sharply declining asset-to-liability ratios and growth in debt per cow are worrisome, according to presenters featured during a recent Farm Credit East webinar summarizing the 2016 results.