Editor's note: Updated with House passage of the bill.

After nearly six months in limbo, the 2018 Farm Bill – including substantial improvements in the federal dairy safety net – received critical approval in rapid succession this week.

Digest Highlights

• EPA proposes repeal, replacement of Waters of the U.S.
• Dairy-RP activity nears 4.5 billion pounds of milk
• Wisconsin to host 18 Dairy-RP, MPP-Dairy informational meetings
• Canola meal values in dairy ration updated
• Premier Select Sires merger effective Jan. 1
• Official judges selected for 53rd World Dairy Expo

Citing declining milk cow numbers and slower growth in milk per cow, the USDA’s December World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report cut milk production forecasts for both 2018 and 2019. However, the outlook for less milk again didn’t translate into improved milk price projections for either year.

If you tuned into a news station or scrolled through social media over the past 12 months, odds are it didn’t brighten your day. Looking at the year in review, top headlines proclaimed political scandals, more mass shootings, horrific wildfires and just about anything to do with President Donald Trump.

Paying taxes is painful. We all hate to write a check to the IRS; however, sometimes paying taxes is more important for operational health and long-term wealth generation than spending profits to avoid them.

All too often it seems spouses may pay more attention to crop production than they do to their marriage partnerships, and the cracks can really show.