Industry News

The past four years have been financially challenging for U.S. dairy farmers. That’s a relatively long time without a “good” year to give some relief.

When final numbers are in, 2018 milk production in the 10 Southeast states will be down about 4 percent from 2017, according to Calvin Covington, retired dairy co-op executive.

Profitability and equity erosion continue to be a concern in the Northeast, according to Zach Myers, former North Carolina dairy farmer who is now the dairy risk education manager for Pennsylvania’s Center for Dairy Excellence.

The two dairy behemoths on the opposite ends of the Southwest – Texas and California – have been on somewhat divergent paths over the past couple of years.

A recent newsletter from the Federal Reserve district of Chicago, summarizing survey responses from commercial ag bankers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin, said the region’s dairy sector was under the most stress of any in agriculture. Nonetheless, like spring, some optimism is emerging.

Editor’s note: At Progressive Dairyman’s press deadline, more than 1,830 dairy cows in Washington’s Yakima Valley reportedly perished as a winter storm hit the county, dumping up to 2 feet of snow and carrying 30- to 80-mile-per-hour winds.