Industry News

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program, the dairy industry’s on-farm quality assurance program, this week released proposed Animal Care Version 4.0 standards for input from industry stakeholders.

Digest Highlights

• Cropp-Stephenson outlook more optimistic
• NMPF lays out road map for FDA ‘dairy’ labeling rules
• Dairy margins started February flat
• MPP-Dairy margin dips below $8 per cwt
• Class I base price inches closer to $16
• Interest rates start year higher
• USDA dairy export outlook mixed
• New York: 2018 dairy financial numbers reviewed
• Minnesota offers school milk cooler grants

Dairy’s four-year struggle with lower prices of milk has taken a toll on the value of cows that produce it. Preliminary January 2019 U.S. quarterly replacement dairy cow prices averaged $1,140 per head, levels seen more than two decades ago.

You’re busy – milking cows, managing employees and attending farm meetings and conferences. With that in mind, Progressive Dairyman looks at issues in the news impacting you and your dairy business.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include MPP-Dairy margin calculations for December. Dairy producers insured at the $8 per hundredweight (cwt) margin level will see a payment of about 15 cents per cwt.

USDA staff members continue to catch up on reports that were delayed during the partial government shutdown, and Feb. 20 brought to light milk production, price and income margin data from December 2018.

We don’t know precisely when enrollment will be opened for the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, but once it does, those dairy farmers insuring margins on the first 5 million pounds of milk at the top margin level should see an early payback.