Industry News

U.S. milk quality – measured in terms of somatic cell counts (SCC) – improved again in 2019, according to the annual summary of Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) test-day results.

Editor's note: This article has been updated from the original to include additional comments.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded its investigation into proposed acquisitions of bankrupt Dean Foods’ facilities by Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Prairie Farms Dairy, ordering three of 44 plants purchased by DFA must be divested to satisfy antitrust obligations.

Digest Highlights

• Quarterly dairy replacement cow prices slide a little
• USDA buying dairy products
• USDA funding Dairy Business Innovation initiatives
• Progressive Dairy COVID-19 resources

The first of what is likely to be many months of Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) payments for enrolled producers has begun.

U.S. dairy and congressional leaders continue to push for elimination of payment caps on direct payments to producers under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). The program was announced by the USDA on April 17, but specific details related to how producer payments will be calculated has not been released as of April 30.

Editor’s note: On April 29, USDA Ag Marketing Service Administrator Bruce Summers announced the agency would not move forward on the request for a public hearing to consider temporarily raising the Class I base price. Read the full statement here.

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has received a request for an emergency hearing to consider a temporary increase in the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Class I base price to help dairy farmers through a period of extremely low milk prices. However, the request is also raising concerns over long-term implications of the proposal.