Industry News

An escalating trade war with China continues to cloud the future of U.S. agricultural exports, but February’s foreign sales of U.S. dairy product exports provided a glimmer of sunshine.

Digest Highlights: New Zealand culling herds with Mycoplasma bovis. More cottonseed should be available. Florida FMMO surcharge approved to cover hurricane costs. Find a summary of this and other news here.

With the lagging depressed prices in the U.S. dairy industry, the Wisconsin Farmers Union decided to host five meetings across the state in March to bring farmers together to speak about potential opportunities to stabilize dairy prices.

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will hold open enrollment for the 2018 Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy), April 9 through June 1.

The fate of a proposed Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) in California is now in the hands of the state’s dairy farmers. The USDA published a Federal Register notice advancing the proposed FMMO to a producer referendum, April 2 through May 5.

Editor's note: USDA announced the sign-up period for the 2018 Margin Protection Program for Dairy will be open from April 9 to June 1.

On the back of falling milk prices and increasing feed costs, February 2018’s Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) national average margin fell to the lowest level since June 2016, at $6.88 per hundredweight (cwt).