Latest News From Processors

New York dairy farm families work hard to care for their cows, even when a historic snowstorm dumped three plus feet of snow on their farms.

The consumer no longer can absorb higher costs. Tanner Ehmke with CoBank says that lighter foot traffic is seen in some grocery stores, while discount retailers have seen a significant increase in foot traffic.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2023 DFA CoLAB Accelerator program. The 2023 program will focus on AgTech and help bring new technologies to DFA’s family farm-owners.

DMI is modernizing the checkoff strategy with a fresh organizational structure and a new three-year plan and budget that delivers immediate results and lays ground for long-term benefits for farmers and importers.

The current Farm Bill is due to expire in 2023. While that may still seem a long way away, unity in the dairy industry to create a 500-foot view will be essential to spell success for dairy with the next Farm Bill.

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) leadership unanimously endorsed a proposal to modernize the Federal Milk Marketing Order milk-pricing system at its annual meeting in Denver.

The 20th Annual MILK Business Conference has a great line-up of speakers and sessions that will explore the decisions and opportunities to help dairy producers set their dairy on a path of making bold directions.

Earlier today, Hilmar broke ground on their western Kansas future cheese and whey protein processing plant. The new facility is expected to create 250 new jobs and represent $600 million in capital investments.

Labor struggles in the dairy industry and a sharp focus on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, was recently discussed during an episode of The Dairy Download from International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA).

Patrons of Foremost Farms received a letter stating that changes will be made starting with the September milk payments to compensate for market adjustments. The cooperative also announced two plant closers.

The nightmare for any dairy producer is to receive notification that they are losing their milk market. Securing a new milk market at the last minute certainly is easier said than done and often turns into crisis mode.

Dairy farms are routine. Milk cows 365-days a year. This is the life that Kelly and Christy Cunningham with Milk Unlimited near Atlantic, Iowa, have grown accustomed to. Although in 2017, that nearly came to a halt.

No longer able to support continued production, Borden Dairy Co. has announced plans to close two of its plants doors in Alabama and Mississippi on Sept. 30.

The lawsuit filed on July 29 in the U.S. District Court in Vermont, claims that DFA has created a market that has many sellers, but only one single buyer—a monopsony—across Vermont and in 10 other northeast states.

The International Dairy Foods Association announces that registration for Dairy Forum 2023 is now open. More than 1,000 dairy leaders convene each year at Dairy Forum. The event returns in 2023 to Orlando, Florida.

The Daughertys are glad that they visited numerous dairies which helped determine the blueprints of their current facility, but also helped bring the sixth-generation back home to the family farm.

Through hard work and chasing a goal, the Blase family farm illustrates how farms of any size can capture revenue by sharing their farm experience directly with the consumer.

The U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards program recognized a class farms, businesses and partnerships for their socially responsible, economically viable and environmentally sound practices that have a positive impact.

Global Dairy received a gut punch when the derecho plowed through its South Dakota farm last week. The storm’s impact took out their main parallel parlor that milks 1,700 cows after its roof collapsed.

Chobani has made a large contribution to the construction of the nation’s largest research dairy in Idaho. The donation was made to the University of Idaho-led Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment.

Earlier this week, a Borden Dairy processor informed its workers, vendors, and customers that they would be closing their doors this summer at their plant in Chembung, Ill.

U.S. average diesel prices up more than 70% year-over-year. Could this push processors to slow down powder production?

This ongoing Oregon water issue has become a headache for many farmers, like Jos Poland. Less water doesn’t only mean fewer aces for his cows to graze on. It has forced Poland to sell 40% of his herd earlier this year.

Four months have passed since Kent and Coreena Meyer opened a letter from their milk processor, Wakefern Food Corp., owner of Readington Farms, informing them they no longer would pick up their milk.

A fifth-generation Florida dairy farmer says that from PMVAP to immigration reform, there are real missed opportunities for congress to truly understand how to help dairy farms, like hers.

Texas milk production growth has steadily rose over the last two decades. The latest USDA March 2022 Milk Production report shows the Lone Star State pushed past Idaho, to now rank No. 3 for milk production.

The roads have been cleared and the sun is now peeking out in North Dakota after dairy farmers spent the bulk of their Easter weekend pushing snow when the storm of the century – Snowmageddon – plowed through.

Companies are wondering how they can compete with the recent announcement by Walmart, sharing that it’s upping starting annual salaries for the company’s truck drivers to around $100,000.

Nearly a year ago, dairy farmer Jamie Bansen received alarming news that the creamery her family ships milk to was on fire. Thankfully the McMinnville, Ore., creamery has since dusted off the ashes and began rebuilding.

With the mantra, ‘The best ideas are born out of collaboration,’ DFA offers a community that creates ideas to continue to help propel all avenues of dairy forward.

If any lessons were learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was how to walk on a tightrope while juggling various obstacles. Dairy CEOs spoke about how they managed challenges the last several years at IDFA Dairy Forum.

Tara Vander Dussen, also known as the New Mexico Milkmaid was the keynote closing speaker at the Maryland & Virginia’s Milk Producer Cooperative Association’s first-ever Leadership Conference.

Enriching communities and consumers’ lives is important to DFA, as it is one of their core values. To help those impacted by the current invasion and attack on Ukraine, DFA stepped up with a recent donation.

From the adaptation of technology to increasing efficiencies and overcoming challenges that seem to come at a fast pace, a producer must sharpen more than their pencils to continue in this tough dairy industry.

The nation’s largest dairy cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America, held its annual meeting on March 23 in Kansas City, Missouri. Amongst the challenges DFA is faced with, they also highlighted areas of growth.

Trucker shortages are real, and one area that draws concern and needed attention is with those hauling our country’s milk. A growing trend pressuring the efficient flow of milk is the declining number of milk haulers.

USDA announced it is making $80 million available to the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives. The additional funding will expand the capacity of the four initiatives to provide technical assistance and sub-grants.

Once regarded as the low byproduct of cheese making, whey was often dumped down drains or spread on farm fields. Whey has since made huge strides due the growing health awareness among consumers, fueled by the pandemic.

Iowa State Dairy Association knows its farmers could use some help. Efforts are well underway to push legislation that would create free dollars to help its dairy producers automate various aspects of their 24/7 work.

Emily Yeiser Stepp, vice president of The National Dairy FARM Program and Dr. Eric Rooker with Dairy Doctors Veterinary Services in Plymouth, Wis., both offer tips to consider when reviewing FARM protocols.

More than 200 workers are now on strike in western New York with Saputo Dairy.

Schreiber Foods, one of Wisconsin's largest milk processors, was recently hit by a possible ransomware attack.

While Richard Clauss is one of the dairy industry’s most notable individuals and recently named the 78th recipient of the Master Breeder award of the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA).

Darigold announced last week that they will build a $500 million processing plant in Pasco, Wash., under a new agreement with the Port of Pasco.

Hilmar Cheese Company Inc., Hilmar, Calif., announced last week their plans to build a new state-of-the-art cheese and whey protein processing plant in Dodge City, Kansas, this summer.

Dairy Farmers of America has finalized the sale of two former Dean Foods Company milk processing plants located in De Pere, Wis. and Harvard, Ill.

Despite the sharp drop in foodservice demand, demand for high-fat dairy products has held up.

Historically large butter inventories would be even larger without consumers’ embrace of high-fat dairy products.

Farmers are being required to pay back a portion of the money they received for milk sales during the “preference period” of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.

The company says the cuts will include one in every four positions at its headquarters.