In April, Grassland Dairy Products, located in Greenwood, Wisc., notified its producers they had until the end of the month to find a new processor.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will continue to defend the supply management system that protects the Canadian dairy industry in talks about revamping the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is easing its policy on some domestic milk products. It’s a change the dairy industry has been pushing for 20 years, but trade tension with Canada brought it to the forefront. Earlier this year, Canada changed its policy and stopped importing ultra-filtered (UF) milk products from the United States. Many processors, like Grassland Dairy Products, a processor in Wisconsin, were forced to drop all of its producers and those farmers scrambled to find a home.

Dairy farmers in various parts of Wisconsin experienced severe alfalfa winterkill and injury this past winter. Losses were the greatest on heavy soil types with poorer drainage.

When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was ratified back on Jan. 1, 1994, President Clinton was in the White House, Forrest Gump was talking about boxes of chocolates and World Dairy Expo had just celebrated its 25th year. Dairy exports were at roughly 3 percent of production and there was a groundswell of support for a formal supply management program to do something with the oversupply of milk.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is pushing back hard against a statement by the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister on up-coming talks to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.