News
USDA’s latest milk production report showed August production at 17 billion pounds, an increase of 2 percent from 2016.
Opponents flood Wisconsin ‘sanctuary cities’ hearing
The U.S. Department of Agriculture projected that 2017 consumption will rise 10 percent from a year earlier, hitting 940,000 metric tons, the highest in half a century. The nation will devour more than 2 billion pounds of butter this year, more than 6.1 pounds per person, and the resurgence has helped make Dallas Wuethrich a billionaire. His Grassland Dairy Products Inc., founded in 1904 by his grandfather John, who churned it by hand, now produces about one-third of the nation’s butter.
Under pressure, Amish farmers begin to exit dairy business
Activist groups sue Iowa over ag whistleblower law
Dairy producers are facing an industry with too much product and not enough capacity, forcing prices south over at least through the first half of 2018.
Wisconsin sees decline in number of dairy farms
It can be a struggle to get kids to eat healthy food, but can a chocolatey treat be the key to getting them the nutrients they don’t often get?
Ben & Jerry’s, farmworkers reach ‘Milk with Dignity’ deal
For the past three years Fustead Holsteins has been increasing herd size after moving from a tie-stall barn into a free stall. In 2014, Brian and Wendy Fust made the move to invest in new facilities near Wausau, Wisconsin. Their son Tyler and daughter Jennifer both live with their spouses and children just a quarter of a mile from the family farm that was started in 1905
Mycogen Seeds unveiled its new “Unified” corn silage hybrid this week here at World Dairy Expo, with trials showing a 7% improvement in feed efficiency and 10 lb. more energy corrected milk compared to conventional corn hybrids
New app to help Wisconsin farmers estimate corn prices
U.S. has yet to detail proposals on dairy and other key issues.
Cheesemakers are making more in Russia to replace EU imports.
The disaster aid bill, which is intended to provide some relief to parts of America that were devastated by natural disasters this year, is widely expected to be voted on this week.
World’s most popular sports event gets fourth Chinese sponsor.
State Fair butter statue to be deconstructed, farm bound
With MPP changing, some operators are reviewing their options.
The owner of one of Vermont’s most prolific dairy farms has filed for bankruptcy protection.
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.
All eyes are on Washington D.C. this week as negotiations begin to “modernize” NAFTA, but getting on the same page will be step one.
Soil seems like a long way from the milk aisle but one Wisconsin dairyman is making caring for the land a top priority for producing a top product and turning into a partnership between rural and urban. For Jeff Endres of Endres BerryRidge Farms, the responsibility of a good producer goes further than just working with cattle -it starts in the soil.
Back in April, Grassland Dairy Products, a processor in Wisconsin, gave notice to dozens of dairies their contract would be terminated by the end of the month. The ax was all due to a change in Canada’s milk market, which would no longer take some U.S. products called ultra-filtered milk. The Wisconsin Department of Agricultural Trade and Consumer Protection says 58 dairies in the state were dropped, and all but two found new processors.
Some Jerome County residents are worried that plans for a big new University of Idaho-operated dairy could befoul the local air.