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Co-op also posts second-highest earnings of $182 million.

There will be a greater incentive to cull low producers this month and next as lower milk prices make their way through the system.

If manure smells like money -- and in February 2012 the commodity markets say it does -- then Sioux County is one of the wealthiest places in America.Truckloads of cows and pigs rumble south every day on Highway 75 on their way to slaughterhouses in Omaha and Dakota City, Neb. Profit flows back into the towns of Rock Valley, Hull, Sioux Center and Orange City.

Cooperatives Working Together has accepted 17 requests for export assistance from Bongards, Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold, Michigan Milk Producers Association and United Dairymen of Arizona.

The largest losses came from herds with 50 to 99 cows, down 1,000 herds.

JACKI LYDEN: If you’re just joining us, this is WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I’m Jacki Lyden.For the past 50 years, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center off the coast of New York was a research base for some of the world’s most lethal bacteria and viruses. The Department of Homeland Security took it over after 9/11. But the facility has deteriorated over the years, and they’ve chosen Kansas as a place to build a more modern lab. However, the new location has drawn the ire of nearby live stock ranchers and costs for the facility have skyrocketed. Laura Ziegler of Harvest Public Media visited the site, and she has this story.LAURA ZIEGLER: The National Bio and Agro Defense Facility or NBAF even sounds kind of scary, doesn’t it? And the Plum Island Animal Disease Center itself has a creepy Cold War image. Former wrestling star come Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura even did a YouTube expose.

Cooperatives Working Together has accepted 24 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold, Foremost Farms, Land O’Lakes, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative, Michigan Milk Producers Association and United Dairymen of Arizona.

The program has gained widespread support from key organizations, including Elanco, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the Center for Advanced Energy Studies/Idaho National Laboratory, USDA, the World Wildlife Fund, MilkPEP and the Dairy Research Institute.

Farm numbers have declined 6,861, a 30% drop between May 2000 and May 2011. Milk production from the remaining farms is up 29%.

In my opinion, the largest cuts in the farm bill should come from the largest percentage of funds—the 77% that is centered around nutrition programs.