As dairy farmers try to manage risk moving into 2019, about the only thing you can say is that there is uncertainty as to which risk management tools is best.
According to the USDA, the domestic demand for dairy has reached a 56-year high. At the same time, farm labor wages are also trending upwards. AgDay’s Betsy Jibben explains more in this week’s Dairy Report.
'Proprietary handlers establishing new forward contracts on or after October 1, 2018 will not be exempt from paying minimum Federal order prices.' --USDA
Wisconsin has seen 449 dairy farms exit the business, a loss of 6% so far this year. Meanwhile, 10,000 dairy operations across the country could begin to see their Dairy Margin Coverage payments arriving in the mail.